For those of you who don’t understand cricket, it is just a game. If you like cricket – immaterial of whether it is a T20 or a ODI, you realize that it has a opening, a middle and an end game. The transition from one stage to another has to be smooth – and it should not even be felt.

Now if you are in your 30s, 40s or even in your 50s, you think of ‘retirement’ as something which happens to old people. You do not realize that we are all getting old – one day at a time. It is fairly obvious that the strategy of retirement has to be different for different people. People in their 20s should start putting aside some money so that they can retire comfortably. Of course when you are 23 you just know that you have approximately 37 years in which to accumulate money. You have no clue where your career is going to take you, marriage, kids, …nothing. However, you know that you will retire.

Like in a cricket match – your opening strategy, mid over strategy, and closing strategy are very very different. For your opening you need a Sehwag or a Hayden, for your middle overs you need a Dravid, Sachin, Ponting or Kohli, and for your end overs you need a Dhoni. When you are 60, your attitude to retirement is different – you are optimistic, healthy, confident, and sure that you will die in your 70s!! At that stage you are willing to spend money, travel, confident that you will manage your money well. You know God is in Heaven, Modi in Delhi, and all’s well with the world!!

In your 70s, you are no longer willing to make short day trips. You would rather travel 5 hours, get some sleep, and then plan the event. So the mid day event in Mumbai is not so attractive if you are staying in Pune. You prefer coming the previous day….and attend the function. Travel is not really a pleasure, but your younger friends, siblings, children, nieces, nephews…push you and you do it, but not really enjoying it

Mental alertness my change at each stage, your money may be growing, or shrinking. You may have the luck of a kid or sibling looking after your money, but you may lack the ego management to hear or listen to them. 55 is a good age to make a “handing over document” to be given to your spouse – in case you die. I have designed one and am waiting for an amc to sponsor it…for it to be printed. At this stage you need to also identify who is going to look after your money, at which stage, and how much of freedom that person will have while handling it. Not easy, but must be done.

Of course you should be doing a lot of shopping for senior citizen homes, and geriatric care centre which you will need once you are past the “best by…date’. I know 60 year old arguing that it is too early to plan for a retirement home or retirement community…God bless them. I find women far, far more sensible while doing retirement planning. Men are far less prepared – some of them have not been to the kitchen…AT ALL.

Decisions like “when to buy an annuity” is a mid retirement strategy. If it is a ODI, what strategy an Yuvraj can or should take will depend on what Sehwag has done….and what Dhoni will do at the end will depend on what Sehwag or Yuvraj did in the earlier overs.

For example it is best to decide at age 55 and put it in writing that you want to take the annuity payments…etc. Makes sense to have some thing in writing…