My son will be appearing for JEE Main & JEE Advanced 2026 and will participate in JoSAA Counselling 2026. I request clarification regarding the GEN-EWS certificate date requirement for next year. I have already applied for an EWS certificate for current year 2025, and the application is under process. However, I am unsure whether this certificate will be accepted during JoSAA 2026, or whether candidates will be required to submit a fresh certificate for FY 2026–27 (issued on or after 1 April 2026). My concern is that if JoSAA requires a certificate issued after 1 April 2026, students will have only 1–1.5 months to complete the entire procedure, which is difficult considering normal government processing timelines. Also, during current JEE form filling, students are asked to upload a GEN-EWS certificate issued on or after 1 April 2025, or an application acknowledgement. This has created confusion among parents regarding which year’s certificate will finally be valid at the time of counselling. I request your kind guidance on: Which GEN-EWS certificate will be accepted for JoSAA Counselling 2026 — a certificate for FY 2025–26 (issued after 1 April 2025), or a new certificate for FY 2026–27 (issued after 1 April 2026)?

Ans: » Your Overall Financial Position

– You have built a strong financial foundation.

– Eight years of disciplined SIP investing is a major strength.

– Regular SIP increases every year have worked well for you.

– Your retirement assets are growing from multiple sources.

– You have a good emergency fund.

– Health insurance and term insurance are already in place.

– Overall, your financial journey appears well-structured.

» Assessment Of Children's Education Goal

– Your elder child is 9 years old.

– The higher education goal is roughly 9 years away.

– Your younger child has a longer investment horizon.

– A target of Rs.30 lakh per child may look sufficient today.

– However, education inflation is usually much higher than normal inflation.

– By the time your children reach college age, actual costs may be significantly higher.

– I would suggest reviewing this target every 2-3 years.

– If income permits, gradually increase allocations towards this goal.

– The longer horizon for your younger child works in your favour.

» Assessment Of Retirement Goal

– Your current retirement assets include mutual funds, NPS, PF and equity investments.

– The biggest positive is that contributions are continuing every month.

– You also intend to continue SIPs for another 20 years.

– Based on your current savings discipline, the retirement goal appears achievable.

– However, a retirement corpus target of Rs.3 crore by 2046 may be on the lower side.

– Inflation over the next two decades will significantly reduce purchasing power.

– Your actual requirement may be much higher.

– I would encourage you to periodically reassess the retirement target.

– It is better to build a larger retirement corpus than discover a shortfall later.

» Review Of Asset Allocation

– Your portfolio already has exposure across different equity categories.

– NPS provides additional diversification.

– PF acts as a stable debt component.

– Emergency reserves are adequate.

– There is no immediate need for major restructuring.

– Avoid frequent portfolio changes based on short-term market movements.

– Consistency is more important than chasing the latest performing category.

» Emergency Fund Review

– Maintaining around Rs.10 lakh in emergency reserves is a sensible decision.

– With home loan responsibilities and two dependent children, liquidity is important.

– Continue keeping emergency money separate from long-term investments.

» Insurance Review

– Family health cover of Rs.20 lakh is good.

– Review whether a super top-up can further strengthen protection at a reasonable cost.

– Your term insurance cover of Rs.1.50 crore is useful.

– However, with two young children and a home loan, it may be worthwhile to review whether the cover remains adequate based on current liabilities and future goals.

» Home Loan Consideration

– Continue paying the home loan as scheduled.

– Avoid diverting long-term retirement assets towards prepayment.

– If future bonuses or surplus cash become available, you can evaluate partial prepayments.

– Balance loan reduction with wealth creation.

» Areas To Focus On

– Continue annual SIP increases.

– Increase investments whenever salary increases.

– Review education goals every few years.

– Reassess retirement corpus targets periodically.

– Maintain adequate insurance protection.

– Stay invested through market cycles.

» Finally

– You are doing many things right already.

– Your disciplined SIP history, NPS contributions, PF accumulation and emergency planning place you in a strong position.

– The main area needing attention is not portfolio rebalancing.

– It is ensuring that your education and retirement targets keep pace with future inflation.

– Continue your current investment discipline.

– With regular investment increases and periodic reviews, you are well-positioned to achieve your financial goals.

Best Regards,

K. Ramalingam, MBA, CFP,

AMFI-Registered MFD – ARN 4188

www.holisticinvestment.in

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramalingamcfp/