Metropolitan Lesotho warns of pension risks
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Lesotho Times
Illustrative image · Kampus Production · Pexels · Licence PexelsMetropolitan Lesotho is urging future retirees to protect their pensions by avoiding excessive debt, unmanaged family spending and investments without professional advice. At a pre-retirement seminar, the insurer recommended managing payouts as income intended to last for several decades.
Metropolitan Lesotho has advised workers nearing retirement to treat their pension capital as income intended to cover their needs for several decades, rather than as wealth to be spent quickly. Rethabile Mapena, from its Retirement Funds Administration Programme, made the recommendation at a pre-retirement seminar held this week at the Convention Centre.
Rethabile Mapena identified five main risks for future retirees: considering pension capital as available wealth, retiring with too much debt, failing to set boundaries on family financial expectations, underestimating inflation and life expectancy, and investing without professional advice. He notably recommended planning resources for 20 to 30 years after the end of employment.
He also warned that personal loans, car finance and outstanding mortgages could reduce retirees’ financial independence. Financial support for children and the extended family can also place a lasting burden on accumulated savings, he said.
