A retirement plan helps you accumulate enough funds to remain financially independent during your retirement years. It involves deciding your retirement age, how much money you will need for your monthly expenses during retirement and how much you need to set aside now to accumulate that corpus for retirement years.

There are different investment products for retirement planning. Mutual funds is one of the suitable investment products to plan your retirement.

Retirement planning is ideally a life-long process. You can start at any time, but it works best if you factor it into your financial planning from the beginning. That’s the best way to ensure a safe, secure—and fun—retirement.

A lot of people neglect retirement financial planning; let’s find out why it is one of the most important financial requirements:

• Life expectancy is rising: The average Indian can expect to live longer than before. With longer life span, you need more income in your non-working years to sustain yourself.
• Working forever is difficult: As we age, we yearn for more restful moments or we simply can’t work due to medical reasons. A retirement plan can provide income after work life ends.
• Your future may require more funds: Over time, cost of living continually rises due to inflation. Besides, medical expenses too rise as one faces greater health challenges with age.
• Financial independence: All of us want to live a life of dignity and independence. If you are able to fund your own retirement, your children will have more resources to spend on your grandchildren. Retirement planning thus is a gift from you to your future generations, albeit indirectly.