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Old 16th August 2018, 17:56   #61
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon View Post
....I feel I could do this for ever, isn't that how it should be? Now, my Directors want to make this happy engineer a manager, but no thank you! I'm gooood!
That thought crosses plenty of minds, mind you, but most don't go through with it like you did, so kudos where they're due.

A career that gives us everything we want doesn't exist for the vast majority, and it's up to us to prioritize what we want (and how much).

Ultimately, it's always the intangibles that make the difference irrespective of the number on the bank account, else there wouldn't be any unhappy rich, would there?
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Old 16th August 2018, 18:40   #62
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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Sir, I am sure many of us would like to understand how to go about point (b) that you mentioned above.
Pretty simple actually -

1. Whatever insurance policies I chose, I timed the period so that they matured between 2018 and 2020.

2. Opened PPF account in the name of self, spouse and child - paid the contributions by May every year. At the end of 7th year, withdrew and re-invested the amount (made lump sum withdrawal only for purchase of flat). Now have a corpus which can be withdrawn per my requirement.

3. When I was in my 30s and 40s, put money in bank FDs for longer tenure (5+ years). As and when it matured, re-invested it again for another 5 years. By the time I was about 50, I had deposits which used to mature in the next two to three years, which I put in my SB account - again, to fund my flat purchase.

4. My PF is available to me, the day I retire (including additional 'own' contribution which I had made each month).

5. As far as ELSS, Bonds and other tax savings instruments go, withdrew the amount after 3 to 5 years and put it in PPF or FD.

6. Made some investment in some stocks - reinvested whatever returns I got. Encashed the gains to 'spend' on some luxury items.

7. The only contribution which I am making now is towards NPS.

My initial savings were hardly about Rs. 300 to 500 a month, which grew over the years; since withdrawals out of these savings were few and increased the original investments incrementally every year, the corpus grew. Never underestimate the power of compound interest ......

I know of a person who used to buy a small quantity of gold each month out of salary - and is sitting on a sizable quantity enough to meet the marriage requirements of kids now!

All that needs is some financial discipline.

Last edited by vrprabhu : 16th August 2018 at 18:42. Reason: Corrected a typo
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Old 17th August 2018, 15:28   #63
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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Originally Posted by V.Narayan View Post
never say never. You don't know what goodness is cooking in your favour in the womb of time.
That sir, is the most wholesome thing I have read in a long time! Thank you.

Great piece of advice on this forum.
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Old 17th August 2018, 16:05   #64
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

I simply cannot imagine myself dropping kids to school, do house chores and then spend rest of the time reading newspaper/watching TV/Chit-chatting. If this is the early retirement we are talking about, then its not for me. I would like to keep myself involved in some work or other till my body supports!
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Old 17th August 2018, 17:26   #65
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

Wow ! what an interesting topic on T-BHP. After a long week at office, I decide to relax by spending a little time on T-BHP and this is what I find on front page !

Anyways, a book that I keep recommending on this topic is Coffee Can Investing. It also suggests using a financial planning tool built by Ambit. Here's the link to that : https://www.ambit.co/fp/ambitfp.xlsm. I have used this calculator once and find it quite good for what it offers (PS: I am not related to Ambit or the author of the book in any way)

I have a question for people who are into finance : All these excel spreadsheets have fixed numbers for inflations, returns from equity, etc. That is not the reality though. Inflation and Returns vary.

Improvements / alterations that can be made to the sheet above:

1. Make variables like inflation, returns, etc iterate over an average and standard deviation say 1 million times. Calculate max amount required this way for a more confident estimate !
2. Take a GoI standard life expectancy map and adjust the above numbers for the probability of death in that year. This may make it statistically accurate but not sure about the impact it will have on the eventual corpus required
3. Do #2 for both yourself and your spouse to calculate joint mortality, and adjust the numbers accordingly
4. Add scenarios to the sheet like retiring at 35, 40, 45, 50, etc. and its impact to the amount required
5. Automate all the above and provide pretty looking dashboard

Does all this sound like a new business idea, eh ? Already thinking of going into advisory business ? Well, guess what ! All banks are already working on this, called Robotic advisors. Given enough time, they will all become more and more intelligent - just like the smart phone in our hands.

OK, enough weekend rambling from my side ! Thoughts and comments welcome

Last edited by Maddy3008 : 17th August 2018 at 17:27. Reason: typo
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Old 17th August 2018, 19:35   #66
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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Does all this sound like a new business idea, eh ? Already thinking of going into advisory business ?
Well, if I am not mistaken what you have 'rambled' about is exactly in existence - 'actuarial valuation' is name for the term.

Take a look at the Institute of Actuaries of India to get an idea what type of studies are undertaken. Anyone really interested to find out the future requirement post retirement corpus, after factoring all probables stated by you, can get it actually done through an actuary.

There are tables, tools etc. available for these type of calculations. LIC of India is a powerhouse in this area.
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Old 18th August 2018, 11:13   #67
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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Great topic.
I was almost there, had resigned few months back and was asked to withdraw my resignation (on the last working day) as I did not have a job at hand. Nobody believed when I said I am quitting without an offer at hand.

Same here, and had the same thoughts w.r.t the society.
Only difference was that I was not quite done with IT but wanted to do things at my own pace and choice. Had got the buyin from the family for the change and had kind of settled the finances. But then I guess I was/am still was hooked to the current job. Some colleagues I look up to and some new job challenges were able to sway me to stick around for some more time till I become dispensable. The clock is ticking :-)



But what I learnt in the process was that - the taking stock - of one's financial status and time allocation is extremely helpful and may even lead to a more fulfilling life.



To me,

a) It clarified what I value most thereby enabling me to focus more energy towards those areas.
b) In case I chuck my job or my employer decided to chuck me out tomorrow; I have a good understanding of how long a runway I have at the current expense rate. This understanding reduces any stress/fear of the unknown.
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Old 18th August 2018, 11:51   #68
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

Those of you approaching retirement, especially early retirement (if anyone here is) - do you ever think about donating your time to causes? That sounds a lot more difficult than it would seem, if I start thinking about the specifics. What exactly would you donate your time doing, if you had that opportunity to early-retire and live on your own money for the rest of your life?

I am nowhere near attaining it but hey, what they say is, don't worry about something being possible or impossible, if you are passionate enough you will figure out a way. So I want to flesh out this idea.

But.. I don't have any concrete *good* ideas for spending time to make a difference for others.
I do have one vague thought though: The biggest problem with charity is trust. There are a lot of organizations set up, but no one knows which one to trust to take the donation to someone who actually needs it.

Recently I learned the CEO and other executives of a major global charity organization take ridiculous amounts of salaries, obscene amounts, from donations all over the world. This makes me mis-trust any charitable organization.

We are living in a tragic world where a lot of humanity is suffering, a lot of humanity is able and willing to help, but there are no robust and easy-to-use mechanisms to bridge these two.

This may be a space for an early-retiree to disrupt, with modern technology and communication channels. Ideas welcome.

Last edited by rajushank84 : 18th August 2018 at 11:52.
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Old 18th August 2018, 12:42   #69
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

This video explains financial independence very well.


Not sure if we can expect a CAGR of 15% in Nifty index funds.
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Old 18th August 2018, 13:01   #70
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

As someone who thinks a best vacation is spent by doing nothing and preferably sitting by a seaside or poolside and read a book or two, I can't relate to people who want to work until their last breath. Well, it's not a surprise people are different.

Work, even in the field I love or the business I own and run is a chore to me. I would rather do things on my own with absolutely no one to report or serve to and with no financial and time pressure.

If I have the means to retire today (early ~30s), I would spend time with my family, doing household chores, pickup and drop my kid at school, read books, play video games, tinker things, spend time with friends etc. and I'm pretty sure I can do this for next 30-40 years without missing anything meaningful for me.

Last edited by Yieldway17 : 18th August 2018 at 13:03.
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Old 18th August 2018, 19:52   #71
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

Being in IT industry since last 3 years and 8 months, I have seen only a handful of people over the age of 50 years still working in IT companies.

No matter if you plan or not, looks like people in the IT industry are forced to retire early due to the dynamic nature of the industry.

My first company had over 10,000 employees and my current company has over 4,000 employees! The majority, all are under 35 years old bracket. I may be wrong but I'm yet to meet a gentleman who is 50-60 years old and still working in an IT company.
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Old 18th August 2018, 20:22   #72
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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As someone who thinks a best vacation is spent by doing nothing and preferably sitting by a seaside or poolside and read a book or two, ------- 30-40 years without missing anything meaningful for me.
A fresh perspective. Something that I can relate to very well. Leave alone the financial aspect of working/ keeping a job - even otherwise, the concept of work is worshipped beyond reason. An Indian male who does not keep a 'conventional' job is an outcast.
May be once the bots start taking over the work place - things could change for the better.

Of course such 'job less' thoughts would be squashed down as impractical and the left brain takes over and its back to the status quo.
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Old 18th August 2018, 21:02   #73
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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Originally Posted by Yieldway17 View Post
If I have the means to retire today (early ~30s), I would spend time with my family, doing household chores, pickup and drop my kid at school, read books, play video games, tinker things, spend time with friends etc. and I'm pretty sure I can do this for next 30-40 years without missing anything meaningful for me.
Your family will start dropping subtle hints for you to get out of the house. Your kids will beg you to allow them to take the school bus. Your friends will tell you to stop bugging them as they have real work to do. You can't go on vacation whenever you want because you will not have company: kids have school, friends have jobs, etc. People get tired of seeing too much of you, excess family time leads to quarrels I don't mean you should have a regular job. etc. but you certainly need to be occupied by some work-like activity and limit your availability to family. Happy family is one where everyone is very busy. Unfortunate, but that's how it plays.
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Old 18th August 2018, 21:51   #74
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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I may be wrong but I'm yet to meet a gentleman who is 50-60 years old and still working in an IT company.
The IT industry in India itself came into prominence in the late 90s. Those of us who passed out of the engineering colleges in the 80s and 90s, are now in the mid 40s. I remember when we finished our engineering course, there were not even any jobs to speak of in Bengaluru and most of the fresh graduates used to go to Mumbai (SEEPZ Andheri).

It remains interesting to see how the industry will look at the people in their 50s in a few years from now. I have seen many people in US still writing code in their late 50s, programming and maintaining software written for mainframes in COBOL, ALP and maintaining other legacy systems. Not everyone can be directors - for these jobs are few and far between.

Last edited by AltoLXI : 18th August 2018 at 22:10.
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Old 18th August 2018, 22:53   #75
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re: The Retirement Planning Thread

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some in even early 30s.
There is a couple in US who planned and retired when they were ~32 by living frugally. They saved most of their incomes (invested it wisely) and were able to achieve financial independence at a very young age. Of course the inflation over there is minimal and if you are part of the health network, you are covered for the most expensive bill you would ever face. Also, one of their key objectives was to save a lot and move to rural place (which in US still has lot more facilities as compared to us). Nevertheless, a lot of concepts are applicable to us as well. The blog gives a nice perspective. A few entries on car buying and ownership as well.

Of course, frugal living is not everyone’s cup of tea, but their results should make us ponder.
Blog: http://www.frugalwoods.com/
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