Category Archives: Retirement

Retirement Advice For Young People, From A 60 Year Old

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No, I am not a financial expert. I’m just a girl who always had the idea that she could retire early, but learnt the lessons I needed to make that a reality, a little too late. All is not lost though, so this is not a pity post. But rather, it is a call to the young persons and my retirement advice for them.

I shared this post over 10 years ago. The writer retired at 27. That’s too early in my opinion, but he explained that it didn’t mean that he would go off to play golf and never work again. What he meant was that work would be optional. I did have a wonderful period in my life when I worked very little, and had peace of mind. From 2003 to 2005, I picked and chose my projects, barely working more than about 8 months in that period, as if I had a Trust fund set up for me! Anyway, it was the most glorious period of my life as it included lots of travel and many cricket matches in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

Enough about my mini-retirement. I will share now, the retirement advice that I give any young person who will listen.

1. Start investing and saving early!

No amount is too small to start investing and saving for retirement. Young persons will often say that they do not earn enough to save anything. However, I disagree. If you have even $10 to put aside, it will add up through the power of compound interest. Time is your friend. Any 20 or 30 something person I meet, I tell them to open an account in a Credit Union (in general, banks charges lots of fees and pays almost no interest, unless you have a large amount of money). This is a reminder that it is not about how much you earn, but how much you save and invest.

2. Keep learning and be the best at what you do

The more you know and can do, the better your opportunities for making money in a side hustle. Also, increasing your skills and being a high performer should usually lead to a higher salary you can command whether in your current workplace or another. This brings me to the next point……

3. Don’t stay too long in one workplace, unless you keep being promoted or getting substantial increases

Our parents’ mental model of work was stability through longevity. That no longer obtains, in my opinion. If you really want to set yourself up financially, keep your eyes open for opportunities aligned with your desired career path. Loyalty cannot be used to purchase groceries or pay your children’s school fees.

If you really like your employer, do periodic informal salary surveys and see what the market is offering, then negotiate with your current employer. If they value you, they will match your salary to what you could command elsewhere.

4. Become financially literate and money savvy

Whether you are married or single, it is critical that you understand the basics of money and building wealth. Ask your wealthy friends about the best places to invest, including financial institutions, real estate etc. Watch YouTube videos which break down financial topics into simple language and give useful retirement advice. Learn about investing in the stock market. Find a template that you can use to calculate your Net Worth. The latter really put things into perspective for me.

About 15+ years ago, I used to read Cherryl Hanson Simpson’s Financially Smart Advice articles in the Jamaica Observer and eventually booked a consultation (I mention the meeting in this article, along with why it took me so long to get my finances in order). To this day, I continue to use her Net Work Excel template and every January, I update it to look at my financial situation. I also bought her book, The 3 M’s of Monday. She also told me not to discard the tape recordings from my gazillion interviews with cricketers. In time, they will become assets which will contribute to my retirement income. (In the meantime, you can visit my other website dedicated to cricket, aptly called Cricket Interviews)

In summary….

Take charge of your finances and be diligent in learning all you need to know about money, building wealth and retirement planning. Don’t wait. Start today. That’s my retirement advice for young people.

How Losing My WhatsApp Messages in 2024 Triggered a Decluttering Spree

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Do you keep WhatsApp messages for years? Since switching over from a Blackberry to a Samsung Galaxy in 2014, I have kept old messages. Losing WhatsApp messages in 2024 forced me to confront just how much I was holding onto.

After over 10 years of upgrading phones every couple of years, you would think I would know that in order to transfer my WhatsApp messages to the new phone, I would have to back up my WhatsApp first. Well, I didn’t. And I still cannot tell you why. But here is what happened.

In 2024, I had gone into the Westfield Mall to the Clark’s store the day after I arrived in London. Wanting to get rid of the Samsung Note which I had bought the year before, I spotted the nearby Samsung store. Guess what? They were having a special for upgrading to the new Samsung Galaxy. Since that was at the start of my trip, I decided to think about it and if I still felt I should buy it, I would. The day before my departure date, the deal was sealed. I was going to purchase the new phone.

I had planned to back up the WhatsApp chats after breakfast, and then head to the Mall. I started, and then it was taking too long, so I said “let me do it at the Samsung store.” But then there were so many WhatsApp messages….including images and videos….that it was taking too long. Also, I had planned to meet a friend in Wimbledon and I kept rescheduling, as the back up was taking forever. Eventually, I thought I should abandon the thought and just be prepared to live without being able to refer to a chat from 5 years ago.

Why Losing My WhatsApp Messages Felt So Unsettling

What type of things did I normally need to research in old messages? Sometimes, I wanted to double check someone’s birthday. I’d just go to the chat, search “birthday” and voila. Other times, someone may say “but you never told me that?” and I would simply go to my old chats and provide the evidence (or apologise for my error.)

How Losing WhatsApp Messages Led to Decluttering Everything Else

After the reality set in that I had lost most of my old WhatsApp chats, I asked myself if I really needed to keep all messages. The answer was no. So I set about going through the old chats, reading them over, and then sending them to the trash bin. That felt liberating, and it shifted my mindset around digital clutter and what I really needed to hold on to. Next, I moved on to old utility bills, handouts from training sessions I had conducted 10 years ago, old scrap paper I had kept because I was environmentally conscious. You name it, I dashed it away.

As you may have read in the January 01, 2026 post, I started to declutter my email inbox. I think I will choose that as my word for 2026—Declutter, not just physically, but digitally and emotionally too.

I’ve started 2026 by decluttering!

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It’s the first day of 2026!

A new year, with new possibilities, and for me, it will include decluttering. According to the dictionary, to declutter means to “remove unnecessary items from (an untidy or overcrowded place).”

Even though I tend to be a minimalist (except when it comes to pens, markers and other stationery items 🤨) I seem to have many unnecessary items – clothes that I haven’t worn in decades, a container with hair rollers I haven’t used since 2013 when I stopped processing my hair, receipts from last year which haven’t made it to my Excel expense tracker, or online articles I opened on my phone while scrolling, which have remained unread.

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Unleashing Side Hustles and Passive Income in the Caribbean

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I live in the beautiful Caribbean region, where the sun shines, the leaves blow gently and the waves beckon. Many dream of finding ways to earn some extra cash without breaking a sweat. But Caribbean people have been conditioned to have a 9 to 5 job. If you are not going somewhere consistently 5 or 6 days a week, eyebrows are raised. However, the explosion of the digital economy has perhaps made traditional jobs a thing of the past. Those who stick with that work model, may soon come to realize the world of side hustles and passive income. So let’s explore this concept, about which I was clueless, that can help Caribbean people ride the waves of financial independence.

Caribbean beach
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Getting my finances in order: It’s not too late!

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Emergency fund, passive income, active income, side hustle, stocks, dividends……these were financial terms that I didn’t become acquainted with until I was over 40. That age is significant because you see, my money habits were shaped by what I thought would have been happening around that age.

Let’s go back to when I was around 17 years old. I was speaking with a male friend (not a boyfriend) who was about 22 years old at the time. I can’t recall what we were talking about, but it eventually led to me ask him if he was getting married. His response stuck with me. He said he was not planning to get married because he didn’t think he would live past 40. And so I said to myself, ok, perhaps I won’t live past 40 either. I know. It’s weird, but that thought followed me around for the next 23 years. Every pain, in my mind, was a terminal illness. Imagine my “disappointment” when the test results always came back negative. I know. I know. It’s weird.

Fast forward to my 40th birthday and I started to plan a big fete to celebrate, half thinking “will I be around for it?” In the week leading up to the fete, a friend of mine who had been invited to the fete, passed away. She was younger than me. When the year ended, I thought to myself “maybe it [death] will come a year later.” Writing this now, I am thinking how silly that thought pattern was. But it was my truth, at the time.

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Weighty matters: Battling inner conflicts

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As I barrel to the official retirement age of 60, I find myself still not having a handle on maintaining weight loss. I have had a few good weight loss years – 1983, 1992, 2010, 2016 and 2021 are ones which come to mind. But they are always followed by me slacking off….taking my foot off the gas, and then of course, the weights creeps back on.

Since about November last year, I have been unable to fit into my company-issued uniforms. Truth be told, it was a few months before that…..I was squeezing myself into the ones I had made the seamstress take in. At the time the uniforms were delivered in late 2021, I had been on a really good eating pattern which had led to steady weight loss. I had reached to 199 lbs. So I had asked her to take in 2 of the 3 sets of uniform that were noticeably baggy. “Leave 1 set….just in case.” I guess I know myself.

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Seon 180 podcast on Dementia, with Dr Kester Nedd

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If you have ever found your car keys in the fridge, or driven back home because you swore you left your coffee mug on the counter but later found it on your desk, could you be presenting with symptoms of early onset Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s is just one form of Dementia. Listen to this Seon 180 podcast featuring Grenadian Dr Kester Nedd. The topic is personal for host Leslie-Ann Seon, as her mother had Vascular Dementia. It’s also relevant to me because my maternal grandmother had Alzheimer’s.

https://fb.watch/hlTCNlZQTH/?mibextid=6IxyOt

Are You Ready For The Big R

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For many people, the events of the past 10 months have understandably brought certain financial questions to the fore, chief among them being: Is my emergency saving fund in good shape? Am I carrying too much bad debt? Does my budget realistically reflect my current reality? Is my financial portfolio adequately diversified? Do I have enough of a safety net by way of insurance?
— Read on www.jamaicaobserver.com/style/are-you-ready_212630