Where should you invest when saving for retirement?

Not many investors know whether they have invested in the right funds and if their fund portfolio is on track. The Portfolio Doctor assesses the health of the fund portfolio, examines the schemes and their suitability with regard to the goals and, if required, recommends corrective measures. The advice given is based on the performance of the funds, the risk profile of the investor as well as his financial goals.

Tanvi Sharma is saving for her child’s education and retirement. Here’s what the doctor has advised:

PORTFOLIO CHECK-UP

• Has been investing in a mix of equity funds and fixed-income options for more than 10 years.
• Early start and regular investments have helped build a sizeable corpus.
• Funds are largely good, except for a few underperformers.
• Goals are very ambitious and values need to be reduced to realistic levels.
• Monthly investments have to be increased by Rs.27,000.
• SIPs also have to be increased by 5-10% every year to reach the goals.
• For child’s higher education, take a loan if there is a shortfall.
• Retirement target of Rs.1.2 lakh a month is very high. Reduced to Rs.85,000.
• Retirement date also deferred by three years to build sufficient corpus.

Note from the doctor

• Don’t invest in more funds. Just 7-8 funds are enough.
• Fund portfolio has mid-cap and smallcap skew. Be ready for high volatility.
• Go for balanced allocation in the NPS portfolio.
• Review investments and rebalance at least once in a year.
• Reduce risk when goal is near so that you don’t miss the target.

WRITE TO US FOR HELP
If you want your portfolio examined, write to etwealth@timesgroup.com with Portfolio Doctor as the subject. Mention the following information:

• Names of the funds you hold.
• Current value of the investment.
• If you have SIPs running in any of them.
• The financial goals for which you invested.
• How much you need for each financial goal.
• How far away is each goal.