When Rebecca Kendi retired from her job as a County Revenue Officer at one of the country’s largest devolved units two years ago, she had no clue what she would do in her retirement.
Since the mid-1980s when she left college and got the job at the then local authority, her life had been a continuous run of work and more work in the office.
Thirty years later, she was staring at retirement without a plan. Her children had grown up and left home.
The baggage of paying schools fees, supporting her relatives and clearing monthly bills had left her with little savings.
She still was living in a rented house but was always yearning to build her own house. She still had her pension intact from her employer’s pension scheme and savings with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
When she was starting work, the cooperative movement was just making a foothold in Kenya and many people were joining.
However, she says that her salary was too meager to save in a Sacco.
“Back then, we were earning peanuts and I never thought of joining a Sacco. It is a decision that haunts me to this day,” she explains in an interview with the Sacco review.
Without any other source of income in retirement, she decided to use her pension to build a house a start a small boutique business.
And that is where her troubles started. The boutique business failed to pick up. Her money ran out barely after beginning construction and no bank or Sacco would advance her a loan.
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Slowly she was sinking into penury barely two years into retirement. Her children started avoiding her after she constantly began asking them for money. She was distraught. Slowly, she started sinking into depression. Her world was collapsing.
According to Amos Magezi, a financial expert, many people commit the same mistakes as Rebecca’s. They head into retirement with little investments, and no plan at all on how to survive during their sunset years.
Worse they make the mistake of not saving in a Sacco and this comes to haunt them. What follows is poverty and depression.
Magezi advises that it is important for a person who is approaching retirement to have some property which can be rented or converted into cash or even Sacco savings too.
“Have shares in a Sacco that pay good dividends. Plant cash trees and Grow vegetables etc. Rear goats, pigs and chicken. These and many other activities will not only give you income but will also keep you healthy,” says Magezi.
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It is true that many people develop some comfort in their job and hardly have time to lay down their retirement plans. They spend their money on luxuries and entertainment without developing ideas on how to save.
Some see retirement as a far-fetched dream that will take eons before molding into reality. Magezi explains that this the worst mistake many of us make.
“Any time that passes each day draws you close to the time of your retirement. You won’t be going to work. You won’t have office powers any more. No influence or at best, a reduced influence. Your cash flow will also reduce. Please check your retirement date today,” Magezi advises.
It is important that employees should know that they are given annual leave and weekly day offs by their employers for some good reason.
Most workers hardly care about their annual leave and would rather take as few days as possible to go and rest. To some, leave days means plenty of time to party and watch movies all day long.
Suffice to say this is where trouble starts. Leave days wasted are a time bomb that will explode as you head into retirement without a source of income.
Magezi opines that employees must always go home for their 30 days annual leave + a day off in a week. “Whatever you do during your leave and your off days, is what you will be doing when you retire. If all you do is to sleep or watch TV, then that’s what you are likely to do in your retirement. Remember the book of Proverbs, “A little sleep and a little slumber, a little folding of the hand to rest, so shall your poverty multiply,” the financial expert says.
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For this reason he advises employees to earn a trade or a skill during their leave. It will come handy. “Spend your after-office hours learning something. Don’t spend it sleeping, Gossiping, watching TV!! Same goes for your weekend. Make them productive. You will thank yourself for spending your time productively,” Magezi asserts.
Magezi also takes the ball to the government’s court and urges the government to be vigilant when it comes to keeping a stern eye on the management of Saccos to save retirees money.
“Look at the complete shutdown of entities such as Kuscco. Such occurrences make retirees lose faith in the Sacco movement,” he says.
Mismanagement of Saccos has become a thorn in the entire cooperative movement in Kenya. In 2024, the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) deregistered four deposit-taking Saccos for failing to meet minimum operating standards, marking the first time since 2019 that Saccos were deregistered.
The deregistered Saccos (Comoco, Nyamira Tea, Nyanyuki Equator, and Uchongaji) experienced serious liquidity problems and corporate governance challenges.
The deregulation signifies that these Saccos were not maintaining required standards, such as a minimum core capital of Ksh10 million for deposit-taking Saccos.
By Mwiti Mukunga
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