Retirement planning is a life-long exercise. Ideally, it lasts from when we draw our first salary/income to when we (or the surviving spouse) draw our last breath. During this journey, there are several stages. Each stage teaches us something new. Retirement planning has two stages – accumulation (pre-retirement) and withdrawal (post-retirement). Here are 12 stages…

A viewer on YouTube asks, “I am 45 years old. After watching many videos regarding MFund, I thought of asking you about my investment plan. 50k is my monthly salary. I am in a rented house only. Can you suggest an investment plan for my retirement in my own home?” At 45, retirement should be…

We determine the corpus needed for a 50-year-old to retire immediately if monthly expenses are Rs. 1,00,000?” Let us compute this using the freefincal robo advisor tool. This provides an accurate estimate compared to approximate calculations using spreadsheet formulae. The robo tool can also include three post-retirement income streams.  It also offers suggestions on how…

A reader wants to know how to invest a retirement corpus of Rs 5 Crores.  Age: 55; wife’s age 56; Annual expenses are about Rs. 8.4  Lakhs. This includes health insurance costs. This corresponds to an initial withdrawal rate of less than 2% (8.4L divided by 500L). So a comfortable retirement can be safely planned….

The 4% withdrawal rule for retirement planning assumes excessive equity allocation (50-75%), which makes it impractical. To make this worse, the 4% rule is often misunderstood and misapplied, so it is not a useful tool for retirement planning for most people. Here is an alternative idea. What is a safe withdrawal rate?  The safe withdrawal…

The freefincal robo-advisor tool will now feature equity glide paths for retirement buckets, providing enhanced risk management. We also have an updated video user guide. The updated version has already been sent to all existing users. Those who did not receive the notification can contact us. Those unfamiliar with the tool’s features can refer to…

A reader says, “Thanks for your website. I have been following it for a while, and I thought you could help me with my retirement plan. I also thought my case would be useful to your readers.” “I am 52 years old, and my wife is 49. I’ve been in the IT industry since 2000…

A reader asks, “Can I use a simple equity + debt portfolio instead of multiple retirement buckets? Won’t this be easier to manage?” When I was younger, I would have agreed with the reader. Age and experience change perspective. See: I thought a pension was unnecessary, but age taught me a lesson on retirement planning!…

Mint Newspaper, led by Neil Borate, does a fabulous job reporting and educating about personal finance and investing. In March 2024, Mint featured my retirement portfolio: You only need a fund where returns remain consistent: Freefincal’s Pattabiraman. In June 2025, they published an update on the portfolio: Why Freefincal’s Pattabiraman doesn’t believe in beating the…

A reader says, “How do we forecast returns on a diminishing retirement corpus? My corpus presently returns 13% annually. I have calculated my withdrawal rate in retirement as 2% per year. So, in theory, my corpus would increase by 11% per year in retirement! But, as the corpus starts depleting, I expect the returns will…

A reader says, “For your Let’s Get Rich With Pattu Podcast, can you make an episode on ‘Things that Single and Childfree People’ should take care of for their retirement? Additionally, given that many things are not to be taken care of for these people (Like children’s education, Marriage, etc.), how much is it that…

A reader wants to know how to account for taxes while planning for retirement — a discussion. Tax is always tricky to guess. Many individuals assume their tax liability will reduce after retirement, and this need not be the case. If we want to achieve comfortable financial independence after retirement, we should probably hope to…

A reader says, “I am 30 and plan to remain single. My current expenses are about Rs. 50K, I have a corpus of Rs. 75 Lakhs but only 40% equity. Can I become financially independent by 40? I can invest a little more than two lakhs a month.” You can invest about four times your…

A common criticism from those who read our robo advisor-based illustrations is,  “Why are you recommending small equity exposure even to early retirees?” We shall try to explain in this article. If you have not read these illustrations, see: Retirement plan review: Am I on track to retire by 50? I am 30 and wish…