Here is how to make most of your money after retirement

The word retire has French roots. It has derived from retirer which means to withdraw – especially to a secluded or a safe place. Retirement either creeps up by surprise or is welcome thanks to consistent planning. In either case, as a retired person, you are most likely to be financially comfortable without backbreaking responsibilities. Your retirement would be far smoother if you are able to take advantage of the volatility of stock markets and gains which one can make by investing over a longer term. Market linked instruments such as HDFC Life Click 2 Invest ULIP Plan can assist in wealth creation.

Yet there is always the fear of one’s retirement corpus not being enough. This fear gets magnified as there is no source of income apart from one’s own assets. But there are a few things you can do to make the most of your retirement:

Categorize your assets – You may have built various types of assets over the last few years. You can begin by itemizing your assets as well as assigning their market value to the best possible estimate. You may be surprised that this simple outcome could lead to taking an impactful financial decision. For example: the second house which you own and have given on rent could be sold as the corpus you would earn may serve you better than multiple aspects such as - the meagre rental income, dealing with the stress of finding dependable tenants or maintaining the property. You can also distribute your assets among four categories – which you may need for living a comfortable retirement life, which can be used to create more assets, which can be used for emergency spend and which can be bequeathed to heirs. For example: the house that you live in would most likely be inherited by your heirs. This activity will give you immense clarity about how to make the best use of your assets  

Outline a monthly budget – We often fear the unknown. Our greatest fear during retirement is about will the income from our assets be enough. Creating a monthly budget which is 20% more than the actual monthly budget is a good idea. This buffer will give you substantial mental peace as you will find yourself not only saving money every month but also enjoying some indulgences once in a while.

Open a savings account which suits your needs – Now a days, there are customized savings account for seniors. You may find it convenient to have a single savings account as it would be easier to manage and keep track. Senior friendly savings accounts could also offer several benefits such as zero balance, preferential interest rates on fixed deposits or higher interest rates on savings account itself.

Keep your insurance up to date – During the entire period of being employed, various employers would have provided at least health insurance But as retirement beckons or once we are retired, we find ourselves either with no insurance or inadequate insurance and it may be good idea to evaluate purchasing both a term insurance policy and a health insurance policy provided your spouse and you are eligible for the same in case you don’t own these. It would be also prudent to specify your spouse as a nominee when it comes to term insurance as the latter can be independent and manage expenses when you aren’t around. Sometimes, your children or grandchildren may also be dependent on your income for their needs. A term insurance would also ensure their well-being. A health insurance should be purchased as soon as possible as medical expenses can deliver a big blow to your retirement corpus or to the savings of those on whom you are dependent.

For those who are yet to retire, this is a time to reflect on the importance of purchasing the right kind of life insurance plan. For instance HDFC Life  Click2Protect 3D Plus plan One can estimate the impact of inflation, number of dependents, post-retirement goals and funds required post retirement to get the right insurance plan as it can take care of several financial worries and leave you to enjoy a tension free post retirement life.

Plan Your Retirement Now