Prioritise retirement security, withdraw from NPS only in emergency

Since access to NPS corpus is restricted, build emergency fund, diversify into equity and debt MFs

The number of requests for partial withdrawal from the tier-1 account of the National Pension System (NPS) saw a sharp spike in the previous financial year. The handbook of NPS Statistics, 2023, published by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), reveals that requests rose from 1,46,292 in the 2021-22 financial year (FY22) to 5,32,234 in FY23.

Post-Covid-19 need for funds

The foremost reason for this spike, according to experts, was the Covid-19 pandemic. “Covid-19, and the financial distress it caused to many families, would have been the key reason,” says Sumit Shukla, managing director and chief executive officer,