This proverbs to me is like an investment and pension strategy.

The ant gathers food in summer so has to have provision in the winter.  Human life is the cycle of the seasons; summer is a time of youth & winter time is a time of old age.

One should plan and invest wisely in the summer years for when one becomes advanced into the winter years, one may live in the comforts of which the winter years demands

If you stand as a surety or guarantor for someone, that person has the power to cause you harm, so be careful on who you stand as a guarantor for.