Some Retirement Axioms
all are true…some are fun too!
- If you are not sure whether you are saving enough for retirement, you are NOT.
- The easiest way to outlive your money is to die early, but that may not be such a simple option.
- If you bought a pension plan to save taxes, that money will pay for your milk and newspaper in retirement.
- More people spend more time on where to go out for eating than on their retirement plan.
- If you are 60 when you wake up to retirement, you might as well go back to sleep.
- Annuity may be boring and useless, but it looks beautiful past age 65, immaterial of when you take it.
- Yes shares are risky, but, running out of money in retirement is worse.
- Investing, Asset Allocation, Retirement Planning is like flossing. Do it or pay a huge bill for not doing it.
- If PF and PPF are your only asset, learn to live as a dependent.
- Defined benefit pension has been burnt, buried, and really finished.
- Remember point no.10.
- Creating an indexed pension is very very expensive.
- Your biggest threat in retirement is not money, or health, it is boredom.
- At around 70 years of age convert all your equity funds into an index fund. The smart fund manager may be elusive.
- Target date funds are a good option, but it is not an option in India as of now.
- Investing in a high cost fund is like putting a FAT JOCKEY on a good horse. Try getting a thinner jockey, it helps.
- A reverse mortgage could be a good option only and only if the Govt steps in with some subsidy.
- Think of reverse mortgage only after age 76, and only if you are NOW in your 50’s. It is far away in India.
- Rule of thumb, retirement calculators, etc. are at best reminders that you need to do something.
- If you have not shared with your wife your retirement plans, it means you do not have one.
- Be ready for being cheated by somebody very close. Senior citizens are the most vulnerable financially at least.
21 is a good start no?
Hariharan Ragunathan
Point no 11 – did you mean remember Point 10?
subra
yes, thanks…corrected..
bhushan
I loved the analogy in point 16. So true. A thin jockey on a not so fast horse will go a long way rather a fat jockey on a fast horse!!!
subra
thanks Bhushan. However there are some fat jockeys who FLY. There is one I know who had a disproportionately high BHEL in the 2003-2007 ride and that one decision made his portfolio a multi bagger till 2012..of course such guys are not available in the public place. In the public place this is true. So I hate fat jockeys, but I like their results.
Raj
cant agree more with point 12..
bharat shah
point 18: is not reverse mortgage available for less than 20 yrs old property?
Renga
In Point 16, “high cost fund” is this referring to the total fund size or the NAV of the fund?
Apologies if this was obvious.
subra
a fund with a high TER: total expense ratio
lakshminarasimman
13. biggest threat in retirement is loneliness not boredom
subra
loneliness can be addressed..but typically Indians do not develop a hobby..so other than the newspaper and TV serials they have nothing to do. Now if you withdraw these 2 things..what will they do?
Hariharan Ragunathan
The other alternate hobby to serials and news paper I see many are getting hooked is watching the facebook feeds and whatsapp..glueing to the smaller screen.
subra
so what Hariharan? i do not think it is for me to pass a judgement on whether somebody should be on FB or twitter or run a blog watch Sankara TV or Fashion TV or MTV…let each person make his/ her own choice.
I am not being judgmental I am just saying find a hobby.
Hariharan Ragunathan
Totally agree Subra. I should not be judgemental of what they do is better. But my point was how newspaper to TV something new got people hooked, with easy accessible internet there is many more things like social media that would keep busy and provide additional hobby which they may not struggle to find.
subra
Only worry is Elders are easy prey for Social media scams and frauds and Internet security for Senior Citizens could be a good topic for them to learn about. Recently a senior CA IT professional got cheated online..and THAT is scary….