Dear Sir,
I am from Chennai and aged 43 years with two kids aged 13 and 9( both daughters) and wife homemaker. I have a home loan of 80 lakhs and pay 65,000 EMI monthly. My NTH is 2.5 lakhs per month. Following are my savings 1)MF- 85 Lacs 2) FD-25 lacs 3) SGB- 15 lacs 4) Gold 100 sovereigns belong to my wife 5) Immovable asset- 1 apartment on 20k rent and an individual villa worth 1.5 crs(On loan) 6) PF -30 lacs 7) NPS- 20 lacs. I have a Life cover of 1.5 crs and a standalone Health insurance of 10 lacs for family. My monthly household expenses is approximately 25k. Kindly advice on the financial planning with daughters education and marriage and our retirement corpus. What will be right corpus and the right age for retirement ? ( I am not greedy in money making and wanted to settle a peaceful life). Need your kind advice
Ans: You are 43, earning Rs 2.5 lakhs monthly, with clear goals and values.
You want peace, not greed — a wonderful attitude that deserves appreciation.
Let us now assess your full picture and guide you step by step.
Family and Lifestyle Overview
You are 43 years old and based in Chennai.
Your wife is a homemaker. Two daughters are 13 and 9 years old.
Household monthly spending is Rs 25,000 — simple and efficient.
You pay Rs 65,000 EMI for an Rs 80 lakh home loan.
Balance income goes into strong savings and investments.
You are structured, mindful, and financially aware. Very few maintain this balance.
Assets and Investments Snapshot
Let us first evaluate your current holdings.
Mutual Funds: Rs 85 lakhs — main growth engine.
Fixed Deposits: Rs 25 lakhs — good liquidity buffer.
Sovereign Gold Bonds: Rs 15 lakhs — safe but slow growth.
Physical Gold: 100 sovereigns — belongs to wife. Not easily liquid.
Apartment: Rental income Rs 20K.
Villa (worth Rs 1.5 crore): Under loan. May be self-occupied.
Provident Fund: Rs 30 lakhs — stable retirement base.
NPS Tier I: Rs 20 lakhs — long-term disciplined savings.
Life Insurance: Rs 1.5 crore — basic cover.
Family Health Cover: Rs 10 lakhs — necessary protection.
Your diversification is balanced across growth, security, and stability.
Monthly Cash Flow Overview
Income: Rs 2.5 lakhs (net take-home)
EMI: Rs 65,000
Household expenses: Rs 25,000
Rental income: Rs 20,000
Your surplus is approximately Rs 1.8 lakhs monthly. That is your wealth builder.
Children’s Education Planning
Your elder daughter is 13. You have 5 years for college.
Your younger daughter is 9. You have 9 years for her UG course.
Let us estimate needs simply:
Higher education in India may cost Rs 20–30 lakhs per child.
If abroad, the cost may touch Rs 80 lakhs–1 crore.
To be safe, plan for Rs 60 lakhs total for both education goals.
Use mutual funds to create this goal corpus.
Keep SIPs running and link them to these time frames.
Do not use FDs or SGBs for this. They cannot beat education inflation.
Daughters’ Marriage Planning
Marriage is emotional and cultural. Corpus depends on expectations.
If you plan to spend moderately, Rs 25–30 lakhs per child is sufficient.
Together, Rs 50–60 lakhs should be planned.
Use a combination of gold, SGBs, and some mutual fund investments.
Avoid locking funds in real estate or ULIPs.
Gold already owned by your wife can be reserved for this.
SGBs are fine, but match maturity to your need year.
Retirement Planning – Timing and Corpus
You have strong resources already. You don’t need to work till 65.
Let us evaluate ideal retirement age and required corpus.
You may aim to retire by 55 or 58. That is peaceful and realistic.
For this, plan to cover:
30 years of post-retirement life.
Monthly needs of Rs 60,000 (inflated from current Rs 25K).
Emergency medical costs beyond insurance.
Lifestyle and travel desires.
Your target corpus should be around Rs 5–6 crores minimum.
This assumes you live modestly but comfortably.
How Far Are You From Your Retirement Target?
You are already well-positioned.
Let’s review your retirement-aligned assets:
MF: Rs 85 lakhs
NPS: Rs 20 lakhs
PF: Rs 30 lakhs
Rental Income: Rs 20K monthly
SGB: Rs 15 lakhs
FD: Rs 25 lakhs
These alone total over Rs 1.75 crores.
You still have 12–15 years to grow them.
If you invest Rs 1 lakh monthly from your surplus, you can reach Rs 6 crore.
Equity vs Debt – The Right Mix for You
At your age, the following mix is ideal:
65% in equity (mutual funds, NPS equity portion)
35% in debt (FD, debt funds, PF, SGB)
Review and rebalance yearly. Do not let equity cross 75%.
As you near 55, reduce equity slowly to 40%.
At 60, move to 30–35% equity and rest in safe debt funds.
Do not depend only on SGB, PF, or NPS. They lack flexibility.
Important Adjustments and Suggestions
Avoid real estate for further investment. Focus on financial assets.
Increase life insurance cover to Rs 2–2.5 crore. Use only term plan.
Increase health cover to Rs 25 lakhs with super top-up.
If you hold any ULIPs, endowment plans, or LIC-type savings policies — surrender them.
Reinvest surrendered amount into mutual funds via Certified Financial Planner.
Avoid annuities for retirement. They give poor returns and lock funds.
Do not shift to index funds. They lack flexibility and underperform in sideways markets.
Stay in actively managed mutual funds. They handle volatility better.
Emergency Fund and Loan Strategy
Keep Rs 8–10 lakhs in liquid fund for emergencies.
FDs are fine but don’t park everything there.
Try to prepay 25–30% of your home loan in the next 5 years.
Don’t rush to close it fully now. Interest savings vs growth trade-off must be reviewed.
Children’s Future – Financial Teaching Opportunity
Involve them in small saving decisions.
Teach them value of SIPs and long-term goals.
Open child folios and assign part of education SIPs in their names.
This creates financial discipline in the next generation.
Asset Use Strategy After Retirement
Use rental income + mutual fund SWP to cover expenses.
Use PF maturity to create debt mutual fund corpus.
NPS partial withdrawal can support health or vacation spending.
Do not buy annuity with full NPS maturity. Use only minimum required.
Keep part of FD for annual medical and big ticket needs.
SGBs can be encashed post maturity in staggered way.
What To Do Every Year
Review your goal progress with a Certified Financial Planner.
Track each child’s education fund growth.
Shift money from FD to equity when markets correct.
Top-up SIPs yearly as income grows.
Avoid emotional buying of gold or property.
Don’t stop SIPs during market fall. That is the best time to invest.
Finally
You are calm, structured, and values-driven.
Your focus is not greed, but peace. That is rare.
You already built a solid base. You only need direction from here.
Build education and retirement plans with clear targets.
Use SIPs in regular plans with Certified Financial Planner for advice.
Avoid index funds, direct funds, and annuities.
Surrender any insurance-linked savings. Reinvest wisely.
Shift to safer funds as you near 55.
Maintain health and term insurance at strong levels.
Involve family in financial habits and decisions.
You can aim to retire peacefully by 55–58 with a Rs 6 crore corpus.
A 360-degree plan with reviews every year will ensure success.
Best Regards,
K. Ramalingam, MBA, CFP,
Chief Financial Planner,
www.holisticinvestment.in
https://www.youtube.com/@HolisticInvestment