Retirement solutions: Innovative ones…
Many people get scared when they are asked to think of retirement. I do agree that Indians are innovative and can come up with some nice solutions…here are a few that I have seen.
1. a widower living with his unmarried sister: it could never have occurred to R that a simple solution of living with his sister V could be so convenient for him! R had lost his wife and his daughter was settled in the US. Now R had a nice big house in Mumbai, but his cash flow was not really to great. Being a typical 64 year old he loved home food, coffee, etc. and was missing that more than missing his wife (am I being cruel or practical?). His unmarried sister was living in a small rented place in another suburb of Mumbai, but had a nice pension. Need I tell you the rest? Both are happy!
A simple case of an asset rich person coming together with an asset poor person with a decent income flow!
2. sharing infra with neighbor: a retired person cutting down living costs by looking after his neighbor’s children for a very small fee! This couple love the kids, the kids like them and have become like foster grandparents. The older couple do not have their own kids, and also had some cash flow issues. He is 78 and his wife is 67 years old. Also they were too proud to do it for money. The younger couple have a lot of income – and no reliable domestic help or a good creche nearby. They calculated the costs and explained it to the older couple – showing how they were saving about 12k per month for food, petrol, etc. Grudgingly the older couple relented. The older couple use the younger couple’s car, cook for and feed the kids, ensure TV discipline,…amazing social and financial arrangement. It helped that they are from the same caste. The younger couple is likely to be a big beneficiary….they may even inherit the flat (sorry this is my mind working overtime!!).
3. Sharing of costs: neighbors deciding that they will do shopping, travel, entertainment together – saving costs for both the couples. This is quite normal, but in this case buying one newspaper, watching TV together….etc. also helps?
as I find more innovative solutions, will share it with you…!!
linusr
reminds me of good old Indian joint family..
PREMJI BHANUSHALI
REGARDING 15G AND 15H FORMS FOR GETTING INTEREST, DIVIDEND ETC. WITHOUT DEDUCTION OF TDS. BOTH THESE FORMS SEEM TO BE SIMILAR- WHICH IS TO BE WHEN? CAN ANYBODY GUIDE ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO AND THEIR APPCLICABILITY?
subra
yes linsur I agree. In fact disengaging emotionally, and the ‘real’ grandparents hearing ‘these are my true grandparents’ kinda comments are not something people are prepared for. Not at all sure about the emotional cost of retirement. My book does not even have a chapter on all that! For e.g. the ‘Man’ of the house losing importance, because he does not control the purse, changing power equations from the old gen to new gen (if they stay together), younger gen not knowing how to draw the line between ‘help’ and ‘interference’ even with own parents…are all retirment issues. Subramoney has to restrict itself to the financial and philosophical aspect – 🙂
Dr Mohammed Ali Khan F
There are many people who sell their houses in the metro cities for a good price, put the money in a fixed deposit and then settle down in a rented house in a small town. The interest money alone takes care of all their expenses and then some..
Jitendra Solanki
Great!!!its love to see such experiences……
rajivahuja
Good examples. What is your take on reverse mortgage ?
Melvin Joseph
Good examples. But these measures are not a permanent solution to the real problems of may retired people. The next 10-20 years will see the retirement issues of Indians at its peak with no social security system, Low real rate of return etc. Retired life of the nuclear family will be a social issue to be addressed. The only option is to create enough retirement corpus during the active life.but how much is Enough?