The fear of exhausting one’s entire retirement corpus is one of the major concerns for people at the brink of transition into a new life. This is a very valid concern, and one doesn’t want to end up in a scenario where corners need to be cut to make the basics meet.
However, such situations can be avoided by following a few steps:
Reassess your portfolio: If you are still very long away from your retirement, this is the apt time to reassess your existing retirement plan. Look at asset allocation to minimise your risk and understand what works best for you. If you are nearing your retirement age, make sure you choose low risk vehicles that will help you achieve your financial goals. To make the reassessment process fruitful, you should also consider relooking at your dreams and financial goals to check if they need to be revised first.
Know your risk tolerance: There are various tools and processes one can apply to reduce the impact of risks to your financial health. However, there are cases, where people create financial plans but do not have an understanding of their risk tolerance. If you are not sure about how much risk you are personally comfortable with or how much risk your existing portfolio allows you to take, its time you sit with your financial planner to assess your risk tolerance.
Get rid of debt: In an ideal scenario, one should stay away from accumulating any bad debt (for example – credit card debt). However, as you get close to retirement, you should be free of all kinds of debt, (including ‘good’ debt like home loans). The fund that you create for retirement is meant to provide for your living expenses and not to pay loans.
Health insurance: One of the largest contributors of expenses for people post 60 years of age is medical/health expenses. And, this is one component that you need to be adequately prepared to deal with. A health insurance policy is a must-have for you post retirement, however, the sooner you get, the better it is for you. In addition to this, set aside funds for regular medical expenses which are not covered as a part of your health insurance policy.
Don’t spend all your resources in one go: Many people believe that now that they have retired, they are free to buy or do what they want, And end up splurging all of their wealth. Instead of spending all of it one go, take a percentage of it every year and do whatever you want to.
When you start a retirement plan, you wanted to have enough wealth to do whatever he wanted without dipping into his pension fund. Create a ‘splurge account’ , where every month till retirement, you would invest 1 per cent of you savings. This would mean that you can do whatever you want with that savings without worrying about overspending.
It’s never too late to think about your future. Small steps like these can help you live comfortably even in your retirement, without having to cut corners. After all, your retirement is the new beginning of your life.
