Managing pension corpus, life in retirement: Top personal finance stories
Our top stories this week tell you how to add years to your finances and the best senior living societies
 "Managing pension corpus, life in retirement: Top personal finance stories")
In India, financial planners and retirement calculators have long assumed a 4 per cent withdrawal rate from the retirement corpus to be safe. A recent study, however, finds that the number better suited to India would be 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent. In this week’s lead story, Sanjay Kumar Singh and Karthik Jerome explain strategies that can help eliminate longevity risk (the risk of outliving one’s corpus).
The second article, by Namrata Kohli, discusses the rise of specialised senior living communities. It delves into the shift towards more supportive environments for the elderly, offering various care models to meet diverse needs.
Equity portfolios are getting heavily skewed towards mid- and small-cap funds due to their recent run-up. If you are looking to rebalance and move into a large-cap fund, look up Morningstar’s review of SBI Bluechip Fund.
A critical illness, requiring a large expenditure, is known to be one of the key financial mishaps that drives families into poverty. To avoid this, buy adequate health insurance. Look up Policybazaar.com’s table to learn about the options available in the market.
Number of the week
99.5 million: Number of credit cards in India
India had 99.5 million credit cards at the end of January. Cards in force increased by 1.63 per cent in the previous month, inching close to the 100-million mark.
Card spends for the month grew by 0.8 per cent month on month to Rs 1.66 trillion, the highest since October 2023, when it stood at Rs 1.78 trillion. E-commerce accounted for 64.8 per cent whereas point-of-sale usage accounted for 35.2 per cent of all the spends.
Among the top four issuers, HDFC Bank maintained its leadership position, adding 23,0000 cards during the month. The total number of cards issued by it stood at 20.1 million at January end. State Bank of India followed with 19 million additions. ICICI Bank followed with 31,0000 additions.
Those who find it difficult to get a card should open a fixed deposit. This makes banks willing to offer a card against the deposit. If they maintain a good credit history, the bank will enhance their limit gradually.