Include retirement planning in university curriculum – MAK urged

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University should teach students about saving for retirement. The appeal was made by Gautham Bhardwaj the Co-Founder & Director of Pinbox solutions, an international pensions innovation firm while paying a courtesy visit early this week to the University Retirement Benefits Scheme.

Bhardwaj noted that there is a knowledge gap on saving for retirement among many Ugandans even after they attain formal education. 80% of all Ugandans that attain formal education end up in informal employment, planning for retirement has largely remained predominantly among the formally employed or those working for registered companies that employ at least five people.

Only recently, with the amendment of the NSSF Act, government lifted the limit and now a company can register for contribution from a minimum of five employees to anyone with an employee. This will increase the number of people covered under social protection.

In addition, there is a plan underway by the government to have a retirement benefits scheme for the informal sector to widen the social protection coverage. This is an effort to alleviate the burden of old age poverty that looms over most of the population.

Pointing out the lack of students saving arrangements, Gautam appealed to the university to act and equip them with knowledge about saving for retirement basing on the lessons learnt from the university’s thriving in-house retirement benefits scheme.

“There’s need to tap into the vast number of young people that go through this university to ensure that the number of people that go into old age without retirement savings is significantly reduced.”

He further advocates for wholesome financial literacy that includes saving for retirement in learning institutions, which is important to realizing any society’s future economic goals like social security, “there’s more to financial literacy than just knowing how to make wise financial decisions”.

It’s more about being able to use this knowledge and apply it to everyday scenarios. Financial literacy affects every aspect of our lives: from creating budgets, to saving for retirement and investing. However, many students do not know or have less acquaintance to financial literacy, learning institutions should speed up the move to incorporate it into their curriculum.

With financial literacy taught comprehensively in schools, students can acquire the knowledge to not only stay clear of old age poverty through saving for retirement from an early age but also skills necessary to confront the current economic challenges in this society that include the huge number of people not incorporated in any of the social security arrangements and are in danger of experiencing old age poverty.