Retirement Planning – Example, Importance and Best in India

Introduction to Retirement Planning

My friend Sujit could not stop laughing when I asked him about his retirement planning.

“Who thinks about retirement planning? I am only 30, Retirement is far away.” says Sujit. Most of us , like Sujit, having higher salaries do not believe in retirement planning because we believe in living for the day. While retirement planning, by its nature, is making plans without knowing the future, we normally postpone retirement planning and start thinking of it only after our 50s, which is dangerous.

There are lots of changes in our social life compared to 30 years ago.

Importance of Retirement Planning

Why is it important to plan for your retirement?

Let us see why it is important to plan for your retirement. How retirement planning is different from what it used to be in past?

Retirement in the past

Our parents, in the past, preferred government jobs. Post retirement life was around 10 years, which they used to spend with children. There were not much social activity after retirement. Pension, Provident Fund and gratuity were payable at the time of retirement, which was decent enough to maintain the rest of the life. Low inflation and decent returns from investment supported their post retirement life.

Retirement Planning now

Now the situation has changed. People start working since they are 22-23 years old and prefer to retire early. The longevity has increased and it is common to see lots of people still active at age 80. Post retirement life is more active now and there is need of a lot of money. Since most of the people prefer private jobs now, there is no payout of pension after retirement. Due to frequent job changes, there may not be a gratuity for many. Even PF would have been withdrawn partially, when there are job changes. Dependence on children after retirement is an issue now, because of the cultural and social changes. Most of us prefers to be on our own after retirement. Higher rate of inflation and low rate of interest also is creating problems for the retired life.

Retired Life in future

Lifestyle diseases are going to be the part of our life. Diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension etc. are the common lifestyle diseases. Regular health checkups and doctor visit will be the order of the day. Inflation in this sector is already more than 10% . More and more advancement in medicine will increase our longevity, but with a huge medical bill. Dependency on children after retirement will be a dream as children are migrating to different locations for better opportunities.

Best Retirement Plan in India

Though there are various retirement plans  offered by Insurance companies. Some of them are listed below

• LIC`s Jeevan Akshay 6 and Jeevan Nidhi Plan
• SBI Life Saral Pension plan:
• HDFC Life – Click2Retire and Assured Pension Plan
• ICICI Pru Life  Easy Retirement Plan
• Reliance Plan- Smart Pension:
• Bajaj Allianz Pension Guarantee Plan

There is nothing called best retirement plan in India. If any of your advisor has been promising you with the best retirement plan in a single product, he is fooling you. The most ideal way to plan one’s retirement is by investing smartly in different debt and equity products.

How much should you plan for retirement?

When to start planning for retirement?

What are the important aspects to consider?

Retirement Planning Example 

Let  us see an example of retirement planning for better understanding

Let us assume that the current household expense of Mr. Sujit is 40,000. This includes children’s education expenses, Life Insurance premium, Health insurance premium etc. He is aged 30 now. How can he maintain the same standard of living after retirement?

Some of the expenses like Children education, petrol expenses, Life insurance premium etc. will reduce after retirement. But expenses for health insurance, doctor’s visit, etc. will increase at that time. He may require a full time servant and a driver . In short, he may require the same 40,000 in current cost.

How much to save for Retirement in India

It depends on when do you want to retire. If you want to retire early, you have to save more for retirement in India.Also, If you start early, you may have to save less.

If Sujit wants to retire at the age of 50?

What will be the value of this 40,000 after 20 years at say 6% inflation?

It will be 1.28 Lakhs after 20 years. Sujit will require around 1.28 Lakhs per month for his household expenses after retirement! Again it will increase by 6% every year to offset the future inflation. Also it has to continue for the next 30 years, assuming longevity of 80. How much amount he should plan to ensure this payout?

The amount required is around 3.5 Crore.This amount, invested in safe instruments offering 8% return, will ensure an inflation adjusted payout of 1.28 Lakhs for the next 30 years. Assuming, a payout of 1.5 crores from his PF and gratuity, the shortage for retirement will be 2 Crore. He can go for a mix of PPF and mutual fund SIPs for the accumulation of the 2 Crore. Assuming a return of 12%, he has to save around 22,000 per month for the next 20 years.

Had he started this at the age of 25 (just 5 years ago), he could have reached this 2 crore mark, by saving 12,000 per month for 25 years. But if he delays further and start this from age 35, he will has to save around 43,000 per month for the next 15 years.

If Sujit wants to retire at the age of 60

The future value of 40,000 after 30 years will be 2.29 Lakhs per month. To ensure this cash flow for the next 20 years (till he is 80) there should be an accumulation of 4.5 Crore. If he can expect 2 Crores from PF and gratuity, the shortage for retirement will be 2.5 Crores. So he can accumulate this by investing around 9000 per month for the next 30 years.

Best Retirement Planning – How to plan a comfortable retirement?

Here are some tips for best retirement planning:

1. Start retirement planning early in life. Don’t postpone this till you are free from other commitments.
2. Don’t withdraw from your PF, even on other emergencies like a child’s education. Please reserve it for your retirement. There are educational loan available, but there is no retirement loan!
3. In case of job shifts, transfer the accumulated PF to the new employer.  Don’t withdraw.
4. Start a PPF account early in life. This is a 15 year scheme which offers tax free maturity. You can keep the account in force by depositing any amount in between 500 – 1 Lakhs every year. After 15 years you can extend it any number of times in blocks of 5 years.
5. Improve your skills, so that you can take up some assignments even after your retirement. Post retirement life will be active also.

Retirement Plan: I forgot to save for my Retirement

In conclusion, retirement planning is not tough if you plan it early and properly.Also,What do you think is the ideal age for retirement? Please share your views.