As part of its statutory mandate of providing pension and other related benefits to civil servants as well as employees of participating institutions established by Acts of Parliament, the GIPF will be offering pre-retirement workshops at this year’s Annual Ongwediva Trade Fair. As a pension fund, stakeholder relationships and engagement remain critical as this empowers members with appropriate information on their benefits and rules of the Fund.
The workshops will be conducted on the 28th and 29th August 2023. As a responsible Fund, offering pre-retirement workshops to our members who are about to go into retirement is crucial.
“The GIPF took this important decision to conduct these workshops at Ongwediva as the northern regions constitute the largest membership base of the Fund. Pre-retirement workshops certainly provide members with the much needed knowledge to help them make more informed choices about their retirement. The workshops further provide financial tips to support members’ decision making as they reach this critical milestone in their working lifetime.
“Retirement can be very difficult and emotional as members find it difficult to identify what they must do when they go on retirement, hence the first step in pre-retirement planning is identifying your retirement goals. Part of this may include financial aspirations, such as maintaining a certain standard of living or letting go of some certain activities that you used to do while you were gainfully employed and as such, your planning should include all your personal ambitions, such as where to retire, traveling the world, new or old hobbies, or taking up new community activities,” Amos Kambonde, GIPF’s Manager: Marketing Services said.
Kambonde emphasised that the benefit of pre-retirement workshops cannot be overstressed. Retirement in most cases to some involves significant changes to what they do in their daily activities including personal finances, and many other activities.
“To answer the many questions about retirement, the GIPF conducts these workshops with the aim to cushion members into retirement as many members interpret retirement with mix reactions and sentiments. Even those who are looking forward to retirement usually feel an intense level of anxiety as that date approaches.
“As a Fund, we continuously emphasise the need for our members to attend the pre- and post-retirement workshops. We believe that members who are prepared for retirement, become better and more successful in retirees. While retirement is a welcomed life change in life and a bonus to some it could be a nightmare to others and hence the importance of attending such sessions,” he added.
Topics to be discussed during the workshops will include, a look at the GIPF retirement benefits, followed by financial planning and will conclude with a powerful testimony from a GIPF retiree who is enjoying and loving retirement.