NCSC Launches Retirement Seminars August 12

The National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) will launch its islandwide Retirement Seminars on Tuesday, August 12.

The seminars themed: ‘Retirement is a Process Not an Event: Be Prepared’, will kick start in St. Elizabeth at the Santa Crest Hotel, commencing at 9:30 a.m.

Acting Principal Social Worker at the Council, Angella Toyloy, told JIS News that the NCSC is undertaking this series because they want persons to be fully equipped for retirement, which is an evitable life process.

“Ageing is a lifelong process and preparation for the later years are very vital to how one functions in their retirement years and one of the biggest problem that we have is not making proper preparation for this stage of life,” she said.

Mrs. Toyloy also informed that persons aged 18-59 are being targeted for the sessions, particularly if they work within small or micro businesses.

“With larger companies, the employers will create a pension benefit [plan] for the employees, but for the small and micro business, sometimes this is not the case. Especially for the self-employed and entrepreneurs, you find that after retirement these persons are sometimes more dependent on government assistance,” she noted.

The objectives of the seminars include: providing participants with the relevant information to allow them to set and achieve realistic retirement goals; and allaying the fears and apprehension usually associated with this major life adjustment.

Retirement and investment, homeownership and maintaining good health during retirement are some of the topics that will be discussed during the islandwide meetings.

Seminars are also scheduled for Manchester and St. Catherine after the launch. For more information on the retirement sessions, members of the public are being asked to call the NCSC at 906-9277-8.