His eyes slowly flickered open to welcome the subdued light of dawn creeping almost apologetically through half-opened windows. A whiff of aromatic blue mountain beans assaulted his senses. Just outside of the wooden French windows, a myriad of birds flitted excitedly from limb to limb as if brimming with some long anticipated message. In the distance, the soothing pitter-patter of water on real Jamaica rock echoed hypnotically. The crisp clean smell of morning saturated the hazy dew that hung like a potent promise. Nature was in perfect sync with the moment. Then full realization hit with unexpected intensity. He was 45 years old today and tingling with anticipation. T’was the first day of the rest of his life and he was ready. 

She abruptly awoke, jarred out of a fitful sleep with both hands cold and clammy. She tried to remember the dream, which she knew instinctively had been most unpleasant, but it eluded her. With heart racing and breathing labored she sluggishly moved to her private domain. Flared nostrils and dilated pupils stared back at her from the exquisitely glazed bathroom mirrors. The still was ominous. A quick glance out revealed heavy smog crisscrossed by thin light rays fighting for life. Unspoken anxiety draped the morning like a hang-over, discouraging the dawn. It could have been her haggard reflection or the color of those eyes so familiar, but in a flash, it was back. She remembered.

Her subconscious had presented a helpless, spindly and toothless recluse. Then loneliness, lack, emptiness, lack. The family visited when they could, but like her, lived frugally, one day to the next. Each time she awoke after this ‘vision’, it was wishing she had feathered her nest egg over the last 35 years. She had lived each day as if there were no tomorrow. Now at 59, the future extending infinitum loomed large, dominating her waking moments as well as her subconscious. 

Paul Ferrel, in a recent article appearing on the CBS website MarketWatch captioned ‘New investor psychology is endangering retirement’, suggests that investors exist in two parallel universes: addicted to short-term consumption, but paralyzed when it comes to long-term investing. The article describes the paralysis that grips 80% of American investors who are programmed towards consumerism and worse yet, in denial. Statistics for the local market are not much different with consumerism spiraling as we allow ourselves to be influenced by the ‘big apple’.  

Despite the extent of financial advice and financial planning information that bombards us daily, too many ignore the telltale signals which confirm that our ‘short-termitis’ or need for instant gratification is literally eroding the desired quality of life and independence in what should be the mellow years. The idea is not to scrimp and deny self all the niceties of life. It is to decide what you want and where you’re going early.

Determine what path will allow you to ‘smell the roses’ along the way so you don’t miss life reaching after life. Saving and spending are not mutually exclusive imperatives. The buzzword is balance, balance, and more balance.  

When NCB Insurance Company, in its July 2003 communications campaign proposed ‘retirement at 45’, the market response was at the very least…skeptical. 

Antagonists and proponents of the idea, fiercely engaged in their favorite past time…argument and debate. Currently, buy-in to the new paradigm is becoming more evident as an increasing number of financial institutions use the print medium among other communication channels to advise on how to retire at the earlier age now being embraced.  

It is interesting to note that were a snapshot to be taken several years ago with the Freedom 55 concept proposed by London Life, Canada, the same skepticism would have been encountered in international quarters. Then the major shift was that retirement need not happen at 60 or 65, but 5 to ten years earlier.  

When the ‘retirement at 45’ was born, the context was one which referred primarily to having achieved a level of financial independence to pursue a passion or lifelong interest, with the added bonus of being able to derive earnings from such a pursuit. In other words, this was no propagating of a non-productive and idle existence.  

Our handsome gentleman had worked his plan on the premise that it would take 75% to 80% of current income to be able to enjoy a pre-retirement standard of living. It had been challenging but he had started to plan early with his grandmother’s words of wisdom, a constant reminder that “one one coco full basket” and that he should “pay himself first” from every pay-check. He had purposefully stuck to the task for 15 years, diversifying his investments to spread the risk, periodically reviewing his portfolio to achieve optimally by way of a combination of guaranteed fixed income and high growth assets. He would always be grateful to his innovative wife who had led the way in borrowing money, collateralized by her OMNI insurance plan when he was a little reluctant, and using the loan proceeds to eventually make much more money for the family. 

His long-term insurance plans, one for each member of his family, made it very easy to cultivate the savings habits and were the ‘gems’ in his portfolio. The flexibility of automatic and regular payments which he could increase whenever he wished was a saver’s paradise. These investments were designated ‘untouchable’…to be accessed only for the specified financial objectives. The planning/savings mentality, formed and nurtured by several previous generations had allowed him to achieve non-financial goals as well; quality time spent at specific intervals with his immediate and extended family and peace of mind generated by preparedness.  

When the retirement milestone had eased into view, he had been pleasantly surprised to see how much the multiplier effect of the compound interest had catapulted the accumulated nest-egg. Like an athlete with his eye on the finishing tape, he had gone into overdrive with reviewing the asset mix on his portfolio, liquidating high-risk instruments and placing them as lump sums on OMNI to access the guarantee on his principal and returns that were more predictable.  

And now, the well-anticipated day was here. They were now comfortable ensconced in retirement while they could still enjoy life…together. The damp blue mountain whiffs tickled the end of his nostrils and he inhaled ecstatically. It had been worth the sacrifice. Their choice had been ‘work to live’.  
 
 
Call an NCB Insurance Representative at any NCB Branch island-wide, for more details. 
NCB Insurance Company Limited
Meeting your needs 

The Atrium
32 Trafalgar Road, Kingston 10
Tel: 1-888-MYNEEDS
Email:omni@jncb.com