Before and After Retirement

 

 

 

When I started out teaching

I was very weakly paid

Such that at the end of the month

There was not much I had made.

 

It was less than two hundred

When I started to work,

So much less than two hundred

I could justifiably shirk.

 

At the very beginning

There was very little to save,

Having become a working man

I bought whatever I craved.

 

I opened a bank account

To which my pay was sent,

I still lived with my parents

So I did not pay rent.

 

I contributed to the home

Though there were no demands

And for the first few years

The rest flitted through my hands.

 

Scarcely a care in the world

I didn’t pay for my meals

And though my salary was small

I easily met my needs.

 

 

There was little on the account

That I had earlier opened

But I still lived at home

So that was no problem.

 

After eight years of teaching

There was little to show,

It was then that I determined

Time to stop the money flow.

 

Enter the Credit Union

And you know which one too:

The Wesleyan Holiness Credit Union

Now of a “One Heritage” view.

  

That became my nest egg

With an insurance policy or two,

My life after teaching

Suddenly came into view.

 

I started a family

But first I took a wife

And everybody here knows

She is the joy of my life.

 

She was working at the bank

Just where the money grows

But that was no free for all

God in heaven knows.

 

However there were two salaries

Two are better than one,

And into that situation

Our first child was born.

 

Three years hence

Came our second child,

She shall remain nameless

Except on her file.

 

I am telling you all this

So that you would understand

It is difficult to save

When there is such a demand.

 

A home to maintain

With a wife to satisfy

And two children to educate

Need a good money supply.

 

And while you are at it

You must still save for old age

And pay your tithes and offerings

Whatever your stage.

 

National Insurance Security

That was certainly a boss move,

It comes in handy at retirement

I have the evidence to prove.

 

 

And of course, one’s gratuity

That is another nest egg,

That comes in handy too

So that you don’t have to beg.

 

The first thing I noticed though

When I had first retired

Was my income was far more weakly

Than when I was hired.

 

That is the state of the retiree

Pension is far less than one’s salary,

The life before is now no more

The retiree is forced to be thrifty.

 

But you can still live

If you bear some things in mind:

The first one being

The “good times was” another time.

 

The second one is

Don’t flit it all away

For you must always be mindful

“Leave some for a rainy day.”

 

Now you know for sure

That I am no rich man

So if you are looking for money

Find somebody that can.

I am a retiree

And that makes me a pensioner,

It’s one day at a time

For my life that’s the answer.

 

Don’t let retirement catch you

With your pants down,

Prepare for it now

So that then you can still abound.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2018