IT never crossed her mind that she would have been a widow at age 32.

They were young and their small family, which included a daughter born only a few months earlier, was thriving. But three years after they had exchanged vows, her husband and family breadwinner died suddenly, bringing a premature end to their marriage and to life as she knew it.

“Growing up, you were always told that it was the man in the family who looks after you,” said Karen Gandreti, a Jamaican of Indian descent who grew up in a household which upheld many traditional Indian family values.

“I went down that path and I got married to a doctor and thought that I would be taken care of. And [that] I didn’t have to work unless I wanted to,” she reflected.  

“It was just before our daughter turned one year old. He didn’t have a pension. Actually, we were just getting into planning our lives,” she continued, as she addressed fellow realtors at a recent meeting at the Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston, organised by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) to discuss the benefits of the JN Individual Retirement Scheme (JNRS).   

The first thing she did was to land a job, and after that, obtain pension and insurance coverage.

“Once I started working there was this thing where you had to wait at least three months before you can apply for something like a pension. I went to the bank and I said ‘this is my first month working, and this is my first pay cheque. I need a pension, I need a credit card and I need life insurance’,” Gandreti recalled.

Fortunately for her, the bank was accommodating.

The life-changing incident also changed Gandreti’s outlook on life. A strong believer in financial independence, she is now pushing for early education about the benefits of thrift, not simply for traditional goals such as college, but beyond that, and retirement.

“With my three-year-old daughter, if I give her $50… I say to her… give me one- third of that for taxes,” she said, eliciting laughter from the realtors.

“It’s no longer just about sensitising us who go to university; it’s about having the children in the school learn it earlier,” she underscored.

It is a point of view which the consultant with responsibility for the JN Individual Retirement Scheme Sharon Smith endorses. Smith said given the attitude towards retirement saving in Jamaica, early education is important to changing the prospects of each citizen and the country at large.

Acknowledging the effective work done by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in targeting adults, particularly self-employed persons, she surmises that people across Jamaica will experience real behaviour change in savings habits when they educate their children.

“There are organisations in other countries around the world which are in fact offering pension products for children; therefore, this is something that is already in progress and can be very beneficial. It could be the start of making our children more financially conscious,” she said.

However, she pointed out that education is only one of many considerations that need to be taking place in the local pension industry to shore up pension funds.

“There is reform taking place on the legal side; however, that must be complemented with education about the changes in the legislation; and, far more information about the critical importance and benefit of starting a pension early in life,” she maintained.

Noting the country’s pension situation, given the marginal participation of citizens in pension schemes, she said that a more proactive approach should be taken for behaviour change to take place. Only about 8.9 per cent  of working Jamaicans are part of a pension scheme, according to the FSC, while  40 per cent of Jamaicans will only have access to an income from the National Insurance Scheme when they retire.   

“In the final analysis, we will all benefit if we change our attitudes and plan carefully for our retirement,”  Smith said.