Saving for retirement must start NOW

This post will be long, prepare for boredom. hehe!

1 out of 10 filipinos save up for retirement, according to this -an article which I found while googling for investment types currently being offered in banks (hehe, idle time now, and I'm trying to be productive okay!) Simply, this article says that saving for retirement should start as early as 20s. so that you don't have to cram on saving on your 40s and 50s, so that later on, you don't have to worry your kids about your financial needs when they've got families of their own. true diba?

I got bothered with the idea. for one, I'm in the mid 20s and my savings don't sound reasonable enough for someone of my age, job and position. two, I'm still not disciplined enough when it comes to "paying myself first" -the saving scheme which says that on your payday, set aside your savings immediately before you splurge. Well at least I've been conscious about it since last month, though I still do not deposit religiously every payday. because simply, I haven't outgrown traveling.

In fact, if I lose my job now, and assuming that I'd maintain my simple lifestyle which means eating 3x a day, going to my fave gym with unlimited entry, providing 10 kilos of alpo for my labrador monthly, going on night outs at most once a week, and paying for the PLDT bill and minor grocery stuff (yun kase assigned sakin sa bahay), then I'd be able to sustain myself until 12 months only. That might be just 6 months or lower for someone not living with his/her parents!

Imagine, for those 4 years I worked, I saved money good for 1 year. If I work for 35 more years, does that mean my savings will be good for roughly JUST 9 YEARS??? (kung ganon sana 69 patay na ako hehe. and we're talking abt 9 years of basic living ha, no luho no travel!) and hello there's the inflation rate which will surely eat up my savings. plus of course the possibility of having children which I must feed and send to really good schools. Of course there's the SSS monthly pension but that would be just enough for my basic needs and monthly utils, or perhaps pati caregiver? haha shux. that monthly pension might not provide that "retirement" definition I have in mind. I really should be more conscious of saving. or investing. I'm still not a risk-taker though. BUT I WILL BE, once I double my savings, hopefully next year! (now I've got a goal and definitely a bigger motivation!) BDO UITF or something. promise! hehehe.

On a related article, the step 3 in retirement planning is to estimate other sources of retirement income -to help you calculate your retirement capital needs (in step 4). Of course I first thought of SSS pension, as that's the most feasible for now. so I messaged a friend who's working in the accounting department in my previous job, then asked her if she has an SSS matrix for that so I'd know how much an average IT guy could get once he reaches 60 (pension depends kase on the average salary and number of contributions). She first asked what it was for. I said it was for me -which sounded really funny of course! As expected she said "ano ba ang bata mo pa!"

That reminded me of the first article's author. She went to the bank to ask for its investment options for her retirement, then the teller just laughed, thinking that she's just 24 and THAT IT'S TOO EARLY TO THINK OF RETIREMENT.

We filipinos tend to think of today, and TODAY ONLY when in fact, saving for retirement must start NOW!