​

The average cost for a nursing home care was $188.00 per day, whereas in a resort or holiday inn, a combined long term stay discount and senior discount costs $59.23 per night. Breakfast is included and some of them have happy hours in the afternoon. If another $40.77 per day can be accounted for healthcare and dinner, then for around $100 per day, an average individual can stay in a nice hotel, eat 3-star hotel food, as well as utilise the hotel's medical facility in case of emergencies. The fact that the individual could travel and live in different cities and states would be an added advantage!

What an interesting hypothesis, I thought to myself, and begun analysing if sustaining such a lifestyle was possible in the Indian context.

Table 1: Average hotel expenditure

Particulars	Daily Cost	Yearly Cost
Cost of an average 3-star hotel in Mumbai	3,500	12,77,500
Cost of daily medical care	1,500	5,47,500
Meals and local travel	1,000	3,65,000
Total Cost	6,000	21,90,000

(For illustration purpose only)

So, I delved a litter deeper. It turns out that the daily cost of a 3-star hotel is Rs 3,500. Add to this the assumed daily healthcare cost of Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 for local travel and meal expenditure. The total per day cost is Rs 6,000 which adds up to an annual expenditure of Rs 21.90 Lakhs.

Table 2: Facts and data crunching can get you the retirement corpus you need

Age (at present)	60 years
Retirement planned at age...	60 years
Life expectancy	85 years
Monthly Household Expenditure	Rs 1,80,000
Time to retirement	0 years
Expected inflation per year	8.00%
Monthly Expenditure - at retirement age	Rs 1,80,000
Annual expenditure at retirement	Rs 21,60,000
Post retirement inflation	8.00%
Post retirement life expectancy	25
Expected return post retirement	6.95%
Corpus required at time of retirement	608,67,659

(For illustration purpose only)

Let's look at my father's financial case for example. To lead a 25-year-post retirement life using the idea of the Texan individual, my father will need a retirement corpus of Rs 6.08 Crore! That's triple of what he can afford to retire with.

[Read: Can Retirement Funds Help You Build A Respectable Retirement Corpus?]

When I told my father the story of the gentleman in Texas and that to sustain the same lifestyle in India, he will need a retirement corpus of Rs 6.08 Crore, my father sarcastically replied, 'Well great. It took me 35 years to create a corpus of Rs 2 Crores, so I only have to work for another 70 years and hurray, I will accumulate a corpus of Rs 6 Crores!'

'You see Deepika, when you retire the objective is not to lead a lavish lifestyle but a happy life. I'm not saying that the Texan's idea of retirement is wrong. But once you retire, you want simplicity and stability. You can't get that if you are checking in and out of resorts and motels every other month. The Texan individual is able to 'get by' in the Rs 6 Crores, whereas I can live like a king with the same corpus here, in India. Having said that, what is life if you don't shoot for the stars?'

Table 3: Living life like a king with a Rs 6 crore corpus...

Age	Opening      Balance	Withdrawal     for necessities	Withdrawal    for yearly Travel	Withdrawal    for Medical	Total    Withdrawal	Closing        Balance
60	608,67,659	6,00,000	5,00,000	1,50,000	12,50,000	625,98,542
61	625,98,542	6,48,000	5,40,000	1,65,000	13,53,000	643,07,819
62	643,07,819	6,99,840	5,83,200	1,81,500	14,64,540	659,85,443
63	659,85,443	7,55,827	6,29,856	1,99,650	15,85,333	676,20,115
64	676,20,115	8,16,293	6,80,244	2,19,615	17,16,153	691,99,161
65	691,99,161	8,81,597	7,34,664	2,41,577	18,57,837	707,08,389
66	707,08,389	9,52,125	7,93,437	2,65,734	20,11,296	721,31,948
67	721,31,948	10,28,295	8,56,912	2,92,308	21,77,514	734,52,156
68	734,52,156	11,10,558	9,25,465	3,21,538	23,57,562	746,49,324
69	746,49,324	11,99,403	9,99,502	3,53,692	25,52,597	757,01,563
70	757,01,563	12,95,355	10,79,462	3,89,061	27,63,879	765,84,568
71	765,84,568	13,98,983	11,65,819	4,27,968	29,92,770	772,71,388
72	772,71,388	15,10,902	12,59,085	4,70,764	32,40,751	777,32,168
73	777,32,168	16,31,774	13,59,812	5,17,841	35,09,427	779,33,878
74	779,33,878	17,62,316	14,68,597	5,69,625	38,00,538	778,40,008
75	778,40,008	19,03,301	15,86,085	6,26,587	41,15,973	774,10,236
76	774,10,236	20,55,566	17,12,971	6,89,246	44,57,783	766,00,076
77	766,00,076	22,20,011	18,50,009	7,58,171	48,28,190	753,60,480
78	753,60,480	23,97,612	19,98,010	8,33,988	52,29,609	736,37,414
79	736,37,414	25,89,421	21,57,851	9,17,386	56,64,658	713,71,394
80	713,71,394	27,96,574	23,30,479	10,09,125	61,36,178	684,96,977
81	684,96,977	30,20,300	25,16,917	11,10,037	66,47,255	649,42,209
82	649,42,209	32,61,924	27,18,270	12,21,041	72,01,236	606,28,022
83	606,28,022	35,22,878	29,35,732	13,43,145	78,01,755	554,67,580
84	554,67,580	38,04,708	31,70,590	14,77,460	84,52,759	493,65,562
85	493,65,562	41,09,085	34,24,238	16,25,206	91,58,529	422,17,385

(For illustration purpose only)

My dad was right! In Rs 6 crore, he can spend Rs 6 lakhs every year on household necessities (more than enough for a couple), Rs 1.50 lakhs on medical needs, plus go on exotic holidays every year. After doing all this, he would still end up with a surplus of 4.22 crore at age 86. Now that's retiring like a king!

Sure the idea of retirement is different for different individuals and there really can't be a one-strategy-fits-all when it comes to retirement. What you want from retirement differs from another individual. For the Texan, retirement was all about adventure whereas for my father it is about peace.

[Read: Which Types Of Mutual Funds Should You Hold In Your Retirement Portfolio?]

So, irrespective of the corpus, build a retirement plan that helps you live the life you want and not the life that you need to.

George Foreman (an American boxer) famously said, "The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it's at what income".

At PersonalFN, we value your retirement dreams and strive to work effortlessly to ensure you get the retirement that you deserve.

You can plan for your dream retirement by simply reaching out to PersonalFN's Financial Guardian on 022-61361200 or write to info@personalfn.com. You may also fill in this form and our experienced financial planners will reach out to you.

Happy Retirement!

Editor's note: If you wish to live a comfortable life post-retirement, don't miss out on PersonalFN's Retire Rich service.

It is a DIY (Do It Yourself) retirement solution, where you can start planning for your retirement and potentially build a substantial corpus that could sustain you in the golden years of your life.

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