Planning, consistency key to financial independence in retirement – Miriam Amissah

Head of Sales and Client Service at Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS), Miriam Maku Amissah, has said financial independence in retirement is possible for everyone provided they plan well and remain consistent in preparing towards their retirement. Miriam Maku Amissah said this at the April 2021 edition of the SIMS webinar series.

“Investment is always about time and consistency. It does not matter how much you decide to save. What is important is that you remain committed and consistent at saving whatever little money you have and with time, it will become a lot,” Miriam Amissah said.

She further encouraged people to have an objective about their retirement and start planning towards it. This, she said, will not only make them focused especially in their spending but also consider alternative sources of income to meet the demands of their retirement plans and objectives.

According to her, “It is critical to plan and have objectives for your retirement. Prepare your mind, live simply and most importantly, talk to people who understand what it takes to plan for your retirement so you don’t make mistakes in your planning and investment process.”

On his part, Kwabena Boamah, the Chief Investment Officer of Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS), Kwabena Boamah, encouraged people to plan well for their retirement because when a person retires, his/her income retires but his/her expenses do not.

According to Kwabena Boamah, “It is important that before you retire, you ask yourself some critical questions in order for an effective retirement plan. You need to ask yourself how you want to live after you retire and also assess the kinds of expenses you envisage to make in your retirement such as medical bills, utilities, school fees, etc.

After this has been done, the next thing to do is to budget and determine how much you will need to offset or meet your expenses after retirement. After budgeting comes investment. This is where you decide how much to invest and where to invest in order to generate enough for your expenses post retirement”.

SIMS is Ghana’s foremost investment management and advisory firm offering tailor-made fund management services for pension schemes, institutions, corporates, and associations to meet specific investment objectives and return benchmarks.

SIMS’ institutional and individual fund management proposition includes assistance in setting up the fund, investment policy statement design, templates for trust deeds, and fund rules.

The firm also offers fund management services to high net-worth individuals seeking specific investment goals such as educational funds, retirement funds (individual/private pension planning), trust funds, and endowment funds.