Online Reporter
Dr Grace Musandirire
Building Generational Wealth
RETIREMENT is one of the realities of life that many people postpone thinking about.
We spend our productive years working, building businesses, raising children, paying school fees, buying houses and supporting extended families.
In the process, we sometimes forget to ask an important question: What will happen to me when I can no longer work as I do today?
The truth is that ageing is inevitable. Illness may come. Our energy may decrease. The business we depend on may slow down. The job we have worked in for decades may eventually come to an end. These are not things we should fear, but realities we must prepare for.
Retirement planning should begin while we are still healthy, strong and earning.
Recent guidance from Zimbabwe’s Insurance and Pensions Commission emphasises that retirement planning is a long-term financial process, not an event that suddenly begins when someone leaves employment. It encourages people to understand their pension benefits, investment choices, retirement income options and beneficiary arrangements while they are still working. (IPEC)
This is why I always encourage people who are building generational wealth to think beyond today.
We must ask ourselves: If I stopped working tomorrow, how long could my savings sustain me? If I became sick and could no longer run my business, would my family survive financially? If I reached old age, would I have an income apart from my children? If I passed away unexpectedly, would my family know what assets I own, where the documents are and what should happen to the businesses I built?
These are difficult questions, but responsible people must ask them.
Do not make your children your retirement plan
As parents, we naturally want our children to look after us when we grow old. There is nothing wrong with children supporting their parents. However, we should not deliberately grow old without making our own preparations.
A recent Herald report on retirement planning carried a similar warning, noting that retirees should not simply assume their children will provide for them because their children may also face financial responsibilities and limitations. (Herald Online)
Parents must therefore look after their families while they still have the strength to do so.
When you are healthy and earning, build assets. Pay school fees where possible. Build a home. Develop businesses. Save. Invest. Take appropriate insurance. Contribute to a pension scheme. Keep important documents safe. Make your wishes known. Teach your children financial responsibility.
Do not wait until you are sick, elderly or financially exhausted before you start putting your affairs in order.
Build income that can survive your retirement
A salary is important, but it should not be the only source of financial security for your future.
During our productive years, we should deliberately work towards creating multiple streams of income. This may include a business, rental property, farming, investments, pension income or other legitimate income-generating assets.
For entrepreneurs, retirement planning is even more important. Your business should not depend entirely on your physical presence. Build systems, train people and develop a succession plan so that the business can continue operating even when you step away.
Generational wealth is not only about accumulating assets. It is about creating systems that can continue to support the family after the founder is no longer working.
Prepare for health and unexpected circumstances
One of the biggest mistakes people make is planning only for retirement but not planning for the possibility of illness.
Good health can change unexpectedly. Therefore, while we are still strong, we should consider medical cover, emergency savings, insurance and other measures that can protect the family from financial shocks.
We should also organise our financial records. Important documents, property records, business information, insurance policies, wills and investment details should not be known only to one person.
A family should not discover the location of its wealth only after a parent has passed away.
Retirement should be a season of dignity
Retirement should not be viewed as the end of usefulness. It can be a beautiful season of life if we prepare properly.
It can be a time to mentor younger people, spend more time with family, travel, farm, write, teach, support community projects or simply enjoy the fruits of years of hard work.
But that dignity must be planned for.
We cannot spend our entire productive lives building wealth for everyone else and arrive at old age with nothing for ourselves.
Parents, while you are still strong, remember yourself too.
Look after your family. Build for your children. Support your relatives where you can. But also build something that will sustain you when your working days are over.
The greatest gift you can give your children is not to leave them with the responsibility of financing your entire old age. It is to leave them with assets, wisdom, systems and a legacy.
That is true generational wealth.
Let us therefore stop saying, “I will plan for retirement when the time comes.”
The time to plan is while you still have strength in your body, clarity in your mind and income in your hands.
Tomorrow is not promised, but preparation gives us a better chance of facing tomorrow with dignity.
As I always say, we should not only build wealth for the next generation. We must build a life that allows us to enjoy the wealth we worked so hard to create.
Profile
Dr Grace Musandirire is an entrepreneur, business leader, investor, Generational Wealth advocate and columnist passionate about empowering individuals, families and entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses, create multiple streams of income and establish wealth that can be transferred from one generation to another. Through her work and business journey, she continues to encourage people to move from simply earning a living to building lasting assets, systems and legacies for their families.
Contact: 0772391339
