Have you started planning for your retirement?

Whenever I ask people about retirement planning, they think that I am talking about a distant future which will be taken care of automatically. (I don’t blame them as it is psychologically difficult  for people to take such a long term view of things).And when I show them how  ill prepared  they are for their retirement based on their current savings rate and investment returns, they get a rude shock!

Many people think that their income/expense levels will remain the same post retirement. Most of people working in the private sector won’t have the luxury of a pension in their retirement years. So it is our responsibility to build a retirement corpus that will last us for our life.

In India, most of the people start to work between 22-25 and retire by 60- a working life of about 35 to 40 years. With average age expected to climb up to 80-85 years in the coming times, one needs to be able to live of your retirement income for atleast 25-30 years. Have you really estimated your expenses and income during that time? Have you estimated your medical expenses?

I find people planning a lot for their kid’s education or their child’s marriage but never think or plan about their own retirement needs. Without any Retirement Plan Company, you might have really difficult times meeting your expenses in your old age.

In the coming times, financial planning will not be a luxury but a necessity.