Fresh Graduates vs. Retirees

Newcastle University, Class of 2015, June 2015.

As my friends and I (the fresh graduates) are finding the perfect jobs for ourselves, so do our parents who recently retired. And I found a few similarities between us,

Which we: 

1. Think a lot about what to do in order to continue sustaining our lives. 
2. Jump into one profession to the other in search of a job that fits our soul. 
3. Have time to think about so many things and developing ideas but to execute them is another story. 
4. Talk a lot about doing business but mostly do not have the experience in handling a business. Because the retirees are from govt/private/NGO sectors and the graduates are from universities learning theoretical knowledge. 
5. Staying at home doing house chores and running household errands while regretting a few things that we could have made right – like; 

• increasing our savings while we earn and get allowances for future use. 
• investing in our self worth by doing the things that we enjoy so we progressively improve and be a master in a few things. (To do the things that we love, we need to pay for it, so that’s what I mean by investing in self-improvement). 
• buy quality things such as a Chanel handbag, Calvin Klein jeans, Dolce & Gabbana dresses, Cuisinart kitchen essentials – basically all things that last a lifetime – while we earn. This, I regret a lot! Cry cry cry! 
• make lots of friends and maintain the network as I tell you, networking is too important. Because life is a business itself, everybody has something to sell and everyone buys from someone else. Means everyone has something to offer which you might need later. So, maintain your networking! 
• listening to lots of other opinions and feeling limited to limiting opinions (everyone has something to say and honestly, opinions is one of the cheapest thing that people can give). And at the end of the day, its not people who will pursue our dreams, its ourselves. 
• use all the KWSP/EPF money for house renovation, travel the world, start a business that we have no experience in without a successful mentor guiding, buy a new car or throw a lavish wedding party for the children. And three years after that, more than half of the EPF money has been used and only some is left is to be used for the next 10-20 years. So please leave half of your retirement fund capital in the investment portfolio, let it continue growing for you and take only the dividend before you’ll regret it later. 
• not diversifying our wealth by investing in stock market, unit trusts, promising business or property. Have no insurance for medical coverage that when we fall sick, we need to use our savings to finance our medication instead of benefiting from the insurance’s company coverage. 
• not managing our wealth well – we have lands and properties. But we don’t manage it to become our income but instead, the assets become a liability to us. So, manage your assets well that you can earn from them soon after you bought them. 
• not starting to work on our dreams soon enough that when we realise it, we feel that its too late. 

Two things that I can say are,

Prepare monetarily for your future

And,

Give up on the things (and people) that don’t serve you anymore to give space for what does

Nothing is ever too late. May Allah grant us the best path for our own unique life story. Amen.