I have a sneaking suspicion I am nearing the end
of writing here. Abidjan has worn me down
in more ways than one. It's not official,
of course,
anything could change, anytime
and maybe I'll be writing other things
but it is fitting
that I found this draft of a post
I'd meant to write months ago
about retirement.
I went to talk to....
Our school hosted
a guy-
A money guy
Investment funds, 401K
That kind of talk
Future talk that makes
my heart beat fast
25 years? Do I still even have
25 years?
Of course I do,
Maybe.
Planning for the future has been
an up and down thing for me
A thing I want to do
But just never have the funds,
the time, the frame of mind
to do.
He talks about my future in
number of years that don't seem possible
unless I put my kids ages to it
For some reason,
Thinking about their future is
a lot
easier
than planning for my own.
The numbers just don't add up
and I guess in many ways
my own life is beginning to feel
like a wash
Not much left to do
but make theirs better
The dollars he wants me to invest
Are more than I even earn
And the numbers we do crunch
Come up dismally low
"That's all?" I say. "Some people
make that much in a year."
After 25 years of saving
I couldn't live on that.
What's my real plan A?
We talk about my kids.
They have a plan for me. Like good African children,
they've already planned to take care of mom.
But when that tax guy talks-
"I don't want my kids to have to
take care of me and worry about dad
because he doesn't have enough money.
I want them off living their own life-"
It sounds bad, my plan A.
Just for a minute.
As I listen longer, I can see
only lonliness in his words.
His kids off in their financial wonderland
and he in his.
Mohamed has had an idea
since he was 5. He's always talked
about homes for his family.
It started with his grandparents and has now
expanded to include me.
He's ready, prepared, willing
to provide for me,
when I get old,
though I am ready to work forever.
He's got me covered, he says,
full of ideas for things
I don't even want.
It's the African retirement plan-
Invest in your children
100% return. Plus.
It was an interesting talk with that money guy.
I'm sure he left there
shaking his head
At my foolish plan
to invest in family
to place all my bets
on that little boy
who once wished
to be strong enough
to carry me on his back
as he sprinted
through a rain storm.
I listened to that money man's version
of retirement
without
burdening
his children and it just seemed
weird to me.
I've put my life into them.
Every second, every hour,
weeks and months and years.
It is an investment of love and time
and duty.
It should be
returned.
I thought back to the Quran,
its prohibition of making money
from money.
In that moment, I saw it as
a protection.
Investing in people is the alternative.
Feeling duty for family is
the original plan.
And still my only
plan A.
