Looking at my 21-year-old son working as a refrigerator, with monthly income, I am afraid that later he will also fall into the same situation as me.
I am 53 years old this year. My whole life I have done all kinds of jobs to support my family but have never had a stable job long enough to pay social insurance regularly.
When I was young, I almost didn't think about pensions. At that time, I simply thought that I was still healthy, and if I could work, I would have money. The month I earned quite a lot, I spent more comfortably, and the month I had little work, I was frugal. Time just passed.
Only in recent years, when my health was no longer the same as before, did I start to worry. Some of my friends of the same age have calculated how many more years to retire, how much money I will receive each month in the future. But I have nothing to calculate.
I don't blame anyone, because that is my choice and circumstances. But because of that, I am even more worried when looking at my son.
My child is 21 years old this year, working in refrigeration. He is hardworking, skilled, whoever calls him to repair air conditioners, refrigerators or install equipment, he goes. There are months in the hot season, there is a lot of work, quite good income. But there are also months when there are few customers, the money earned is significantly reduced.
My child often says: "I'm still young, what do you worry about, Mom".
Perhaps when I was your age, I also thought so.
What worries me the most is that my child's job currently has no long-term support. No stable labor contract, no insurance paid regularly every month. Whatever I do, my child receives.
21 years old, the story of 30 or 40 years later seems too far away.
But for a mother who has passed the age of 53 like me, those decades have passed so quickly.
I once told my son that mother does not force him to find an office job or get into an agency just to have insurance. The refrigeration industry, if he loves it and can live by it, then just do it. I just hope that besides making money today, he will spend a small part to prepare for tomorrow.
But every time I mention insurance or long-term savings, I laugh: "I'm only 21 years old, Mom".
I understand that thought. At your age, with money, people want to buy a better phone, a better car, go out with friends or invest in more tools to work. Telling you to save money for old age when old age is still nearly half a century away is really not easy.
There were times when I intended to contribute money to participate in voluntary social insurance for my child. But thinking back, I see that if my mother keeps contributing instead, it is not certain that my child will understand why I need to prepare. I want my child to be aware of that.
I don't expect my child to have a really high pension in the future. I just hope that when he is 60 years old, he doesn't have to wake up every morning and ask himself: If I don't have enough strength to go to work today, what will I live on next month?
That is the question I started thinking about at this age.
Many times I feel regretful. If at 30, even 40 years old, I had understood more about preparing for old age, perhaps it would be different now. But my time cannot return.
My child is only 21 years old. He still has a very long way to go to prepare for the future.
I just don't know how to tell my child that a 21-year-old man understands that thinking about insurance, savings or a source of income in old age does not mean living too far away.
That is just a way for later, when you are no longer young and healthy as you are today, you still have the right to choose your own life.
I have spent almost half my life understanding that. I don't want my child to wait until their mother's age to start worrying.
But I am also afraid that if I mention it too much, my child will think that my mother is imposing and does not understand the life of young people.
How should I start a conversation with my child so that he is willing to think further about his own future?
