How do Investment Plans Help at Important Stages of Life?

You may have heard a saying that the right thing will come at the right time. You should believe in this principle as it’s the same with life. Your life has multiple stages. As you move forward with each stage, your dreams get bigger, and so do your responsibilities. Wanting all the things at once, thus, can be counter-productive.

Thus, you should move on with your life so that you can achieve your milestones when you are ready for them.

Your life can be divided into certain stages. Each of these stages brings a new investment goal. Each of the stages presents a milestone. These are the things you want to achieve in your life. Let us look at these stages one by one.

1. Earning Stage

The first milestone is achieved when you start earning. This marks the start of your career. At this stage, you have little or no responsibilities as you are young and looking to make your way.

You should start investing at this early stage only. This will give you the benefits of compounding as well as build you a saving habit.

Since you are not likely to have dependents at this stage you can look to invest in risky assets as well.

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2. Getting Married

As you grow in your career, the next stage starts at the time of marriage. After you get married, you now have more responsibilities. Your income and expenses will see an increase at this stage. You should restructure your budget.

Life insurance at this stage is a must, even if it has not been purchased before. Also, you need to start planning for your retirement.

3. Child Birth

After marriage, you are likely to have a child of your own in a few years. A child is one of the greatest blessings you could ever have. But with all the happiness, a child comes with a surge in expenses.

You should start to think about your child’s future so that you can accumulate enough by the time he reaches the age of education.

4. Retirement

This is the final and one of the major milestones you want to achieve. A happy retirement is what you have looked forward to all your working life.

After you retire, you no longer have a regular income. At this stage, you may be required to cut down on your expenses. This is the time when your investments are put to test.

Learn how to start planning for retirement.

Investment in Different Stages of Life

Now that you have looked at the various stages and what you will be required to do in each of them, let us now look at the investments that you need to successfully pass through these stages. The following are the best investments for 2022.

a) Retirement Plans

These are the plans that help take care of you financially post your retirement. These plans can help you provide a regular income with which you can meet your expenses after you retire.

There are many types of a retirement plans that you can consider:

1. Public Provident Fund (PPF)

It is a government-backed retirement plan. Since it is regulated by the government, it is risk-free and offers attractive interest. PPF scheme also provides you tax benefits

i. The current interest rate is 7.1% p.a
ii. You can invest up to Rs 1.5 lakh every year
iii. Interest earned from the PPF is tax-exempt along with maturity

2. Employee Provident Fund (EPF)

This scheme comes under the EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation) and helps employees to save for their retirement.

i. In this scheme both you and your employer are required to contribute 12% of the basic salary every month
ii. In case you are a woman, you will need to contribute 8% only for the first 3 years.
iii. The rate of interest is 8.5 % p.a

Other options in which you can invest include NPS, and ULIP. Learn more about EPF.

b) Short-Term Investment Plans

Apart from planning for long-term goals such as retirement, you need to keep an eye on your short-term needs as well. For these, you need to make investments that are more accessible and are of short duration. These criteria are met by the following

1. Bank FD’s

It is the safest and one of the most popular investments in the eyes of the Indian population. The bank FD provides you with fixed interest rates for the specified period.

i. You can enrol in Bank FD with any bank or even a post office
ii. FD’s terms are very flexible, and can sometimes play the role of long term investment as well
iii. You can open FD for any period, starting from just 7 days, to as long as 10 years
iv. Different banks offer different rates they typically range from 3.5-6%
v. Senior citizens are given higher interest

2. Mutual Funds

These are relatively newer but a great investment for the short term. In mutual funds, a pool is created from the money of several investors and is then invested in the market. The mutual fund is managed by a professional known as the fund manager.

i. A mutual fund does not have a lock-in period. This means that you can exit anytime. However, an exit charge may be incurred
ii. There are many types of mutual funds, equity, debt, hybrid, liquid
iii. In liquid funds, the maturity period is as low as 91 days

Both the options listed above help you to meet your short-term needs ably. You can also invest in these funds when you need to park your extra money for some time.

c) Child Education Plans

These are insurance cum investment plans that aim to ensure that your child’s dreams and goals are achieved. With the education costs rising constantly, you need to start planning for your child’s future the moment he/she is born. A child plan lets you do that.

i. These plans are linked with the market and thus have the potential to give you better than average returns
ii. These include a life cover to protect you
iii. A child plan also offers you tax benefits as well. These are eligible for deductions u/s 80C and also section 10(10)D of the Income Tax Act

Child plans like Canara HSBC Life Insurance’s ULIP Smart Junior plan, and Guaranteed Income4Life Plan , apart from these benefits, also come with premium protection benefits.

Under this, if you die during the policy, the remaining premiums are waived off. The policy still continues as intended.

d) Investment Plans for Long Term Goals

Child education is not the only goal you want to achieve. There may be some personal dreams that you and your family may want to fulfil. These can be buying a house, buying a car, etc. These are all long-term goals.

To fulfil these, one of the best options to invest in is, ULIP.

A Unit Linked Insurance Plan is a variant of the life insurance policy. Apart from providing you with the basic life cover, ULIP also allows you to invest your funds and build a corpus. This corpus can be used to achieve your goals.

Also Read - What is SIP?

e) Investment for Pension Security

After retirement, it is very important that you create an additional source of income that can help get you through your daily expenses.

These are the best investments to ensure income after posting your retirement

a. Deferred Annuity

These are the type of annuities in which the income to be received is deferred to a later date after the premiums are paid. That is, the insurance company agrees to pay your amount to you at a future date. The minimum period of waiting is 1 year.

b. Immediate Annuity

Under this type, you make a one-time contribution to your annuity. The premium is paid in a lump sum. This lump sum is contributed to a regular income stream at the time of payout. You will receive payments immediately.

c. 100 Year Unit Linked Insurance Plans

Yes, ULIP again. Plans like Invest 4G offer you a century option. Under this option, you are covered up to 100 years of age!

With this option, you can not only leave a legacy for your children and grandchildren but can make create income too.

Withdrawal options offered by Invest 4G help you withdraw your money systematically after a certain date.

Canara HSBC Life Insurance’s ULIP Invest 4G plan is an all-rounder with which you can fulfil your dreams.

Here are some of the defining features of Invest 4G ULIP

a) Freedom

i. Gives you full freedom to choose your premium payment term and mode
ii. Allows you to choose the duration you want to stay in the policy

b) Premium Funding Benefit

i. Under this feature, the policy will continue even after your death. The remaining premiums are waived-off
ii. Maturity benefit is provided at the end of the policy

c) Facility of Partial Withdrawal

Invest 4G allows you to withdraw your money partially. This can be availed after the lock-in period of 5 years

d) Tax Benefits

i. You can avail of tax benefits u/s 80C. Also, the maturity benefit is tax-exempt under section 10(10)D.
ii. Partial withdrawals are also tax-free

e) Longer Holding Period

i. You can continue your ULIP plan for up to 100 years of age under Century Option
ii. This allows you to build a huge corpus and withdraw pension from the same plan without losing your tax exemptions

Investing and creating wealth for yourself is important, but you should also take care of your health. Without sound health, you cannot enjoy the benefits of any of your investments.

Also Read - Income Tax Return

Thus, make sure that you and your family are covered by a health plan as early as possible.