In life, good things don’t last forever. Instead, life advances and in no time, your golden years pass, giving way to the less exciting retirement years. Once you are into your 60s or 70s, there’s every chance that you may be held down with financial instability due to rising medical treatment costs and other expenses. When you retire from work; however, you aren’t necessarily retiring from life. A vast majority of people fail to realise this.Instead of buckling up under the pressure of rising expenses post-retirement, it is essential that you get your money to work for you even when you aren’t. In other words, you need to prepare for your retirement, starting today, by investing into a pension plan.
A pension plan is a long-term policy. A small portion of your earnings is transferred to a fund sponsored by a company, thereby allowing you to overcome shortfalls of money after your retirement. With a pension plan in place, therefore, you won’t have to worry about having a scarcity of funds for your expenses. Furthermore, by planning early for your retirement, you can cope better with rising standards of living and financial uncertainties.To help you choose, here are some of the top performing pension plans available today. Let’s dive in.
#1: LIC Jeevan Akshaya VI Plan
LIC is a reputable name in the Indian insurance industry. Their pension plan offering, Jeevan Akshaya VI plan is a trustworthy immediate annuity plan. It’s power-packed with six options. You can choose any one option and pay the premium, which in turn, is exempt from tax.
Furthermore, there’s usually no need to undergoing any medical examination to opt for this plan. However, you must be atleast 30 years old. Hence, you should submit an age-proof document. For offline distribution channels, the minimum purchase price stands at Rs. 1 lakh. For online distribution channels; however, it’s Rs. 1.5 lakhs. If the purchase price is more than Rs2.5 lakhs, you are entitled to a substantial rebate.You may also opt for receiving pension either monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly.
#2: Max Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income Plan
The Guaranteed Lifetime Income Planfrom Max Life Insurance is another top performing pension plan that comes with an annual premium payment mode. You must be atleast 25 years to subscribe to this plan. The maximum age to adhere to this plan is 60 years. A regular stream of income is guaranteed to policyholders post their retirement.Also, the premium payment term is same as the policy payment term, either 6 or 12 years. If you opt for six years policy term, the minimum annualised premium is Rs 75,000. In the case of 12 years policy term, it stands at Rs 20,000. There’s no limit on the maximum annualised premium.
In case of any eventuality, your nominee is guaranteed a lump sum as a death benefit, which is tax exempted under Section 10 (10D).
#3: SBI Life Saral Pension Plan
If you are looking for an individual and non-linked traditional plan that offers protection from marketing volatility and fluctuations, look no further than SBI Life Saral Pension plan, which assures you of vesting bonuses upon its maturity.
One of the best features of this plan is its high loan tenure, between 10 and 40 years. Also, bonuses are guaranteed for the first five years.To purchase this plan, you should be atleast 18 years old and no more than 65 years. While the minimum premium amount is Rs. 7,500, there’s no limit on the maximum premium amount.
#4: ICICI PRU Immediate Annuity Plan
The plan offers multiple premium payment options including monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly. You can also opt for a single premium payment against the plan. You are eligible for this plan only if you are 45 years or older. The maximum age for eligibility is 80 years.An impressive feature of this plan is that it offers pension to the policyholder’s spouse. Spouse is eligible for this plan only if his / her age is nothing less than 20 years.
#5: HDFC Life Click 2 Retire Plan
This is a unit linked plan that helps its policyholders meet their respective retirement goals.Besides offering an option of settling premiums in a single payment, this plan also offers a premium settlement in 8, 10 or 15 years.Individuals whose age is anywhere between 18 and 65 years can purchase this plan. The minimum maturity age of this plan is 45 years,and the maximum age is 75 years.
Concluding,
Retirement isn’t the end of the road for you. Instead, it is the start of a new journey. Therefore, it is essential that you prepare in advance for retirement, as you plan for other life goals. While a retirement pension plan would be an obvious choice, you can also look to invest in other instruments such as a retirement mutual fund, which may help you create a significant corpus in the long term. An efficient strategy for retirement planning would be to compare various plans, read terms and conditions, understand your requirements, visualize your post-retirement lifestyle and then choose a pension plan accordingly.
