Overcoming Challenges in Retirement: Constructive Solutions to Retirement Problems for an Extraordinary Life in Your Golden Years

By Aniekan Mbah

The primary focus of this book emphasize the concept of retirement education, beginning from the point of entering service (be it civil service, military, paramilitary and parastatal) to the point of leaving; and also provide a guide to avoiding unnecessary pitfall.

A well planned retirement is an organizational stability factor. Especially when there exists a deliberate plan, well coordinated both at personal and organizational levels. On the personal level, the worker puts something down for the future irrespective of the size of the pay package and takes what he learns at training programs seriously. On the side of the organization, it makes certain contributions, along with learning programs to the staff.

This book covers a wide range of related topics - from pre- retirement challenges and challenges after disengagement; in bid to providing constructive solutions to retirement problems and having extraordinary life in your golden years.

It is also noted the great importance of understanding that the environment we create for money is largely what provides us with either wealth or poverty in future - whether as individual, community or country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504944038

Aniekan Mbah

ANIEKAN OKON MBAH retired in his thirties from public office and remains actively involved in the community of retirees for many years. During this period he shared in their pains, disappointments, frustration, joy, happiness, good health, poor health and death. He learned so much from diverse experiences and with astute mind advises on steps the future retirees can take to overcome the pitfalls and prepare themselves gleefully for the golden years ahead.

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© 2015 Aniekan Mbah. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/11/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4401-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4402-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4403-8 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword

Afterword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: Life

Uncertainty about the future and finances

Money has no home

Chapter 2: Introductory Discussion on Employment and Retirement

What is employment?

Self-employment and entrepreneurship

Chapter 3: Understanding Retirement

Factors affecting retirement decisions

Premature retirement

Planning against premature retirement

Advantages of premature retirement

Chapter 4: Sources of Income

Salary

Bulk sum

Group savings and rotational cash schemes

Cooperative thrifts and credit schemes

Loans: motor vehicle, compassionate, and special

Cooperative societies and compulsory savings schemes

Sample

Chapter 5: The Synthesis in Retirement of Employers and Employees

Pensioners on the spot

Management of pensioners’ affairs

Awareness and transparency

Embolden your retirement

Chapter 6: Challenges Before Retirement

Lifestyle

Planning for retirement

Financial management

Giving your best

Investing in stocks

Annual reports and financial statements

Understanding risk

Diversification

Real estate

What is a mortgage?

Chapter 7: Challenges After Retirement

What is identity?

Life after retirement

Talking about relationships

Starting a business

Chapter 8: Important Factors for a Successful Retirement

Strong mental state

Self-confidence and self-belief

Attitude

Outlook on life

Faith in God’s grace

Chapter 9: Writing a Will

The essentials of a will

Types of wills

Understanding Probate

Revocation of a Will

Chapter 10: Health Management

Understanding stress

Managing stress and coping

Chapter 11: The Institutions

Nigerian pensions commission

Conclusion

References

To my mother, Arit Okon Mbah, and my late father, Okon A. Mbah, who were always ready for any form of sacrifice for my education and that of my siblings.

And for the late Bala Halilu, who died in an air mishap – my friend, we shared retirement aftermath emotions together.

Foreword

R etirement is a time of trepidation for many. Fear of the unknown is paramount. For those who retire, life is never the same; dejection, frustration, and a sense of abandonment are attributes I have observed in them. This invariably paints a picture for those planning to retire, and fear of retirement becomes a permanent feature of their working life. It is a terrible situation facing many institutions, military, parastatals, and corporations and their former go-getters and accomplished staff or personnel.

The interest in this work was largely generated by the above, and the possibility of overcoming this situation for humanity. If you are not humane, you fail to stop and think – in particular if you have been an administrator of some sort. We all want at least to take something to add value to our own lives.

The book has amazed all of us by providing a comprehensive discussion of the complexities and challenges in retirement and the proactive actions retirees can take. The treasures lie in being educated before retirement. Keeping my working experiences in mind while reading this book, I found a robust analysis of the challenges facing retirees, painstaking research that stands the test of changing the vision of retirement issues and the world of retirees. The book makes explicit the importance of alerting workers that retirement planning begins on the first day of employment and that it should be part of an orientation programme for new employees. Mbah’s work can definitely improve the feelings that governments, big corporations, and other establishments have toward retirees.

I should know this, with utmost modesty. My working career has taken me to the peak of many institutions for many years, including director general, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, (WAIFEM), Lagos, Nigeria; vice-chancellor of the federal government of Nigeria–owned University of Uyo for five years; pioneer vice-chancellor of the Akwa Ibom State University (formerly Akwa Ibom State University of Science and Technology) for two years; and many years of committee work for governments, including as a member of the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria. These positions forced me to be conversant in the challenges facing staff planning to retire from service as well as those who have already retired.

Overcoming Challenges in Retirement is very reassuring and illuminating. It serves as succour to those planning to retire and those who have retired. The writer lays out the information compassionately with a commitment towards lifting lives. He shows in the book that he lives, breathes, and eats with retirees. Consequently, he has found a gap in the expectations of retirees which the book fills with recommendations for several ways of living a useful life in retirement.

Why is this work important? There is a dearth of literature on the aspect of retirement that Mr Mbah is writing about. The available material on retirement deals more with investment planning, budgeting, and where retirees can find cheap accommodations. There is nothing on public perception, self-perception, and the trepidations of once active and dedicated workers. The author has clearly explained that the needs of retirees go beyond platitudes; the greatest challenge is the inactivity that wears down retirees physically and mentally.

Mr Mbah retired very early in life; he earns a monthly pension like some retirees – what retirees call stipends. He makes it very remarkable, like a single bright sword which cuts across the murky life of retirees, with the book giving life and hope to retirees and those planning to retire. Overcoming Challenges in Retirement is compulsory reading for all retirees, would-be-retirees, and those wishing to understand the complexities of retiring, whether in Nigeria or in other parts of the world. I highly recommend the book to all and sundry as a cherished companion.

Professor Akpan H. Ekpo, FNES

Lagos, Nigeria

June 2014

Afterword

I am excited about this book. This is personal, not because of knowing the author and the background he is writing from but because of my years of experience in working in a frontline oil and gas parastatal as learning administrator.

Writing this is my way of saying this book is good, from a pragmatic point of view, relevant to our lives, without necessarily remaining silent and not encouraging readers to benefit from it. Retirement is terrible, except you don’t feel the pulses of would-be retirees. They are nervous like men going to war, unsure of what will become of them. Are their investments sufficient? and so on and so forth. Year in and year out, I find the same temperament from different levels of senior and junior staff, management and board members. What would make staff members with an opportunity to retire demand extension of service if not an attempt to beat retirement?

The uncharted territory of retirement is full with landmines, including loss of family values and twists in husband and wife relationships not to talk of in the larger society. Nobody has fathomed what is responsible for quick depreciation in retirees’ health and lifestyle, and the eminent dead that are hidden somewhere. My organization has gone many steps further for spouses to attend the retirement programme together. It is like advising them that retirement should not be a nail in your relationship, but life needs adjustments for both of you to move on. You need to work together to make it successful. If you combine your inner resources, it will get a lot easier, further than pulling in different direction because of changes due to retirement. The success rate? Well, we do not know, but it is good to try something in a bid to check the unpredictable.

Many believe the problems in retirement start and stop with money and investment. And if you have both of them, the problem is solved. The answer is no and no. The problem of retirement is like any in life and tends to need more hands-on approach, a more delicate touch, time, attention, and care. It is a mental approach to issues of aging and coming to terms in more dignified ways, rather than being tensed up, distracted, and not themselves.

This book is like advising yourself. You should have a plan, a map, a guide, a target a focus, a signpost, a direction, a path, a strategy, all for the sake of retirement. It says you are doing something by a certain time. It gives your retirement structure and shape. A retirement plan indicates there is something to turn up to and think about your life. Without a plan, you are not in control. Try and take control; it is the central purpose of this book.

I hope that the book’s publication itself will demonstrate that we may not raise our hands in despair because of retirement nor may we give up trying to persuade others that retirement is golden. We should look forward to retirement without trepidations. I hope that my testimony will help provide a better, more profound understanding of the path of retirement. Finally, I hope this book will help others cope beautifully in retirement, and my wish is that it will contribute to a better understanding of retirement.

Alphonsus Ekpeyong

Abuja, Nigeria

June 2014

Acknowledgements

T his book is a product of the determined will of Alamina Eli Legg-Jack, a jolly good friend of mine and a comptroller with the strategic research and planning department of the Nigeria Customs Service. His frame of mind formed the framework for this book. He believes that so long as you are not working for your father or yourself, you are likely going to leave the job one day, either voluntarily or forcefully, for various reasons. I therefore wish to acknowledge his inspiration, pieces of advice, and materials he took pains to make avail able.

Thanks also goes to Farouk Ahmed, group general manager, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), whose generous disposition and kind spirit helped to overcome storms and made this possible; and then to those who provided the final push in the form of demands and pressure as friends, former colleagues, and about-to-be retirees who had drawn a lot of strength from my experience and urged me to put it down in book form for the benefit of others.

Yusuf Mudi M, an internal auditor with NNPC, corporate headquarters, provided me with more than enough courage to do this, just by listening to me holding counsel. Neither can I forget my brother and friend Alhaji Mustapha Muhamadu, a general manager in the same corporation, who on the eve of his retirement sent a text message soliciting my counsel on his steps into this new life. In the same vein, I thank my former boss Alhaji A Maliki, Sunday Yakubu, Oliver Oguah, Alphonsus Ekpeyong, and Okon Joseph Okon, all of NNPC, and Akpandem James, the chief executive officer Nigerian, Daily Independent Newspapers, for their contributions,.

The interest and encouragement I received from Professor Akpan H. Ekpo, former vice chancellor of the University of Uyo, gave me so much confidence that it is worth mentioning. Without confidence, we can achieve very little. He also agreed to write a foreword to this book. I wish to acknowledge him as a very outstanding man in every way.

I must mention the privilege of studying under Professor (Alhaji, Ambassador, Senator) Jibril Aminu, vice chancellor at the University of Maiduguri, who made an indelible mark on my mind. His speeches were thought-provoking. He would take off from the music of Fela Ransomkuti, travel to Catholic marriage from his Muslim background, and move on to the history of the Ife people of Western Nigeria to make his points in very simple, generally understandable English.

He cut the picture of a man who was well read but also conversant with the goings-on of streets corners, and many of us sought to be like him and also to write like him. And yet he is a professor of medical sciences, and his deliveries were supposed to be laced with medical jargon. In the end, he laid the foundation for academic excellence at the most sought-after university, University of Maiduguri, upper Niger, in Nigeria. I wish to acknowledge his role in inspiring and spurring my interest in writings and studies outside my area of specialization.

I’d also like to acknowledge Professor T. Oloowukere, the head of the department of accountancy, who taught us how to work hard. The benefit of that is finding the time to put this book together in spite of my schedule. The professors were in these capacities during the time I was there.

Sacrifices were made by my beloved wife, Emanimo, and my children when I was in the course of writing this book. Adebiyi K. A. edited the original manuscript, demanding simplification and clarification where necessary. Ireti Ibironke proofread and edited the final manuscript, and my sister Mercy was always there for me. They all deserve special appreciation.

I was not alone in putting this book down. I talked with many people, book dealers, writers, and God about how to handle this project, as it was my first time. Their contributions were immense, even though their names are not mentioned. The success of this book is theirs, while any failing is particularly mine.

Introduction

T he primary focus of this book is on the concept of retirement education, beginning from the point of entering service (be it civil service, military, paramilitary, or parastatal) and extending to the point of leaving. It also provides a guide to avoiding the pitfalls that gave rise to the present plight of pensioners in Nigeria.

When the retirement programme is berserk with problems, the effect is felt in all facets of working careers, including the goals and missions of the systems, be it in corporate organization or government. The future hopes embedded in every letter of retirement programmes should be considered sacrosanct. This voids associated perils in the system, whether by strikes or unethical behaviours.

A well-planned retirement is an organizational stability factor. In organizations, institutions, and any professions where a laid-down retirement procedure is followed, it fosters a sense of security for the employees. In these situations, there exists a deliberate plan, well-coordinated both at the personal and the organizational level. On the personal level, the worker puts something down for the future irrespective of the size of the pay package and takes what he learns at training programmes seriously. On the side of the organization, it makes certain contributions, along with learning programmes to the staff.

It is not farfetched to reason that some personnel take part in unpleasant, unprofessional, and unethical activities out of fear of the uncertainty of the future, particularly when they recall the pitiable conditions of their colleagues in retirement.

Corruption is fostered on this fear too. Unethical treatment of retirees renders a country unstable and sets its developmental efforts backward. To stem these, government has a duty to take matters of retirement, be it military or civilian, seriously.

This book covers a wide range of related topics, from pre-retirement challenges (factors that could militate against proactive measures, lifestyle, drinking habits, and family size) to taking advantage of available workplace opportunities to increase your income legitimately, with underlying emphasis on investing for the future. Other topics include challenges after disengagement, self-perception, perception of others, and twists in relationships between husband and wife or friends or trusted aides.

It is of great importance to understand that the financial environment we create is largely what provides us with either wealth or poverty in future, whether as an individual, a community, or a country.

Life

F rom the cradle to the golden age, there’s something about life, about living in full and ageing happily. Old age creeps on us, and before we know it, younger fellows refer to us as uncles and daddies . Wrinkles arrive later, and we become stooped. Our muscles weaken as our hearing and vision fade. We can’t run or walk as fast as we used to; we experience aches and pains in parts of our bodies we hardly noticed before.

Yes, it is inevitable for us to get old – if we get the chance, if some form of ailment or accident had not claimed our lives along the way, old age certainly will. So, yes, again, we will get old!

At this point, our working lives are over, and we move on to another era: retirement. The working time is the period of our lives professional economists consider to be productive and contributory to our national life. The labour of the younger generation pays the pension of the oldies. What you did determines whether you as an oldie will be dependent on your children for support or if you have been setting something aside for the future.

Old age, for some people, is a phase of life they look forward to expectantly. For them, it is their golden years – a time to become mentors, to rest and enjoy the fruits of their labour, to watch their grandchildren grow, a time to reflect on their mistakes and to prepare for an afterlife.

For some, it is a time to reinvent themselves, to find a different focus or career, to try new things, and to realize past dreams. For this set of people, retirement is a time filled with much happiness and joy, a time to look forward to with great anticipation.

For others, this phase introduces years of poverty, deterioration, loneliness, and illness. Especially in a culture that is youth-oriented, the elderly become invisible and are greatly devalued by society. Some lose their willingness to live as soon as they start to feel or even see the first signs of ageing. They think they can no longer do the things they used to when they were younger.

Getting older is a universal fact, even for those who look forward to getting old, but it gets worse for those who feel they have nothing to live for. A study has shown that in old age, attitude is everything. People experience the most happiness in old age if they look forward to it with hope.

In the study, which was reported at a meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and quoted by livescience.com, researchers examined 500 Americans ages 60 to 98 who lived independently and had dealt with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental illness, and a range of other problems. The participants rated their own degree of successful ageing on a scale of 1 to 10. Despite their ills, the average rating was 8.4.

Dilip Jeste of the University of California at San Diego, the lead researcher in the study, commented that what was most interesting was that people who were ageing well were not necessarily the healthiest individuals. He added that optimism and effective coping styles were found to be more important to successful ageing than traditional measures of health and wellness. These findings suggest that physical health is not the best indicator of successful ageing rather attitude is, he said. The reason some people do not age as gracefully as others centres on worries, disease, or disability.

Dr Morenikeji Olalekan, a specialist on the elderly, while corroborating Psychology Today, said people’s attitude determine for the most part, how far they will go in life. He said generally, happy people are those who have a great liking for themselves, are outgoing positive thinkers, and have a sense of personal control.

Dr Olalekan said that in his years of providing therapy to the elderly, he had come to realize that optimism, independence, a well-balanced sense of being, and smiles, among other positive attributes, helped contribute to happiness in old age. He also said that recluses found it a little difficult to come to terms with old age, most especially when they fell ill or battled some form of disease or the other. He submitted that these people died earlier than those who maintained a positive outlook on life.

A seventy-two-year Harvard study outlined major factors that predicted healthy ageing in the elderly, including:

• not smoking

• not abusing drugs

• having a warm, stable marriage

• healthy weight (calculated as a body mass index in the 20s)

• regular exercise

• a high level of education

Dr Ayo Fayehun of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, in his advice on how to live happily and long, said people, especially the elderly, should get regular and enough sleep, because lack of sleep contributes to depression and other physical illnesses. He suggested that non-stressful aerobic exercises would also help in relieving anxiety and mild depression. In addition, older people should try, irrespective of their social background, to maintain a positive attitude, because an elderly person who maintains a positive attitude in life would more likely cope with any physical difficulty or limitation related to ageing.

A good measure of activity (relative to how your body responds), healthy eating, and good sleep enhance a happy and graceful old age. These include religious activities, dancing, strolling, riding bicycles around, and visiting farmland. If one takes away good medical facilities in the urban areas, one will find out that the oldies in rural areas do better because of the activity related to living. These they do out of necessity, and at least they engage in worthwhile activities that keep illnesses like diabetes at a distance.

It is estimated that 90 per cent of age-related diseases are largely attributed to poor nutrition and lack of exercise. Therefore, maintaining a healthy system through exercise and nutrition is the best way to always be alive and kicking.

With a retirement plan, from the point of entry to disengagement, workers or employees stand a chance of ensuring happy golden years. For those who want to live healthy and happily in