Book on pensions launched

Dr Charles Andoh of the Department of Finance, UGBS launching the book while Mr Aglobi  (right), Dr Yaw Baah, Dep. TUC Secretary General cheer on

Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare

A 232-paged book on the country’s pension schemes and retirement planning has been launched in Accra.
Titled “Pensions: The New Investment Perspective for Retirement Planning”, it was  authored by the Chief Executive Officer of the Advice Bank International, Mr Andrews D. Agblobi.
The writer is also a columnist with the Business and Financial Times newspaper, in which he has published over 40 articles on mortgage and pensions in the country.
According to the author, the 12-chapter book does a historic analyses of the development of pension in Ghana; from the CAP 30 through the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) to the SSNIT scheme which was, last year, replaced by the new pension scheme.
 Mr Agblobi expressed regret at the lack of indigenous books on the country’s pension scheme, a situation which compelled him to rely on foreign materials when he was doing a literature review on the subject of the book.
Mr Agblobi used the opportunity to call on all Ghanaians to take their pensions and retirement planning seriously by taking advantage of the voluntary pension scheme to contribute towards their retirement.
“The idea of pension”, he said, “is always to replace part of your earned income while working with regular monthly pension income until your death.  It is always good to start planning early for your retirement so that in case you are knocked down one day, you can easily fall  on your investments.”
 According to him, the in-depth research and consultations that he undertook prior to coming out with the book make it a good reference material for persons seeking information on pensions and retirement planning in the country.
He maintained that “the aim of writing the book is not to make money but to motivate people to plan well towards their retirement and also to expose them to the country’s pension scheme.”
Dr Charles Andoh of the Department of Finance, University of Ghana Business School, also bemoaned the lack of writing habits among Ghanaians.
He said “most people in the country are authorities in various areas yet they refuse to write, making it difficult for their experiences to be shared with the young in society.”
The first copy of the book was bought for GH¢200 by the Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr Frank Odoom.