|
  |
|
|
My Early Retirement: The Cause, the Effect.
By Lateef Oladeji of Gem Business Ventures
We were all puzzled, simple minded we all were. Why would a sane person decide to retire early when the norm was for people to engage in smart acts to keep themselves longer in service beyond the compulsory retirement age of 60 years? Was it not to beat those smart acts that government modified the compulsory disengagement point to read “60 years of age or 35 years in service, whichever is earlier”? To our young minds then, and even till today to some extent, retirement connotes a kind of sentence to poverty and early death. Or how would one consider employees’ terminal benefits that were grossly inadequate for any meaningful post-retirement living, and such benefits that would not even be paid in time? Indeed, not a few retirees would have died before the entitlements were paid, making some cynics call them ‘death benefits’ instead of retirement benefits! So, that day when our high school Economics teacher started off on the topic of early retirement, and went on to list out certain reasons why some employees would opt for it, we thought he was merely engaging in a sort of academic exercise. To us, no person in his right senses would ever dare sentence himself to early death via the so-called premature voluntary retirement. That was then; we know better now. In 1981 when I got employed to my last employer, I had high hopes and prospects of rising to the zenith of my career. By my calculations, based on the conditions operating then, as well as the trust I had in my capabilities, a maximum of 20 years in service would have seen me through, or almost so, to that position. As it turned out, however, I was able to get an elevation only 3 times over a period of 20 long years. It was not due to any fault of mine or those of others like me. The authorities blamed it on a monster they called ‘lack of vacancies’. This monster became endemic, triggering off frustrations for many, including me, marking my initial romance with the idea of quitting work early. Owing to, or in addition to, the poor promotions prospects, I began losing an interest in my work. The work had become too monotonous for my liking, and all aspirations and efforts to get a re-posting to another department had become fruitless. The urge to quit work early had got boosted. Then came the challenging issue of my health condition of chronic gastritis, with its many dos and don’ts in terms of dietary and lifestyle restrictions. Indeed, the health issue became the strongest factor that had shaped my mind in a definitive way for early retirement. Work related stress and inconveniences had stood in the way of managing my health the proper way. Quitting became the only reasonable option open to me. When the opportunity for quitting my job came, I grabbed it with both hands. After all, the organization I worked for had a rare track record of prompt and regular settlement of retirement benefits. So, I did not have to bother about any ‘death sentence and death benefits’. A memo had come from the authorities towards the end of 2001, expressing regret over the disastrous promotion exercise that had taken place earlier that year. As usual, the exercise had left out many deserving staff members. Going further, the memo had informed the staff that Management was planning to downsize the organization as part of the restructuring programme going on then. An incentive package was, therefore, laid out for staff to consider for early retirement with effect from early 2002. That was the impetus I had been waiting for. I happened to be among the first set of people who put in their papers to benefit from the package. It's pertinent to mention that the decision to put in my paper was both preceded and followed by some tough hurdles to cross. My wife, understandably, was vehemently against it. Her initial stubborn refusal to yield ground would have frustrated my decision. But I was desperate and wary of the time limitation, and had to put in my paper first and work on her later. He who wears the shoe knows where it pinches. Seeing how my wife had responded to my decision, I refrained from confiding in my close friend and confidant until my application had been approved. He felt betrayed, but the deed had been done, and I was happy - which was the most important thing. Looking back now after over 8 years of voluntary retirement, I am filled with a mixture of positive and negative experiences. Among the positive ones are the ability to manage my health better, which has resulted in improved health for me; there is greater amount of freedom and more time to spend with family and for relaxation; there is hardly any cause for work related stress again since nobody breathes down my neck to meet deadlines. I also once enjoyed the satisfaction of being my own boss as well as being an employer of labour while it lasted. However, a few downsides have been experienced too. An unprotected exposure to the vagaries of the economy is by far the worst of them all, resulting in personal business failures and constant erosions of the standard of living (as our Economics teacher had taught us then). The loss of official authority and the loss of contact with former close colleagues are other negative experiences I have had so far. All told, however, I have no regrets In actual fact, I would encourage others too to embrace early retirement so as to give room for the teeming youths to get jobs.
|
Contributor's Note
This piece is a belated contribution in response to Qondio's call for articles on 'Retirement' the previous week.
|
|
|
 |
|
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
GemHomeBiz
an avenue for social and business links
gbolly54.apsense.com
|
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
Very nice, thank you.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thanks, ladyd, for your kind comment.
Thank you for sharing this very interesting story, Lateef.
Keep up the good work.
Best wishes.
Frederick
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Your warm remarks are stimulating, frederick. God bless.
The copyright for this content entitled "My Early Retirement: The Cause, the Effect." has been specified by the contributor as:
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0
Details 
This content may be copied and distributed (but not modified), as long as the original author is acknowledged with a link back to the content page.
If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL:
http://gembiz.qondio.com/
|
|
|
This intel was contributed by gembiz
gembiz
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
