Retirement Planning

When most people enter the workforce, they look forward to that day when they can hang up their hats and afford to enjoy a life beyond the daily grind. Yet, many people believe that once you retire, all the fun in life is over. Retirement should be one of the most exciting phases of your life. If you plan for it right, you can enjoy all the things you love and live life to the fullest. As a business owner, you are your own boss; you can work when you want, where you want, and for as long as you want. While this freedom is great, it can also be very dangerous. If you do not plan accordingly, then you could suddenly find yourself on the street. This is why, for many business owners, planning for retirement is also a very important part of their strategy. In this article, we are going to debunk the top common financial misconceptions about retirement planning.   I Must Have Rs. X Saved to Retire This is the biggest misconception that most investors become victims of while planning for their retirement. While that might be true for the average person, it won’t give you a true picture of what you need. There are a number of factors that play into your retirement planning, including the size of your family, your income, the lifestyle you wish to live during retirement and related inflation, your debt, your life expectancy, and more.  While deciding on the amount you will need for retirement, you need to consider all the above factors and arrive at the corpus you will need for your retirement. Investments Don’t Need To Grow With Your Income Many salary classes are happy by contributing statutory contributions to PF/EPF/CPF/NPS etc assuming that the same will be adequate for their retirement. It is a fact that if your investments don’t grow at the same rate as your income, you will be falling short of what you need to retire. (Investment returns have historically grown at an average of 7% a year, while wages have grown at an average rate of just 4%). This means you need to be investing as much as you can to make up the difference each year. You might be surprised how much you need to invest each year to maximize your retirement savings. Distribution Isn’t A Major Concern The distribution phase of retirement planning is important as it is the stage where the most money is being withdrawn from the nest egg. This could also be the stage where the most mistakes are made when it comes to withdrawing money from your portfolio efficiently. There are some important things you should consider when planning out your distribution phase and here are some things to think about: Planning for the distribution phase includes: Planning how much income you need in retirement Planning your investments in the correct order so that you do not outlive your retirement corpus Setting up your portfolio for a global financial environment   Saving 10%-15% Is Enough The most common advice given to people who are looking forward to their retirement is to save at least 10%-15% of their income for the purpose of creating a retirement nest egg. While this advice is usually given with good intentions and a positive attitude, it will not be enough for you to have a financially worry-free life once you retire. You need to consider the lifestyle you wish to live and related inflation, your life expectancy, real returns your investments would generate during your entire accumulation phase i.e while you are investing to build a retirement corpus. Retirement planning is all about money Retirement planning is not all about money, it’s also about peace of mind. In fact, this is one of the biggest problems that many people face even if they saved for retirement. (If you are one of those people, you may want to read this). The reason is that many people find it difficult to let go of their work. And they may even be afraid of doing so because they fear that they will get bored and feel useless. The problem is that these people do not realize that retirement is an opportunity to move on to the next phase of their lives. One needs to consider issues such as how would you like to enjoy your retired life and related funds. I have experienced many retirees who wish to see the world as they didn’t find time and opportunity due to hectic careers. Financial planning stops at retirement Many people wonder whether financial planning is important after they retire. The fact is, financial planning does not stop at retirement. Financial planning is all about maximizing your wealth. Wealth creation and money management are processes that start from the moment you retire and will continue until the day you die. Of course, these processes are not the same as they were when you were working. The majority distribution phase lasts 20-30 years and many things change during this long phase such as inflation, economy, interest rate, etc. If you wish to ensure that you do not outlive your retirement corpus and leave a legacy for your next generation, you must continue to ensure that your investments and financial plan remain relevant for you during your post-retirement phase as well. Spending decreases in retirement There are many common myths about retirement. The most common is that spending decreases in retirement. Most of us will spend more in retirement than while we are still working, but many of us get that wrong. When we plan for our retirement, most of us spend a lot of time thinking about how much money we are going to have to put away to have a comfortable retirement. (I know that I did that for a long time.) We also think about things that we might want to buy when we retire, like how much additional living space we might want or when we want to take that trip around