Make It About You

In a country that has scant social security, where families are becoming nuclear and there is a large machinery in the financial industry that is led by its own profit-making endeavours, the responsibility of retirement planning rests squarely on your own shoulders. The government’s defined benefit pension schemes have largely become unhinged due to lack of adequate funds. A recent State Bank of India report calls going back to the old pension system a “fiscal hara-kiri”. The traditional Employees’ Provident Fund, Public Provident Fund and now the New Pension System seek to help but the initiative lies firmly in your hands, especially if you are a private sector employee. Are these schemes enough in themselves? Look at the inflation numbers and calculate your requirement, and you will realise that the task of planning for retirement is not easy. For instance, a...