Do You Have Retirement Money?

Maama Harriet is the typical food mama you’ll find in every local African market. A bona fide institution and community pillar – known for preparing tasty and affordable meals in generous portions that keep her customers well-fed, and coming back for more. With children and a family of her own, she’s living hand-to-mouth. She’s so focused on getting through each day, that even while she dreams of rebuilding her family home in the village to retire on, she doesn’t give it more than a passing thought. In her mind, today’s money is only enough to solve today’s problems, tomorrow will sort itself out. We have become so focused on survival and the daily grind, that we forget that tomorrow is fast approaching. Do we have anything set aside for retirement?

Generations before gave it some thought and planned accordingly. My father was self-employed, and my mother was a teacher, and by the time retirement rolled round, they owned their home and had a few investments to keep them comfortable. In case this plan fell through, they at least had four children who could be counted on to support them. In finance speak, they had a diversified portfolio. Even our grandparents and great grandparents invested and built up their homes, living off the land in a comfortable existence on farmland that they owned outright.

Then there’s you and me – treading water and working hard to get to keep ourselves and our families afloat, with vague ideas on what we’ll do in retirement, hoping (and praying) that the money will be there when the time comes. Sometimes, it can feel like we’re running out of time, and it’s tempting to invest in risky ventures or get-rich-quick schemes for high returns – but we’ve all heard the stories of people left penniless and starting from scratch. So, where does this leave us? The more sustainable and viable strategy is to start where we are, with what we have, and consistently invest our money in legitimate, stable financial instruments. For myself, even though I started late, I have my retirement plan in place.

Retirement isn’t just about age; it’s about your ability maintain a comfortable standard of living well into your twilight years. At the very least, this requires you to review your income and expenses, and set up investments that can adequately cover these expenses. Don’t let the most productive years of your life pass you by, start preparing for your retirement now. And for those of you who think it’s too late, you’re not dead yet – so there’s still time for you to make sure that you’ll be comfortable.


Don’t know where to start? Let’s chat in the comments, or you can DM me – @KagoTMD on TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn. I really want to know.

If you're interested in watching full video essays of this and other topics I've discussed here, visit and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Let's build your future, together.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

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