RETIREMENT PLAN

 

Assalamualaikum

You all know how I loved to shop right? Well, if we're being real, I still do but now I have more self-control than before. Wahhhh siapakah perempuan ini? My wake up call is this question;

When should I retire?

As I was calculating how much I need to retire, to my surprise (not really), ehhh I don’t have enough? I don’t know why I think I had it all, and yang paling kelakarnya I was even having this impression that my company has some sort of retirement benefit padahal takde. Haha apakah. 

Going back to my retirement plan, my calculation is simple, too simple that my calculation could be frown upon by my accounting friends, my lecturers might disown me, tapi takpelah, I forget how to calculate future benefits or time value of money etc etc already, so yeap, if you want professional accounting advice, don’t proceed guys. Mine is really simple.

So here goes,

When I want to retire: 50 years old

How long I want to live: till 75 years old

How much I want as my monthly allowance: RM5,000

How much do I need

= no. of years after retirement x (RM5,000 x 12 months)

= (75-50+1) x (RM5,000 x 12)

= RM1,560,000

WHAT.THE.

WILL.MY.EPF.EVER.REACH.A.MILLION? NEVER!

Takut tak? I was scareddddd and this is even the altered version. The first version was I retire at 40 and live till 85. BERAPE JUTA PULAK TU? Seriously, I was like sempat ke tak nak kumpul duit ni? Simpanan pun takde. Insaf guys insaf. I want to change but it’s so hard, I was a complete shopaholic, someone who spent everything she earned, sometimes I macam malu when people thought I was joking when I said I don’t have any saving, I wasn’t, I seriously don’t have any, people thought it’s ridiculous and impossible to spend all that money in a month....hmmmm...no, it’s not impossible -_- .

So when I realised I don’t have enough to retire, menggigil sis. This calculation forced me to reevaluate the way I live my life. This is my wake up call to fix my shopping habit, and I did. Alhamdulillah. At 30 years old, I finally have saving! Although I have to admit, this changes doesn’t happen overnight. It took me around 2 years to reach this level, still tak betul jugak, sometimes I still make impulse purchase, I still haven’t reach the minimum level of saving (6 months salary). Despite all that, to see numbers in my bank account, I am still proud of myself, Good job dear self. ❤

I now preach for saving. I, yes me, has been shamelessly asking other people to save as well. Haha. Who knows that this day would come? I mean, spend all you want, but the minute you spend without saving, or you touch your EPF/saving for something not of a necessity, i’ll be there to nag you on your retirement plan.

I mean, tak takut ke kene kerje bila tua?

Unless you are a government staff, then you can ignore me, pension is king. 👑

Having said all that, I still shop guyssss jangan ingat I have gone extreme and decided to convert to minimalism. Am not. But now I have a budget. I set aside my saving first (everyone has been doing this for years I know), then I set a weekly budget and only spend that for that week. Fuh, berjaya. Sometimes kalau macam betul2 tak tahan nak shopping sangat, I buy gold. Lol. I don’t feel as guilty buying gold because to me gold I can resell if I really need the money.

My point is this, make a saving plan that is specific to you. You know yourself best. I boleh berbuih2 ceramah tapi kalau that plan doesn’t suits you, it’s still not going to work. Consistency is key.

Sikit sikit lama2 jadi bukit. Good luck peeps.