We discuss thumb rules to judge retirement corpus health using safe withdrawal rates (SWR). This discussion also answers broader questions like, ‘When can a retiree take risks after retirement?’ and ‘How much equity exposure can I have after retirement?’ Note:  In this day and age, using a proper retirement calculator only takes a few minutes. So,…

A reader asks, “I am 27 years old. My current monthly expenses are about Rs. 30,000. I don’t intend to get married. Can I achieve financial independence at 40 if my net worth today is zero?” Let us determine what the freefincal robo advisor tool coughs up for this scenario. The assumptions and inputs are…

A reader says, “This concerns the required retirement corpus and whether I am on the right track. I am 32 years old, my spouse is 26, and both are working (private jobs and no job security). I wish to retire by age 45. How should I plan, and what is the corpus required?” “Current retirement…

Readers often ask us if there is any ideal equity exposure after retirement. This is a tough question to answer as it depends on the individual, but some general guidelines or thumb rules are possible. Asking this question on the verge of retirement without prior market experience can be harmful. It is essential to ask…

Many readers often ask, Is 35 too late for proper retirement planning? Assuming retirement is 55, there is a good chance of accumulating enough corpus for retirement. If necessary, one can consider an extension up to age 60. Let us answer this using the freefincal robo advisory tool. Current monthly expenses that will persist in retirement…

While preparing a slide deck for a talk at the Reserve Bank Staff College, I made a bespoke retirement calculator that factors in an indexed pension. Here is how that makes a huge difference to a retirement plan. An indexed pension increases each year at a set rate or inflation rate. This is known as dearness…

In a recent talk, a person nearing retirement asked me to explain the differences between RBI Retail Direct Bonds and RBI Floating Rate Bonds. RBI Floating Rate Bonds have a seven-year duration and a variable interest rate reset every six months. Its return is fixed at the prevailing NSC rate plus 0.35%. It provides interest…

We discuss the instruments that can be used to create a retirement bucket strategy. A bucket strategy is a post-retirement investment plan to manage inflation-protected withdrawals (income) and investments for the near and long term. So, we have investments purely for income generation (regular withdrawal), fixed income, and equity investments. Retirement buckets are mental partitions…

A reader says, “I’ve read articles on your freefincal website about early retirement, corpus needed, and asset allocation needed. I wish to request you to have a similar study for the case below”. “My wife and I work in the IT industry. Our age is 30 years. Combined, we earn 4L per month. We expect…

A reader who wishes to be anonymous asks, Hello, I was avidly reading about your answer to a 30-some reader. It was surprising that you need an 8+ crores rupee to sustain a lifestyle with 40000+ monthly expenses. And I am very worried (despite living in my own house-fully paid up, owning another property worth…

A 35-year-old individual is inquiring whether it is feasible to retire comfortably by age 55 and the steps necessary to accomplish this goal. He is married to a 30-year-old homemaker. When he reaches 55, his wife will be 50. So, we shall plan for retirement income until she (the younger spouse) reaches 90. Therefore, he…

We discuss the role of income laddering (annuity laddering) in retirement planning and how to implement it. There are two extreme options in retirement planning: one where the corpus is managed in a diversified portfolio, and an increasing income is withdrawn from it as required. This is known as the bucket strategy.  We had earlier…

We discuss how retirement products like the employee provident fund (EPF), the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) can be incorporated into a retirement plan. Over the years, many readers have doubts about how to go about this, hence this article. At the time of writing, the UPS is not yet…

A reader says, “I am 50 years old and have been planning to retire at this age since quite a few years back. By god’s grace and my regular investments, I have managed to have a decent corpus, which I have validated using your robo-advisory tool. Thanks a lot for making this tool and helping…

A reader asks, “How can we be sure that post-retirement, our bucket strategy will help us to sustain the corpus in our retirement period with an assumed return of different asset classes and beat inflation?” While there are no guarantees, we can do enough to ensure we have more than a reasonable chance of success….