The Goal Most Indians Ignore

Retirement planning is one of the most ignored financial goals in Indian households even though it is one of the most important life-stage goals for most families. In earlier days, joint families provided financial comfort to retirees since children would take care of retired parents. We are now fast moving towards nuclear families, Double Income No Kids (DINKs), single parenthood and live-in relationships. Also, life expectancy is longer now which means your money has to last longer – potentially into your 90s. Given that bond yields and interest rates are very low, you cannot just invest in a few fixed income instruments and expect double-digit returns. Why One Should Plan For Retirement? These days, most employers give more salary in hand instead of retiral benefits. Formal inflation-linked pension too is fast becoming history. This inevitably means that unless you don’t...