process
Build Your Own Pension
The rule
Your retirement is your own project. Build it with EPF, PPF, NPS and shares over your working years. Do not wait on an employer's promise or a child's duty.
Where it flips
The self-reliance idea can be read as 'invest for retirement above all else'. That starves nearer goals or the emergency fund. So fund the buffer and health cover first. Then let the retirement pot grow steadily beside them.
Very few Indians get a guaranteed pension any more. Leaning on children for your old age is neither sure nor fair to them. The safe path is to build the pot yourself, across your working life. Use the tools already there. EPF and PPF for steady, tax-friendly growth. NPS for a low-cost retirement layer. Share funds for the long growth that beats rising prices. Start early so time does the heavy lifting. Raise the amount as your income grows. A retirement you funded yourself is one no one can take away.
A worked example
Vikram, age 30, puts ₹15,000 a month across EPF, PPF and a share fund. By age 60, growing at about 10% a year over the long run, that builds a pot of roughly ₹3.4 crore that he fully controls. [illustrative]
How to spot it
- ·'my kids will look after me'
- ·counting only on an employer scheme
- ·no separate retirement pot even started
Monika Halan · Let's Talk Money