“I wanted to persuade a friend to save for the future but she kept saying she had no money but then later I saw she could sign up RM3,000 and RM5,000 for some slimming packages!” Reality hits when people find that they cannot afford to retire because they had not seriously put aside the money early on in life. Ng: ‘Less than 5% are prepared for retirement’ “Less than 5% are prepared for retirement,” estimates Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) president Ng Lian Lau. He says those in their 20s think they are too young to think about retirement, while those in their 30s and 40s tend to believe they are doing enough because they have their EPF savings, and those who are 55 feel it is just too late for them. And the truth is at 55, most people cannot afford to retire. “People are living longer, life expectancy for women is 76 years. For men it's 72. With this kind of longevity, people have got more than 20 years after retirement. 60 would be a more ideal retirement age,”...
(27hb Disember 2010)