Retirement: Kakai or blessing?
As children, a combination of adventure and rebelliousness gave us the joy of sometimes doing the exact opposite of what our parents, particularly mothers, asked us to do. For some parents, the antidote for our stubbornness was simply to yell “Kakai will catch you.” Somehow, the mention of kakai instilled instant fear resulting in immediate compliance with our parents’ wishes. I must confess I still do not know what kakai is! However, I know that, it conjured an image of something frightful to us children.
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Having observed the trepidation with which people face their impending retirement, I ask a simple question, “Is retirement Kakai to be feared, or a blessing to be welcomed?”
Looking into space
Retirement life started slowly for me. Mrs Frimpong continued working at Burma Camp. To beat the rush-hour heavy traffic every morning, she left home around 5.30 a.m. Free from her supervision, staring into the sky and thinking of the only career I had known all my life as a soldier, became my daily occupation. The days started getting longer and boredom began to set in. However, a few months later in August 2014, providence changed things when I accepted the reality of my retirement, and started teaching at the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).
Is retirement a scarecrow?
Retirement or ‘pension’ as most people call it seems to present itself as a scarecrow or “kakai” which frightens many. This fear is grounded in a number of reasons. A top government official who is naturally fair and plump soon after retirement, loses his chubbiness and suddenly becomes dark and slim. The reason is simple. The daily routine of moving from an air-conditioned government bungalow into an air-conditioned chauffeur driven car to an air-conditioned office suddenly ceases on retirement. The hard reality of what the majority goes through now introduces itself. Again, the power he wielded with alacrity suddenly disappears.
Meanwhile, in addition to losing all the perks he had while working, his pension is unbelievably low. For example, after over thirty years of teaching, a teacher with a master’s degree went home with a SSNIT calculated gratuity of under GH¢7,000 and a monthly pension of GH¢230. It took over a year to rectify it to about GH¢700.
Age reduction
For some people in the Pubic and Civil Services therefore, the solution is to keep swearing affidavits reducing their ages, thus postponing retirement for as long as possible. Sometimes, such reductions are so drastic that they suggest the individuals started Class One when they were one year old.
Freedom
Retirement has brought me a few luxuries I could never afford in active service. The first is freedom! Since I joined the Army in 1970 at the age of seventeen-and half, my life has always been a regimented one. In retirement, however, I suddenly realised that for the first time, I do not need anybody’s permission to travel either within or outside Ghana. Indeed, if I should decide to go to Australia tomorrow morning, I can do so provided I have my visa. I do not need permission from any boss whose mood in the office in the morning depends on the quantum of harassment Madam had subjected him to the night before.
Reading
I also have time to listen to radio and read books which unavailable time made it difficult for me in active service. Most importantly, I have time to do research for my teaching engagements and in the process educate myself some more. I also have time to visit senior citizens to chat with and learn from. These senior citizens are a storehouse of knowledge and experience, which if properly harnessed will inure to the benefit of society. Unfortunately, interest in this free consultancy appears not to be a priority.
Prior preparation
How smoothly one settles into retirement life depends on how one prepares towards it. This must start early in one’s working life. A small house is the most important requirement. For some people, the bigger the house, the better. This is incorrect. All things going well, the children will sooner than later leave the house to start their own lives. One is left with Madam only! Allowing for good planning, hopefully the children would either have finished or be very close to finishing their tertiary education at the time of retirement. That way, one does not have to embark on any heavy capital outlays in retirement. A good car is necessary to ensure mobility. Retirement is not the time to have mechanics as friends!
Retirement conduct
Until I got busy, retirement was beginning to get boring. There is, therefore, the need to keep oneself busy. Failing this, retirement has the potential to be drab and drudgery. This leads to loss in self-esteem and premature ageing. One way of keeping oneself happy is to read voraciously. Voluntary work in organisations like churches and hospitals can be rewarding. One must also have a physical fitness routine like taking a daily walk. Most importantly, an annual medical examination is a necessity.
Conclusion
Once life starts, it will surely end. One will go through childhood, adolescence, adulthood during which one works hard, and finally retirement and ultimately the journey in a box to our Maker.
For some, retirement is a scary event which must be postponed for as long as possible. This is because unlike it is the case in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark where social systems guarantee a cradle-to-grave good life, generally the Ghanaian worker gets financially worse off in retirement. Social security contributions paid over the years yield no reasonable dividends.
For many, therefore, retirement is a bane which sentences some to hospital admissions as soon as they are told to go home.
However, with careful planning, one can confidently and happily move into retirement without any fears after working up to the compulsory retiring age of 60.
Taboo
Unfortunately, like death, retirement is a taboo subject for many Ghanaians. There is, therefore, no education on how to prepare for the inevitable. Perhaps, aggressive institutional education on retirement needs to be taken seriously. That way, the younger generation can start preparing early and look forward to a happy retirement life.