Retirement Planning

Most of us detest receiving telemarketing calls – be it from a bank or a telecom company executive offering loan products or the latest tariff plan.

Last week, it was my turn. The call centre executive, on the call, in his fast-forwarded styled speech went on to inform me about a new model for retirement planning and how he could offer me the best scheme in the industry. The shrill voice from the other end of the phone went on and told me about an online calculator on their website that will allow any lay person to calculate how much he needs to save to form a nest egg for retirement. Investors just need to enter their expenses along with the number of years to retire to arrive at an amount they need to save or invest per month.

Online investment calculators can be a little addictive. Just plug in a couple of numbers and the screen tells you if your retirement savings will actually last through retirement. But while online calculators are a nice little diversion for web-savvy investors, can they really be trusted?

MISSING ELEMENTS

When planning your retirement you need to be aware about the pros and cons of different schemes before taking a call on the product mix that you choose. As a consumer of financial products, remember that financial calculators are created on the basis of predetermined algorithms that are good to give you a general indication but not equipped to customise plans as per your dreams, future lifestyle and needs. Financial calculators suffer from the following drawbacks:

Read more http://www.financialexpress.com/news/one-size-does-not-fit-all/633495/