Use retirement package judiciously - Retired teachers advised
A former General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mrs Irene T. Duncan-Adanusa, has advised retired teachers to invest their retirement packages judiciously.
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She said that was necessary to prevent disappointments and financial strains that could lead to untimely deaths.
According to her, some retirees were venturing into business fields they had little knowledge of and ended up wasting all their life time savings within a short time, thereby bringing economic hardship on their families and themselves.
Speaking passionately about the welfare of the retirees at the inauguration of the maiden Retired Educationists Association (REEDA) in the Volta Region, Mrs Adanusa observed that many retirees were unable to enjoy quality life and died early after their active service because of certain wrong decisions and investments they engaged in with their end-of-service benefits.
Lack of expertise
“It is common to hear people who are due for retirement planning to go into farming or engaging in certain businesses. But the issue is that most of them lack the expertise in these fields and, therefore, end up losing all their investment,” she stated.
She advised that people put into action plans they had for their future while in active service, adding, ‘This way you would know the challenges associated with such business before you pump all your savings into it’.
Healthy decision
Mrs Adanusa said it was a healthy decision for such an association to be formed in the region and stressed the positive impact it would have on education and the welfare of the retired teachers.
She called for members to use the association as a platform to share ideas that would help them better their lives.
“Being a retiree should not render people redundant but make them a useful vessel with vast experience which could be tapped for nation building,” she said, indicating that one of the things that made pensioners feel redundant was when they had no specific plans on how to enjoy their retirement.
Association
The association, made up of teachers, including early childhood educators, subject teachers, administrators and managers, aims at supporting the Ghana Education Service (GES) with ideas on how to improve education in the region.
With the slogan ‘retired but not tired’ the group has set up a 14-member committee with Mr Frank Denakpor, as their Chairman to steer the affairs of the association.
According to Mr Denakpor, the members who have diverse knowledge are ready to avail themselves as a valuable resource for educational development.
Policy for retired members
He, however, called on GNAT to develop a policy for retired members which would practicalise the provision in GNAT’s Constitution Act 5 (4) that, ‘retired teachers shall be honorary members’.
A former Volta Regional Director of the GES, Mr Emmanuel Keteku, urged the group to focus its vision on the goals for which the association was set up and also abide by its constitution to make it a vibrant organisation in the region.