Retirement Plan & A Hard Truth About Parenthood
I once had a senior General Manager.
During the opening of a nationwide Managers’ Seminar, he delivered a speech that sounded casual—almost blunt, even slightly sarcastic. But behind those words was deep wisdom.
He said:
“You all have children.
Give them the best education you can.
Raise them properly—especially during their childhood and teenage years.
Teach them to stand on their own feet.
When they become adults, they should be able to live independently and earn their own living, without relying on you.
Do not assume that when you grow old, they will stay with you, care for you, or support you financially.
If one day they give you money, consider it a bonus—not an expectation.
Your children belong to a different generation.
They may travel far, build their own lives, and leave you and your spouse alone.
When that day comes, your EPF or pension is not for your children.
It is for you—your old age, your dignity, your survival.
Use it wisely.
Hire help if you must.
Prepare to take care of yourselves.”
At that time, it sounded harsh.
But it stayed with me.
Years later, I met a Chinese businessman in Sarawak.
He owned a company and had a son my age. He sighed and said:
“My son is already working… yet he still keeps asking me for money.”
That moment validated everything my former GM had warned us about years earlier.
He was not being sarcastic.
He was being realistic.
And perhaps, deeply compassionate.
True love for our children is not about making them dependent on us.
It is about preparing them so well that they no longer need us.
And true retirement planning is not about hoping to be taken care of—
It is about having the courage to be prepared.
Wisdom often sounds uncomfortable.
But time has a way of proving it right.
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