Business Analyst - June 30

Thursday, June 30, 2022
PERSONAL FINANCE
Retirement Planning – How to
bridge the gap between your
working and retirement income
REtIREMENt lies waiting for
all. It is a stage in life that can
only be avoided by early
death, which is not the
option most people will go
for.
You might have probably envisioned
your dream retirement, relaxing on the
patio of a beach house, taking trips across
countries, sipping cocktails on a beach,
among others. Like many, if not all people,
you do not want to work until you die and
most certainly would want to live and
have a comfortable retirement.
to enjoy this retirement dream
requires financial planning. But even with
a financial plan, how do you ensure your
pension is adequate? How do you bridge
the gap between your working and
retirement income? Yaw Korankye, a
pension expert, in a webinar organised
by Ghana talk Business explained how.
Retirement option Analysis: How to
Bridge the Gap
No matter how long you work,
SSNIt has the payment to retirees capped
at 60% of the average of your gross income
for your best three years. However, this
may not be adequate for you. Based on the
varied retirement planning options
available, adequacy can be achieved
through the following means;
diversification: expand your
retirement options by making use of
available options such as pension
schemes, business, financial investment
and family
timeliness: You will need to set aside
10% of your income if you are in your 20’s
and 30’s but 30% – 40% if you are in the
’40s or older. this should form part of your
regular contributions to a pension pot.
Consolidation: Yaw Korankye
recommends you bring together your
investments especially when you hit your
50’s. You have to critically assess the
viability of existing avenues and reduce
your risks. So, if you are into a high-risk
investment, you will need to sell, liquidate
or transfer them to low-risk investment.
Lifestyle Adjustment: Yaw Korankye
recommends that lifestyle must be
adjusted especially if you are 5 years to
retirement and have not been able to
accumulate your expected resources. Cut
down on certain frivolous expenditure
and rather contribute a portion of your
income to a pension pot.
Knowledge: It is said that “knowledge
is power.” “Having adequate knowledge of
the dynamics of retirement and
opportunities available to plan your
investment can assure adequacy,” he said.
one way of gaining such knowledge is by
seeking professional advice.
Avoid Common Calculation Errors
People either overestimate their
incomes or calculate their retirement
packages wrongly. these are errors that
must be avoided in order not to go into
shock when actual retirement earnings
are discovered.
Conclusion
to adequately bridge the gap between
your working and retirement income, do
the following;
Ensure your pension is adequate
diversify your retirement options
Start your retirement contributions
early
Have adequate knowledge of
retirement planning
Adjust your lifestyle where necessary
Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) — How it Works
GHANA is blessed to have its
first Commodity Exchange
operating since 2018.
It is a platform that brings
buyers and sellers together to
facilitate local trade. the
Ghana Commodity
Exchange (GCX) is expected
to create a seamless
interface for the trading of
food, minerals and other
commodities in the country.
It is expected to bring
transparency in
agribusiness, boost
confidence in the industry,
raise standards of food
quality to global standards
and ultimately give farmers
their due for all their hard
work of tilling the ground.
the two prominent
commodity exchanges in
the world are the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange (CME)
Group in the uSA and the
New York Mercantile Exchange
(NYMEX). In Africa the GCX is
the third after South Africa and
Ethiopia.
According to the
Information Minister, Mr. Kojo
oppong Nkrumah “there are
plans that from twelve months
to twenty-four months within
which the GCX will trade in
cashew, cocoa, timber, shearbutter
and vegetables. the GCX
after three years, will trade in
metals, minerals, petroleum
and gas”, he said.
How the platform
works
the Commodities
Market works like any
other market we know of.
It is a physical or virtual
space where one can buy
and sell. Modern
commodity markets
began with trading of
agricultural products like
maize, livestock, food
stuffs and other
commodities. It may also
trade in metals, petroleum
and gas.
the GCX which is
licensed and regulated by
the Securities and
Exchange Commission
(SEC) would operate a fully
electronic or digital trading
platform which would be
devoid of human interventions
and manipulations. the trading
activities would be preceded by
registration of farmers, brokers
and buyers as members of the
trading activities. they would
provide warehousing services
where farmers of the various
produce would deposit their
physical products.
the major players of the
exchange would be farmers
(supplier or client), buyers,
brokers, traders, warehouse
managers and financiers. the
exchange is expected to help in
curbing the massive losses
from post-harvest losses, boost
export of food, improve food
security in the country and
open up investment and
entrepreneurial opportunities.
SOURCE: GHANA TALKS
BUSINESS