The corpus is built.
Now it has to last.
From here, your money has two jobs at once: pay for the life you’ve earned, and keep growing faster than inflation for the next 25 to 30 years.
The harder half of retirement planning
Most financial planning is about building a corpus: how much to save, where to invest, how to grow it. That’s the easier half.
The harder half starts when the salary stops. Withdraw too much, too early, and you risk outliving your money. Withdraw too cautiously, and you go without the retirement you worked for. And unlike earlier decisions, these are hard to undo.
Why “playing it safe” can be the riskiest choice
The usual advice for retirees is to move everything into “safe” options: fixed deposits, debt funds, conservative hybrids. It sounds prudent.
But a 60-year-old today should plan for 30 years of retirement. At 6% inflation, prices double roughly every 12 years. A portfolio with no equity at all will very likely shrink in real terms, even before you withdraw a rupee.
We keep equity in retirement portfolios — sized so that a market fall never forces you to sell at the wrong time.
How we structure a retirement corpus
We split your money by when you’ll need it. Each part is invested for its own time horizon, and the parts refill each other over the years.
The next 12 months
Liquid and arbitrage funds
Your monthly withdrawals come from here, so a market fall never touches next month’s expenses.
Years 2 to 5
Short-duration debt and conservative hybrid funds
Steadier returns. Tops up the first bucket every year.
Year 6 onwards
Equity funds
The part that grows faster than inflation, and refills the other two after good years.
The split depends on your spending, other income and dependents. This is our framework, not a fixed allocation.
What else we plan for
Withdrawals built on real numbers
A systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) is a structure, not a product. We set it up around your actual monthly spending, expected medical costs, dependents and how long the money needs to last — not a rule of thumb.
The order you withdraw in
Equity fund gains held over a year are taxed at 12.5% above ₹1.25 lakhs. Debt fund gains are taxed at your income slab. FD interest is taxed every year, even if you don’t withdraw it. Drawing from the right place at the right time can save lakhs over a retirement.
The “what if” conversations
What if one spouse passes away early? What if there’s a large medical bill? What if a child needs help? We talk these through before they happen, so the plan has room for them.
He will not be reluctant to say no, at the right time, to safeguard the investment, if a financial decision is hastily thought out.
I have been investing for 20 years, and only now have I found someone who focuses on the financial well-being of the client.
Within five years of retiring, or already there?
Let’s look at how your corpus is set up, and whether it’s built to last as long as you need it to.
CurateMyMoney is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor (ARN-184811). Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully.