Retirement Is Not a Distant Goal. It Is the Longest Financial Goal We Have

Retirement remains one of the easiest financial goals to postpone, even as Indians become increasingly comfortable with investing. Dhirendra Kumar, Founder & CEO, Value Research, argues that the challenge is less about a lack of investment options and more about behaviour. Starting late costs investors not only years of compounding but also the opportunity to build the discipline needed to stay invested through market cycles. From Corporate NPS and NPS Vatsalya to better defaults and employer-led participation, India needs to make long-term retirement saving less dependent on willpower. Ultimately, the real measure of a pensioned India will not be the size of the corpus accumulated, but the monthly income it can provide when work stops.