In the post-retirement period, the regular flow of income gets hampered, and individuals tend to be prone to different diseases and ailments due to age. On top of that, your responsibilities do not decrease, rather, they escalate. So, keeping in mind the needs of your post-retirement age, you should start to plan and save early to avoid future hazards. In this scenario, pension or retirement plans work pretty well as these plans help you to build a financial corpus that can mitigate the unexpected expenses after your retirement, and also some plans offer you a regular flow of income to maintain the sustainability of your life.
Benefits of Having a Pension or Retirement Plan
Pension plans or Retirement Plans act as a financial cushion once you retire from your work field. The earlier you start to invest in a pension plan, the more amount you can accumulate. To know more about the benefits of a pension plan, have a look at the below mentions.
Guaranteed Income – You can get a fixed and steady income after retiring (deferred plan) or immediately after investing (immediate plan), based on the type of your investment. You can take a retirement calculator to estimate how much amount you need after your retirement.
Financially Independent – No one wants to be financially dependent and be a burden on someone. Through a pension plan, you get a fixed income in your post-retirement days, you can fulfill your dreams and aims out of your own money. You can lead an independent and respectful life.
Tax Exemption Benefit – Usually, pension plans are eligible to avail of the tax exemption benefits under Section 80C, 80CCC, and 80CCD of the Income Tax Act.
Liquidity – Though retirement plans usually do not take care of your liquidity needs, some plans allow withdrawal even during the accumulation stage. This means that you can do partial withdrawals to meet your financial emergencies without relying on bank loans or others.
Increases Savings – Many have the tendency to drain out money. If they invest in a pension plan, not only will they get benefits from it in the future, but also, they will grow a healthy habit of saving money.
Tension-free Life – Once you know that you have a pension plan to take care of your financial needs in the future, you can have peace of mind and live your golden days of life without any hazards.
List of Top Pension Plans Available In India
In India, the life insurance market is filled with different types of retirement plans. Among them, the most popular ones are mentioned in the following table, along with their eligibility criteria.
| Name of the plan | Entry age | Vesting age | Premium paying term | Basic premium |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Empower Pension Plan | Minimum – 25 years Maximum – 70 years | Maximum – 80 years | Regular pay | Minimum Rs. 18,000 p.a. if paid annually Minimum Rs. 24,000 p.a. if paid semi-annually Minimum Rs. 30,000 p.a. if paid quarterly Minimum Rs. 36,000 p.a. if monthly |
| Bajaj Allianz Guaranteed Pension Goal | Minimum: Deferred annuity – 45 years Immediate annuity – 30 days Maximum: Deferred annuity – 84 years Immediate annuity – 85 years | Deferment period | Immediate/deferred annuity – Single pay Deferred annuity – Regular pay | Annuity amount |
Minimum – 1 year and PPT chosen. Maximum – 10 years | Minimum – Rs. 12,000 yearly Maximum – No upper limit | |||
| HDFC Life Systematic Retirement Plan | Minimum – 45 years Maximum – 75 years | Deferment period | Minimum – 5 years Maximum – 15 years | Annuity payout per installment |
Minimum – Premium payment term chosen. Maximum – 15 years | Minimum: Annual: Rs. 12,000; Half Yearly: Rs. 6,000; Quarterly: Rs. 3,000; Monthly: Rs. 1,000 Maximum – No upper limit | |||
| ICICI Pru Guaranteed Pension Plan Flexi | Minimum: Primary annuitant – 40 years Secondary annuitant – 30 years Maximum – 70 years and 80 years | Deferment period | 5 years to 15 years | Annuity option |
| 5 years to 15 years | Minimum – Rs. 12,000 per annum Maximum – Subject to board approved underwriting policy | |||
| LIC’s Jeevan Akshay – VII | Minimum – 30 years Maximum – 80 years and 100 years | NA | NA | Annuity payouts |
| Minimum – Rs. 1000 per month | ||||
| Reliance Nippon Life Smart Pension Plan | Minimum – 18 years Maximum – 65 years | Minimum – 45 years Maximum – 75 years | 10 years to 14 years. 15 years to 19 years 20 years and above | There are multiple options depending on premium payment terms, frequency, and mode. |
| SBI Life – Saral Retirement Saver | Minimum – 18 years Maximum – 60 years (RP) and 65 years (SP) | Minimum – 40 years Maximum – 70 years | Policy term | Basic sum assured |
Minimum – 10 years (RP), and 5 years (SP) Maximum – 40 years | Minimum – Rs. 1 lakh Maximum – No upper limit |
Brief Details About Retirement Plans
Look at the following details to have a brief idea about the above-mentioned plans.
1. Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Empower Pension Plan
It is a unit-linked pension plan that helps you to build a retirement corpus according to your convenience. The accumulated premiums and market-linked investment returns ensure that you can enjoy your retired life worry-free. This plan is flexible enough to give you the liberty to choose your vesting age, premium payment, plan option, and also any risk profile (aggressive/moderate/conservative) as per your needs.
Key Highlights of The Plan:
- Under this plan, you can make partial withdrawals to meet your financial emergencies after the completion of five policy years.
- In the case of the unfortunate and untimely demise of the life assured during the policy term of an active policy, the beneficiary or the nominee is entitled to receive the death benefit.
- Guaranteed additions under the pension plan will be the units that will be added to your policy.
- You can surrender the policy at any time. In that case, you are eligible to receive the surrender benefits that can help you to meet your financial emergencies.
2. Bajaj Allianz Guaranteed Pension Goal
This plan is a non-linked, non-participating, deferred, and immediate annuity policy that assures your lifestyle goals by giving you a guaranteed income throughout life as per your choice and need (yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly). To obtain this plan, the maximum number of members can be 5. This is a flexible plan that can be customized as per your requirements.
Key highlights of the plan:
- This plan gives you the option to receive your invested amount back as a Return of Purchase Price (ROP) in case of the unfortunate demise of the insured person, or as a survival benefit.
- You can also include your spouse in the annuity plan with 50% or 100% annuity payable to the spouse after the death of the life assured.
- This plan offers nine immediate annuity options and five deferred annuity options to choose from.
- To avail of this policy, you need to undergo a pre-policy medical check-up.
3. HDFC Life Systematic Retirement Plan
It is an Individual/Group, Non-Participating, Non-linked, Savings Deferred Annuity Plan that offers you guaranteed income for your whole life. Under this plan, you have the option to receive an annuity monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly as per your convenience. You also have the option to choose between two annuity options at the time of inception, and they are – Life Annuity and Life Annuity with Return of Premiums.
Key highlights of the plan:
- On survival after the completion of the deferment period, payouts will be made in arrears as per the annuity payment frequency that is chosen by you as long as the annuitant is alive.
- On death during the deferment period, and on death after the deferment period, in both cases, the death benefit is payable to the nominee if the life assured dies unexpectedly.
- For group policies, the minimum number of members is 10, and there is no upper limit for the maximum numbers.
- The policy term for this plan is whole life.
4. ICICI Pru Guaranteed Pension Plan Flexi
This plan is designed to offer you help to build retirement savings gradually. This will also help you to get a lifelong guaranteed income in your post-retirement days. In addition to the regular income, the plan also offers options that give you access to lump sum payouts to address your healthcare and lifestyle needs.
Key Highlights of The Policy:
- This plan offers 7 annuity options to choose from as per your retirement needs.
- Under this plan, you have the flexibility to receive the annuity payouts on a yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly basis.
- This plan also offers you the option to top up your plan whenever you have additional funds to invest.
- The minimum premium amount for this policy will depend upon annuity rates and the annuity option chosen.
This is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, immediate annuity. The annuity rates are guaranteed at the inception of the policy. Till the annuitant is alive, the annuities are payable throughout his/her life. This plan is available both online and offline.
Key highlights of the policy:
- Under this plan, the policyholder has an option to choose the type of annuity from 10 available options on payment of a lump sum amount. Once the annuity option is chosen, that cannot be altered.
- The minimum purchase price of this policy is Rs. 1 lakh.
- You can receive the death benefit as a lump sum or also installments such as yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly.
- This plan offers you the option to obtain it for the benefit of a dependent person with a disability.
6. Reliance Nippon Life Smart Pension Plan
It is a unit-linked, non-participating, individual pension plan that allows you to save systematically to build up the financial corpus so that you can generate a regular flow of income in your post-retirement days. This plan makes you eligible to avail of the tax benefits as per the prevailing tax laws.
Key highlights of the plan:
- Under this plan, you have the option to choose policy term from 10 years for Single Premium and 15 years for Regular/Limited Premium to 30 years, as per your convenience.
- Upon retirement or vesting, you will be eligible to withdraw 60% of the accumulated corpus.
- In case of the unfortunate demise of the life assured, the family will get a minimum guaranteed amount based on the total premiums paid towards the policy.
- A loan facility is not available under this plan.
7. SBI Life – Saral Retirement Saver
This pension plan has come up with a bundle of benefits and facilities that help you to build a financial corpus for your retirement days through guaranteed simple reversionary bonuses. With this plan, you also safeguard your beloved ones with an option of additional life cover through a rider benefit, SBI Life – Preferred Term Rider.
Key highlights of the plan:
- The annualized premium amount for this plan is a minimum of Rs. 7,500, and there is no maximum upper limit.
- Premiums can be paid for this policy either annually, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly.
- This plan has come up with death benefits and maturity/vesting benefits.
- This plan offers you bonuses for the first 5 policy years, which are guaranteed for only in-force policies, 2.50% for the first three policy years and 2.75% for the next two policy years of the basic sum assured.
Conclusion
The available retirement plans in India are usually flexible and customer-friendly. But before opting for a pension plan, you need to assess the insurance market and then evaluate certain factors such as your requirements, flexibility of the plan, withdrawal facility, whether the plan is linked or non-linked, market risks, premium amount, etc. that can directly put an effect on your accumulated amount. You can also take the help of an economic advisor before investing your hard-earned money. Retirement plans are very much beneficial and pivotal to secure yourself and your beloved ones and to keep yourself ready for your post-retirement days in a financially healthy way. So invest wisely and reap the maximum benefits.
