My Dad sits comfortably in his
rocking chair and thinks I’m running too fast for my age. Yes, the times have
changed, but the thing which hasn’t changed is our Old Age. Everyone or should
I say everything around us will grow old one day including us. But there is a
difference in the manner our parents retired and the way in which we are going
to retire. Let’s discuss some of those differences for us to plan our old age
better.
1.
Way of Life
Our parents had a very systematic
way of living and far less distractions around. They were able to manage their
income and expenses in a very beautiful manner. Plus, we as kids were far less
demanding than our kids. But now, the scenario has changed, we want everything
ranging from fancy gadgets to lavish international holidays. And to achieve all
this we spend lots of money which results in lesser savings for old age.
2.
Longevity
With advanced lifesaving
technologies, the average life span has increased today and will increase
further. Medical treatments which never existed 20-30 years back are very well
available for us. And, not to forget the cost of medical treatments which has
seen huge upsurge. We need to add all of these in our retirement planning
otherwise we will be left with much less than what is actually required.
3.
Dependence
on Joint Family
We as kids used to live
together in joint families with our uncles and aunts. In times of trouble there
was always a helping hand. But now that we have grown up, we live tugged up in
an apartment with our kids seldom meeting their cousins. We don’t have any
relative helping us in times of our needs, we have to pay to external vendors
for any of the services be it medical care, or our child’s day care. These are
the costs which never existed during our parent’s time and we need to account
for that if we have to save appropriately.
4.
Expectation
from Children
Though most of us
have parents who are living their retirement life with their savings, but still
there are some of us who take care of our parents financially. Can we expect
the same from our children? Times are changing very fast, and not saving for
one’s retirement thinking of our kids as our retirement plan might backfire. Hence,
it makes sense to save for your retirement rather than living in some gloomy
old age home.
5.
Inflation
Though our Inflation data has
been showing very low figures from the past couple of years but the inflation
numbers for facilities like hospitalization, education, vacation, etc. is
hovering at almost double digit. This definitely is a much different scenario
than what our parents faced and again calls for prudent planning from our end.
As they say, “The Bad news is: Time flies, and the good news is, you are the PILOT”.
Yes, times are changing, and so are our ways of spending or rather saving. If
we don’t put planning in place, then we might not even get a chance. And, we
won’t have anyone else to blame but ourselves. So, It is better to take these
factors in account while planning for your retirement because Time actually flies.
Charu Hastir, CFPCM is founder of http://www.theriteplan.com/. Rite plan is an online financial planning
portal created to achieve a single objective of providing easy and Do It
Yourself Financial Planning to netizens. Rite Plan is wholly owned by Tikkun
Olam Financial Planning Services LLP. Please visit: https://theriteplan.com/index.php?route=common/home/
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