No preparations for retirement

MANY in the public service are not prepared for retirement and end up having to fend for themselves when they stop working.
Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) commissioner-general Sam Koim said this at the certificate presentation ceremony of a personal viability workshop for 22 long-serving IRC employees at Revenue Haus, Port Moresby, yesterday.
“For many of them, all they know is earning a living; not making a living,” he said.
“So when they leave their paid job, they have difficulty making a sustainable living.”
The two-day training was organised by the commission’s human resources division and facilitated by Kasi Wealth Management (KWM), a locally-owned firm that has been providing training for Government organisations since 2015.
KWM director Frank Lokalyo said he started the firm in 2015 with the aim to provide public servants with financial literacy to sustain themselves in retirement.
Workshop participant Warren Auka said he now had an understanding and assurance of how to invest his savings.
Another participant, Martha Kiapgugu, said after 46 years of service, she could not wait to retire and pursue other interests.
She agreed that all employees, regardless of their organisations needed to undergo similar training.
Koim said when the employees retired they would be forced to embrace economic and social realities but would have acquired some useful tools from this training to utilise their savings and superannuation to sustain themselves.
“It is in this context that IRC has undertaken this retirement preparedness programme for our long-serving staff to be ready for life after public service,” he said.
“This will benefit our dedicated staff as they retire from active duty.”