NRI Retirement - Planning, Insurance Cover and Will

After a hectic life overseas, NRIs plan to come back to India to spend rest of their time in a peaceful manner. But due to poor planning and lack of ideas to go about it, most of them look upon their children to look after them during retirement stage.

Also NRIs may have to do the right arithmetic when it comes to the total corpus required and judge correctly whether their children will have time to take care of them. Given below are some of key issues to ponder before planning to return home for retirement:

Retirement age:

NRIs have to make a fine balance between the right time of ‘calling it quits’ and the amount needed to finance their life post-retirement. Hence, deciding when you will retire is a critical first step as some people set a deadline period while other aim for earning more before hanging their boots.

How much money is enough:

This is a tough question. NRIs may not be aware of the cost of living in Indian cities even as they have to build assets and liquid cash to prepare the will later on for their children to inherit them.
The case is quite different if you are relocating to India as a working professional for then the employer will take of your basic needs like accommodation. But during retirement you had to pay for each and every service you want to avail.

It would be better to seek the advice of a financial expert or organisation which can do all the maths for you to estimate the cost of living in Indian cities after retirement and the corpus needed for preparing the will later on.

Retirement products

For a long-term investment plan one has to invest aggressively in equities and real estate market.

As a growing economy and a younger labour force, India is the destination of choice for global investors.  As Indian market grows big with its GDP set to leapfrog in coming decades, NRIs are bound to invest either directly or through mutual funds in equity markets.

RBI has notified a facility called portfolio investment scheme for NRIs to invest in stock markets. Also, the realty market is witnessing a boom with several townships and mega projects being taken up by builders. It would be easier for NRIs to earn in stronger currency and pay in Indian rupee for property purchases in India. Apart from equity and real estate markets, debut instruments will also fetch handsome returns as part of retirement portfolio.

Insurance a must

During retirement age, health insurance cover is a must for NRIs as they have to seek medical assistance for a host of ailments and recurring illnesses. Hence, buying a fresh health insurance policy is important and they can avail such products easily till at least 65 years of age.

Post-retirement life may have to encounter health-related woes and recurring problems and having a sound insurance policy may offset their financial commitments to some extent.

Make a will

Creating a huge savings is very much important to achieve end-life goals, but at the same time there is a need for planning and stock taking at every stage of their career.

NRIs have to keep in mind that their children are going to inherit their wealth one day and hence, they have to decide on the time for writing the will to avoid needless wrangles later on.

Always remember it is better to talk about your wealth before it is too late to avoid confusion or conflict later on. NRI couples can also think of issuing a powering of attorney to carry out the transfer.