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…

A reader asks, “Leaving aside the emotional component, is it “better” for a retired couple to live in a rented flat rather than buy a flat with the sale proceeds of their home?” This is a tough one as there are many factors to consider. Assuming they lived in an old independent house, the usual…

Here is how you can review your retirement portfolio in seven easy steps. If you have not yet created a proper retirement plan, you can quickly do so using the freefincal robo advisor. The robo advisor can handle up to three post-retirement income streams; provide an automated asset allocation schedule to reduce sequence of returns…

We discuss how to deploy money in 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 of these investments….

A reader asks, “I am 38 years old, currently have a corpus of 2.25 Cr. 70% is in debt { SCSS (30), EPF (25), PPF (25), Arbitrage Funds (70), Debt MF (rest) } and 30% in equity MF. I invested in arbitrage funds as they provide good returns (vs FD) and a means to balance…

A reader wanted to know if he could invest his entire retirement corpus in mutual funds (of varying risk) and draw an income from them via systematic withdrawal plans — a discussion. Short answer: It is silly to put 100% of a lifetime’s effort, toil and hard work into capital market-linked products. Diversify keeping safety…

Broach the subject of retirement planning to a young earner, and you might get a response like, “I have just started earning. Let me enjoy life for a while and worry about this later.” When that “later” does arrive, it does so with its bag and baggage – home loan, car loan, older parents, older…

Many investors recognise the importance of equity investing pretty late. Even if they have some SIPs running, the amounts are quite small compared to their fixed-income investments (EPF, FDs, etc). This means their portfolios are loaded with fixed income. Readers often ask how to increase equity exposure from 10% to 50-60%. A discussion. In my…

Whenever I use my retirement planning slide deck to explain the importance of retirement planning, I get a few comments: “It is a waste of time to plan for retirement”. A comment on the Let’s Get Rich With Pattu in Tamil Part 1 Episode 10 goes, “Retirement planning is a big joke. Nobody knows how…

A reader says, “Can I manage with only 20% equity MFs for retirement? I am scared of more exposure to the stock market. I have about 24 years to retire.” The main aim of investing for long-term goals is to keep pace with inflation. That is, the purchasing power of the future corpus should be…

“My income is quite low. Is there any hope for me? How do I create a retirement corpus?” is a question we often receive. The rules of personal finance are the same regardless of income and net worth. Those earning less feel like they will never have the experiences or wealth of those who earn…

A reader says, “I have modelled my retirement plan using the freefincal robo advisor. The option to secure a part of retirement expenses with income flooring is particularly appealing after reading reader journeys like How I used RBI Retail Direct to buy government bonds and create an income source and The system I use to draw…