RETIREMENT PLANNING & PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION

I know two people who are more than 70 years old. How much of their money should be in equities? "Sir, 100 years minus their age - so they should have about 30% of their portfolio in equities."

- PV SUBRAMANYAM

Then I tell them these two people are Mr. Azim Premji and Mr. Amitabh Bachchan...do you guys want to change the answer please?" Thumb rules do not always work. The amount of debt and equity that a person has in his or her portfolio is not just a function of a person's age, it is also a function of the total corpus, the ability to understand, the managerial ability, etc. So, a person who has retired at age 48 and thinks will live for another 40 years, has to have equity in his portfolio. There are many ways of looking at a retiree's portfolio!

Let us see what a retiree portfolio can and cannot do:

Must do:

● Outlive the owner of the portfolio and his spouse.

● Give comfort to the owner with a level of money that allows him to sleep.