Retirement Planning

Retirement planning

I’m 26, Single, Male earning about 3 lac p.a. in Delhi, India

I wish to start planning and investing / saving for Retirement planning ASAP.

Can someone guide me with best retirement plans that I can consider and various other options that too should be included for a safe and healthy retirement corpus.

Consider me not doing any investment right now and give your answers for a starter in Job.

You are someone in the initial years of your career. I am glad that you are asking these questions now. There is nothing like starting early, in your investing life and use the power of compounding to your advantage. To understand power of compounding, consider this excellent article at http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyView.asp?str=4007

Next, you can invest in a mix of the following strategies, depending on your investing risk profile, as indicated below. Invest only those funds that you do not need. Get in the habit of saving 30-35% of your salary regularly. Create an emergency fund, roughly equal to 4-6 months of regular monthly expenses. Once this is covered, you may have funds that you will not need say for next 3-5 years for regular or emergency expenses. Use these funds to invest wisely. You need to remain invested for the long term, since you want capital growth.

Conservative Risk Profile (you seem to be of this type; someone who wants his principle to be secure and is looking for a decent growth over the long term)

1. PPF (Public Provident Fund) – account can be opened with any State Bank of India branch. This gives you a compounded 8% return per year, is currently tax free, and is the safest instrument available. Invest 50% of sparable funds in that

2. A Balance fund like HDFC Prudence Fund – This Mutual Fund invests in both equity (65%) and debt (35%) instruments. This is one of the safest funds with a great track record of over 14 years, and has been giving a compounding return of around 20-25% per year. This fund has one important virtue: it manages to lose less than the category average in periods of downside. Couple this with its tendency to top charts & you get a safe & sure fund in HDFC Prudence. Invest 30% of the funds in HDPC Prudence.
check out HDFC Prudence fund analysis at

http://www.valueresearchonline.com/funds/fundanalysis.asp?schemecode=600

3. Equity Diversified MF -like SBI Magnum Contra, Reliance Growth. - Retirement planning
These are funds having a very good long term record in delivering great returns with low to average risk. They have figured among the top fund ratings for a very long time. Invest the balance 20% in funds like these
Check out more on the top rated funds at http://www.valueresearchonline.com/toprated.asp

Retirement planning

Moderate Risk Profile (someone who can take a little more risk with some of his money)
PPF -40%; HDFC Prudence -30%; SBI Contra or Reliance Growth fund -30%

Aggressive Risk Profile (someone who can take higher risks with some of his money)
PPF-20%; HDFC Prudence -30%; SBI Contra or Reliance Growth – 50%

It is crucial that you have set your mind to set aside a part of your salary for your retirement. This can be in the form of a bank savings account, a 401k plan, etc. It does not matter how small or how large an amount you will save as long as you set it aside. You can eventually increase the amount that you save whenever you have extra money, you get a salary raise, or you have finished your payments.

Retirement planning

I’m trying to start my retirement planning (roth IRA) at an early age. I’m 23, recent college grad, newly married. I have a small amount per month that I’m able to put in but not a whole lot right now. IT seems like everwhere I look they require either a high monthly deposit or 3000-4000 start up. I’m trying to start early because I know it’s smart, but everywhere I turn is turning me down! I’m getting frustrated over the idea that I have to save up to save up! Any suggestions?

Some mutual funds will allow you to avoid the “minimum” balance if you commit to a monthly deposit. I can’t speak to all the funds that allow this, but talk with the various brokerage houses (i.e. Fidelity, Vangaurd, AIM, just to name a few)