Are we prepared for retirement?

Yesterday we received an email with the headline “The coming retirement crisis will be UGLY”.

According to the email, recent studies confirm that most Americans are not prepared for retirement. Depending on the assessment, the percentage of people who will not be ready to retire is between 66% and 80%. This is scary, considering what it will do to the quality of life in people’s golden years.

It was argued that much of this problem comes from changing policies with corporations (that no longer give adequate pension plans or job security), as well as shifting government policies that favor wealth builders and investors more than the working class.

This made us wonder about the situation in St. Maarten. Pensioners are complaining heavily about their situation here on St. Maarten. WIFOL union leader Theophilus Thompson is quoted in one of our news reports as saying that he is of the opinion that pensioners should not be paying wage taxes or income taxes. We wonder indeed how pensioners are surviving with their meager pensions while the cost of living is ever on the rise here on St. Maarten.

These thoughts gave rise to a number of questions.

1.) Will we have enough money needed to retire at the lifestyle in which we are accustomed?

2.) With the pension age on the rise, when is the right time to quit and retire?

3.) How can we financially prepare for retirement? What money saving and investment strategies can we implement to prepare for retirement?

4.) How can we survive during retirement if we still have debts to pay? For instance, like a mortgage? Or a car loan?

5.) What means are at our disposal to generate extra income to survive financially during retirement age while still having to pay taxes?

6.) How can we protect ourselves against the high costs of healthcare during our retirement age?

7.) How can we care for and support our family members during our retirement age?

The last question might have to be: Are our family members prepared to care and support us pensioners during our retirement age?

At the rate things are going here on St. Maarten, as a pensioner you will certainly need to depend on your family members for care and support.

But that shouldn’t have to be the case.

Do you agree?

Email us and let us know your thoughts as well on this issue.