Secure your Future before you secure your Kids'

What are your goals for your post Retirement Life? Pursuing all the things you wanted to but could not do over the last three or four decades, for there was no time. Learn guitar, knit socks for your grand kids, go for beach holidays, chill with your childhood buddies, make Pinnis for family, explore your spiritual side, do yoga, gratify your philanthropic spirit.

But wait, have you saved enough for your goals? Will you have a corpus big enough to accommodate your wishes?

No!

Then who is going to pay for the beach holidays, the guitar class?

Your Kids?

All the best in that case!

One of the major misconceptions which Indian society is living under until today is: There will be Reciprocal of Responsibilities. We believe that since we take care of our kids, invest in their upbringing, education, marriage, career; our kids will eventually return the favour by supporting us and funding our dreams in our old age. Based on this belief, and in our attempt to bestow the best upon our children and securing their future, we go so overboard that we forgo ours. There are instances when people break their retirement corpus or even take a loan in their old age for sponsoring their kids' education, these are clear signs of inviting trouble.

Do you want to work till 70 years of age? What if your medical conditions don't support your intention? It could be about survival, forget fulfilling the fantasies.

It isn't that your kids won't intend to, they might, but what if they aren't able to afford your dreams? They may be willing to chip in wherever they can, but then their kids education will be more important for them than your yoga class or your beach holiday, and in that case, your retirement life will not be as rosy as you thought. You will have to sacrifice the last few years of your life with your spouse, compromising. The holiday, the guitar class, the yoga class, these aren't your goals, these are your dreams, the real retirement goal is to ensure that you are able to provide for your dreams.

So, how do you go about planning for your Retirement goal?

For achieving a happy retirement life, you should do the following:

• Firstly, Invest for your Retirement. Helping your kids grow so that they can stand up on their feet is your responsibility, so is your responsibility towards yourself, helping yourself stand up tall during your old age. Your kids can get an education loan for pursuing expensive higher education, they can take a loan for marriage or save some money and tie the knot in the court, but there is no alternate source of finance available for your retirement, but your Retirement Corpus. Hence, if you haven't started yet, and are too busy with life and responsibilities, it's time to be a little self centered and start investing for your retirement. You must seek advise from a professional for guidance on the investment product you should choose according to your age and risk profile.
• Secondly, as you age, your medical expenses will rise, you'll be a vulnerable target for diseases and hospitalization expenses can dig a big hole in your pocket. Hence, it's essential to create an armor with a health insurance plan, so that you do not dip into your retirement corpus for your medical needs.
• Thirdly, make sure the loans you have taken are repaid before you retire, including the home loan, and there is no EMI obligation left at the time when there are no inflows. Your retirement life must be stress free, and a major step in this direction would be that you shouldn't be carrying the burden of your debts beyond your earning years.

So, to conclude, if you are amongst those set of parents who are spending every penny they earn on their kids, then this article is just for you. It's great if you are working towards your kids future, their education, their marriage, but if you are doing it at the cost of your own future, then you are opening doors to your ill fate. Preparing for your old age is your prime responsibility, and it comes before all other goals. And about your kids, it's important to raise kind and modest human beings. It is important to inculcate compassion, family values, love and respect in your kids; overseas education and a grand wedding are discretionary.

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