The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Polysmart Packaging Limited, Wasiu Balogun, says people should aim to “retire today – in the quest to retire happily”.
Balogun was speaking recently at the 2022 Professional Day in Lagos put together by the Alimosho Professional Group.
Enlightening the audience on ‘Towards a Blissful Retirement’, the entrepreneur counseled Nigerians to start planning their retirement from the present.
“Retirement is living the last stage of one’s life outside what we are doing today. Every individual will retire from their long-term job or business. Every worker, employee, or business owner is meant to retire. It is leaving an old career for the next phase of life.
“At the point of retirement, you should be doing what will make you happy for the rest of your life,” Balogun explained.
He added: “Retirement is not how much money you want to make, it is the level at which your money will work for you, hence the need to work for your money now.”
According to him, before retirement, people should have multiple sources of income that are guaranteed and tested.
Balogun revealed that what makes an individual’s business successful are access to information, resilience, and persistent exploration of opportunities.
He explained that while planning to retire, individuals should create a positive circle of influence and also create a circle outside the sphere of their influence. He told people to stay healthy at all times too.
He advised participants to search for opportunities and tirelessly knock on doors until they have their way.
Furthermore, Balogun advocated transparency and loyalty in one’s dealings.
Apart from Balogun, two other speakers also spoke at the event: Professor Kamil Omoteso, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the College of Business, Law, and Social Science, University of Derby; and Dr. AbdulHakeem Bamiro, a medical practitioner and lecturer at the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM).
The Professional Day is an annual convergence of professionals in the largest local government area in Lagos, Alimosho.
Organisers say the programme is aimed at bringing members of the Alimosho Professional Group together to discuss the means of progressing in their profession while in service and after.