Retirement planning is one of the most important financial goals in life. It ensures that even when your regular income stops, your lifestyle and needs are taken care of. As we enter 2026, experts Hemant Rustagi, CEO of Wiseinvest, and Viral Bhatt, founder of Money Mantra, shared practical tips on how to prepare for a secure retirement.
When to start your retirement planning?
In a financial conversation with Zee Business, Rustagi emphasised the importance of beginning early. “Retirement planning is a long-term goal. The earlier you start, the more time you have to grow your corpus through compounding,” he said. He added that even if you are close to retirement, taking stock of your current savings and adjusting your portfolio is essential.
How to plan your retirement?
1) Consider inflation and lifestyle
Bhatt highlighted the impact of inflation and future expenses. “Many people don’t consider medical expenses or lifestyle costs after retirement. You need to calculate your retirement corpus carefully, factoring in inflation and potential healthcare costs,” he said.
Rustagi suggested setting an initial target and revising it every few years. “You may start with a corpus of one or two crore, but every 3–5 years, adjust it according to your income, lifestyle, and inflation,” he explained.
Use instruments like SIPs in equity mutual funds to benefit from compounding over time. Equity allocation should generally be 50–80 per cent of your portfolio, with the remainder in debt instruments like PPF, EPF, or debt mutual funds.
Where to invest for retirement?
A common question is where to invest for retirement. Both experts stressed balancing equity and debt:
1) Equity: Rustagi recommended keeping 50–70 per cent of your retirement corpus in equity for growth. “Equity gives you long-term returns. Don’t reduce it too much, even as you approach retirement,” he said.
2) Debt instruments: Debt can be invested through EPF or PPF for stability.
3) NPS: With new rules, NPS now allows 85 per cent allocation to equity and more flexibility in withdrawals. Rustagi noted, “This gives retirees options to manage their corpus and generate income as needed.”
Common mistakes to avoid
Bhatt pointed out typical common mistakes to avoid:
- Delaying retirement planning.
- Relying solely on debt or government instruments.
- Ignoring inflation and medical costs.
- Being overly conservative, which can limit corpus growth.
- Reacting to market volatility by reducing equity exposure.
Role of age in investment strategy
Rustagi advised adjusting your approach depending on your age. “A 25–30-year-old can focus more on equity, while someone 8–10 years from retirement may need to rebalance the portfolio with more debt,” he said.
Both experts agree that retirement planning is a continuous process. The process of building a secure retirement corpus requires three key steps, which are regular goal assessment, proper maintenance of equity and debt mix, and factoring in inflation and lifestyle changes. The experts also noted that the recent changes in NPS offer greater flexibility, which makes it an attractive option for 2026.
