Saving for retirement

This week, I've been reading on savings in some OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation & Development) countries and it seems that savings had generally declined over the years. If people aren't saving as much as they used to, that means spending and/or borrowing has gone up. Everytime I read articles on savings/investing vs. spending/borrowing, I get worried. Have we saved enough for our future including retirement?

I recall reading a book written by Azizi Ali (a finance coach) and how he scared me, by highlighting that if I don't save enough, who's going to support me after retirement. If I have children, do I want to them to financially support me?

Now, that made me think. We, in Brunei are culturally blessed that we take care of our parents and financially support them but I would prefer that in my old age, I'd be financially dependent and let my children enjoy their own finance. And let's not talk about TAP (Brunei's Employee Provident Fund). For now, let's just say that having a TAP account does not guarantee they'll be enough money for retirement.

In Brunei, although no real savings issues had been highlighted, it's evil brother 'Debt' had in the past made news headlines. Year 2005 saw the Ministry of Finance make regulatory changes, restricting personal loans to a maximum of 12 times the monthly salary. Even a Friday sermon that year, highlighted this debt problem, as noted by Brudirect where in that sermon...

"...imams quoted a report saying Bruneians are the largest indebted society in the region and stated that most of the people are in debt to the tune of 60 per cent of the family income."

On the whole, while these 2005 events are helpful to jolt us, I keep thinking, 'Have we saved and invested enough for our retirement, or to leave some inheritance for our children?'