Retirement Planning: How to Stay Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

With increasing life spans and advances in healthcare, we can all expect to lead happy, productive lives for many years after retirement.

There will be enough time to do all the things we want. Whether it’s to return to a home town, pursue a creative project, or take up a social cause.

Financial independence is critical for this. Without a fixed income, and with increasing inflation, you should make sure you have enough money to take care of the day-to-day expenses and unexpected possibilities, as well as to pursue your goals.

That is why you need retirement planning. The sooner you start, the easier it will be to meet your target.

In essence, retirement planning can be broken down into three steps.

1. Determine the age of retirement and how many working years are left.
2. Calculate your needs after retirement, and factor in inflation to find out the amount you will need.
3. Start investing to meet this objective, with the help of expert advice.

You should first take care of insurance needs. Regular investments towards provident fund are a good way to build a retirement corpus. Of the other options available, mutual funds are an excellent choice.

Mutual funds are professionally managed by fund managers. In the long term, returns can easily beat inflation. They are simple to invest in, can provide tax benefits, and you can choose from the retirement mutual fund based on your age and risk appetite.

Mutual funds can thus become the foundation of your retirement plan. A Systematic Investment Plan, or SIP, is an efficient and productive way to go about this.

How SIP Helps in Retirement Planning?

An example is the best way to bring to light how SIP can fund your retirement years.

Assume you are 35 years old, and you start a SIP of just INR 15,000 per month. Take a return on investment at a very conservative 10% per annum. Also, assume that you continue with only INR 15,000 in the SIP. By the time you reach the retirement age of 60, i.e., 25 years from now, you will have over INR 1.5 crores.

The magic of regular investing, coupled with compounding, makes SIP a very attractive way to fund your retirement. Also, there are other benefits, too.

You can start with a low amount and increase it as your income grows. If you choose equity-linked savings schemes, you get tax benefits. As you grow older, you can shift to more debt funds, so your risk decreases.

The Importance of Financial Planning for Retirement

As with any other goal, you need a plan to achieve a comfortable and worry-free retirement.

This means estimating income as well as household expenses, now and for the future. With this, you can calculate how much you need to save and what your current budget should be. Finally, you decide which investment platforms are best for your needs.

A financial advisor is the best person to help with such a plan. He or she has the skill and experience to assess your risk appetite, to evaluate your goals, and to suggest the way forward.

An advisor’s knowledge and understanding are also essential to judge the quality of the retirement mutual funds and their suitability to your situation.

The research abilities and patience of a financial advisor are also important. When there are portfolio reviews or market volatility, for example, you can get the assurance to remain on the road to your retirement goal.

Turn to Sykes & Ray Equities for the Best Retirement Plans

We’re one of the forerunners in investment and retirement planning. We have a wealth of experience spanning over 30 years and have helped countless investors reach their targets.

We’ll never recommend mutual funds or other investments in isolation. We’ll take time to understand your retirement objectives, your current needs, and your ability to bear risk. Only then will we suggest the right mix and the best retirement plans.

Our guiding principle is always to put the client’s needs first. It is this approach that has helped us gain respect among those we work with. Get in touch with us to discover how the right retirement plan can enrich your golden years.