Retirement Planning is Pertinent – The Economic Times – My Blog
Retirement Planning is Pertinent – The Economic Times
Retirement Planning goes beyond Money as it is essential to prepare well for a post retirement social life besides building of corpus.
A recent survey found that the current generation of Retirees in India generally regretted of not saving enough in life. Also, those who are now preparing for their retirement expect to save for at least 6 more years than their previous generation. Proper Retirement Planning should include their Financial and Psychological needs.
Retirement Planning is pertinent because Indian demographics depicts trend of Higher Life Expectancy, Increase of Nuclear families and Absence of social security system. Yet, Retirement funds account for only a small part of total savings. Majority of us don’t save enough for comfortable retirement. Unluckily in India the thought of Retirement Planning comes very late in life and hence the need of Retirement Planning is growing very fast nowadays.
Basic reasons to plan for Retirement: –
Pay Cheques / Salary Stops
No one likes to be dependent
60 years is not old anymore
Here we would like to suggest and avoid 5 common mistakes while Planning for Retirement: –
– Not creating a Retirement Road Map viz.:
What kind of lifestyle you plan to have post retirement
What kind of medical expenses might arise due to my current health conditions of self and family members
What are my family commitments
Will I live on Rent or Own a house
Will I have Travel Plans
Will I want to pursue a hobby that costs money
– Not knowing the Corpus requirement at the time of Retirement:
Prepare a budget of monthly expenses post retirement, multiply it by 12 to give yearly requirement & then divide it by 7% to get an estimation of Corpus requirement
– Not starting early enough. Early beginnings will help reach the Goal due to higher compounding
– Not planning for contingencies in Retirement Plan. Most common contingency you need to prepare for post retirement is sudden medical exigencies
– Not making smart investment decisions. Here it is very important to take into account Tax Bracket of individual, Post Tax Returns of a Financial Instrument, Liquidity of the investment vehicle, etc.
Financial Freedom can be achieved if one has set realistic timeline for retirement, added a bit of planning with self belief & enjoy the journey. One must assess his or her Risk Appetite before choosing an investment vehicle and should not chase returns as it might derail the journey towards BIG GOAL of RETIREMENT.
Current monthly expenses can go up by 7 times over next 30 years due to Inflation. So, it is not only important to save but to invest correctly too. Aim to accumulate a healthy retirement corpus by combination of monthly savings and lumpsum investment.
A good retirement plan will help you enjoy your second innings and long vacation also known as retirement. So, choose your investment vehicle wisely to ensure a decent Retirement Corpus.
So don’t think twice! Plant the seed that will flourish your future and enjoy the time doing all the things you never had time for while working.
Views are personal: The author is Shashi Bhushan Verma, Mutual Fund Advisor from Kolkata.