Have we thought about it...?

Have we ever thought what we will become and how will our life be in the next 10 or 15 years? That’s when we are retired. My conversation with my friend, Lisa, this morning strikes my attention and got me really thinking about my future. This morning I went to Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM) to withdraw some money, and met Lisa after that (Lisa works at BSM-red). We chatted for a while about usual things, like how she’s been doing lately, our work, family, etc. etc. But there is one subject that really got me thinking. It’s a story about Lisa’s office colleague who was retired last week. He is a 56 years old man with 12 children. 6 of the children were married which means that he still has obligation to raise and take care of them, and now he is jobless. He was so confused and wondering how he would live without a job. How will he raise his children and finance their family then?

This story really made me thinking about myself when I’m retired later. What would happen with me if I retired 10 or 15 years later? How am I gonna live then? How am I gonna finance myself? What job will I take or have to support and pay all my living expenses? How am I gonna support my parents and family? How am I gonna pay my mortgage? Is my saving enough? Do I have enough money to pay all those bills and installments? What if I don’t have enough money for that? Who’s gonna support and help me?

Those questions disturb me a lot and make me so terrified that it got me thinking that I must do something major now to prepare my retirement. It’s something that I must do urgently. When I’m retired, I must have enough money to pay all my living expenses, installments, bills, and at the same time still able to support my parents and family. I must force myself to do some financial rearrangements and set my financial goals for my retirement period. And I must do it right now!

First thing first, these are my financial goals for 2008:
1) By the end of Mar. 2008, no more bills on my credit card
2) By 13-Nov. 2008, I pay Rp10 million for my mortgage & restructure it to a shorter installment period (5 years)
3) By the end of Dec. 2008, I have Rp31 million savings (PIA, PAA, and savings)

These are my financial rearrangements in 2008:
1) Apply for PRUsyariah (PIA) with single premium of Rp15 million (31-Mar)
2) Apply for PRUsyariah (PAA) with monthly premium of Rp600,000 (31-Mar)
3) Use my BCA account for all travel allowance money (5-Feb)
4) Shopping fund is limited to Rp500.000,- for 3 months (starting January)
5) Dine-out fund is limited to Rp400.000,- for 3 months (starting January)
6) House renovation is limited to Rp20 million (first of March)
7) Total monthly expenses is limited to Rp3.655.000,- (incl. transport, meals, Astro, HP, PLN & PAM)
8) No travelling plan in 2008

Off course, along the way my financial goals and arrangements will be reviewed and revised accordingly in order to suit my needs and conditions at the time. However, I will try my very best to achieve all those goals and commit 100% to all my financial arrangements this year. May Allah guide and bless me. Amin ya Robbal alamin...