Savings, pensions critical to national development - Uduanu

The Managing Director, Sigma Pensions, Dave Uduanu, has reiterated the importance of short term and long-term savings to the development of many countries of the world including Nigeria.

Uduanu stated this in a panel discussion during a virtual media engagement organised by the Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) which deliberated on the ‘Impact of Financial Literacy on Youths.’

Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s oldest and largest non-profit economic education organisation operating in 120 countries.

Uduanu, a board member of JAN, said it was important that people learn how to save from young age, especially in their university years and this will go with them as they grow and develop into adulthood. He added that savings we have in banks are short term savings that can be used for daily needs while long term savings are pensions that are utilised when people retire.

He said, “Savings and pensions critical to national development. Pensions are the bedrock of long-term financial savings. The longer you save the better for you. What we are saying is that it is important that we start to save for our future while we are young than to wait for when it is too late. That is why at Sigma Pensions, we target university students and youth corps members for our catch them young programme.

“Saving for pension is no magic. People should save enough money now so that when they retire, they can continue their lifestyle in retirement”.

He added that “the minimum requirement for pension is 18 per cent of income from the age of 25 while in other climes; some do as high as 30 per cent. The key thing here is to start now even if you are older than 25, you have to start a pension savings plan now. One good thing now is that these savings are invested by the Pensions Funds and it is all better for contributors in the future.

He stressed that it will be difficult for anybody who has a strong pension plan to think of going into financial crime or embezzlement because he rests assured of a better future.

“If you have decent financial plans or pension plans you will not go into fraud. We should emphasise more of savings and savings for the future among the people. The more we save, the better the future is for us,” Uduanu added.