Long Live Women, Long Live Women, ...

I happened to listen to a radio interview on "The Living Room" of News Radio 938 for two reasons. First, one of the interviewees was my ex-classmate from MPA course. Second, it was about a financial education program designed to encourage women aged between 40 to 55 to save, plan and grow their financial support. My friend is with Tsao Foundation which focuses on the aged.

She said the women need to be financially independent. If a woman does not intend to get married, she needs to plan for her retirement; it is nothing new to me. If a woman even gets married, she still need to plan because a women has a high chance to outlive her husband as the life expectancy of a woman is longer than that of a man. She gave some demographic data to support the argument. Woh... I never thought about that before. I did hear about "preparing for the rainy days" such as "what if my husband could not support the family for any possible reasons". But long life expectancy of a woman never crossed my mind.

I mingle with many people who are of my parents' generation. Many of them are senior citizens and many others approaching to retirement. I really admire the way some of them lead their lives. A friend of mine said that she has a long to-do list when she retires and she is excited about that. I want to grow older, wiser and happier. It means I have to start thinking about preparation for financial Independence.

"How early should a woman starts to plan for her retirement?" asked the interviewer. My friend quickly did some calculation starting with "if a 40-yr old woman expect to live till 90, she still has 50 years to live.... Her calculation went on and on.

Gosh, I never gave a thought about living till 90. This interview made me checked through the medical reports of the previous two years. All examinable health conditions are in good shape. Possibility of getting heart failure is near zero. Does it mean that I am going to live long? So, just not to pressure myself so much, say I am going to live till 80 if there is no unfortunate changes happens. I don't think I am able to hold a full-time stressful job after 60. So, my preparation should target, at least, for the 20 years that I am going to live with minimal income. I felt being waken up by this thought. At the same time, a question pops up. Will living longer leverage the quality of life?

Long Live Women...