“Why Starting Early Beats Investing More: The Retirement Secret
Retirement isn’t an age.
It’s a fund you build, brick by brick and choice by choice
Most Indians start worrying about retirement only at 40.
But the real magic will only happen when you start early, even if the amount feels embarrassingly small.
📌 Let’s understand with a practical example:
- Meet Rohan, who is 25 years of age and Kiran, who is 35 years of age. Rohan invests just ₹5,000/month in an index fund starting today.
- Kiran starts 10 years later, but invests double ₹10,000/month.
At 60, assuming 12% annual returns. Rohan's total corpus will be 3.3 crores and
Kiran's total corpus will be 1.9 cores.
Same markets. Same funds. Just one difference, which is time.
📌 Here is how you can get started:
- Open an NPS account, get tax benefits + market exposure.
- SIP in mutual funds, even ₹500/month, is fine at the start.
- Use PPF as a safe, tax-free, 15-year compounding powerhouse.
- Avoid breaking your EPF for short-term needs.
📌 Avoid these mistakes:
- Waiting until you earn more to start.
- Thinking ₹500/month is too small to matter.
- Relying only on employer PF, inflation eats value over decades.
- The best time to start was 20 years ago. The second-best time is Today.
Bonus tip- When you get a salary hike, every salary. Increase your SIP by 10%. You won’t feel the pinch now, but your future self will bless you.
Originally published on LinkedIn
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