Tips for Senior Citizens to Reach Financial and Emotional Independence

Senior Citizen Day 2019: After spending decades of your life fulfilling personal and professional commitments, you look forward to living your golden years stress-free and to the fullest. Now, while life indeed begins at retirement, it is also true that you retire from work and not from life. This means that you still need a steady stream of income to meet your household and medical expenses and fulfil your retirement dreams without depending much on your children or lowering your standard of living.

Here are some tips that can help senior citizens achieve their financial and emotional freedom:

Invest Wisely

After the retirement, your risk appetite goes considerably down because your monthly salary discontinues. Hence, you should build a financial portfolio that maximizes returns and minimizes risks on your investments while generating a regular income and growing your money. It is always advisable for senior citizens to put around 80-85% of their investment in traditional financial instruments such as bank fixed deposit, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, National Savings Certificate and Monthly Post Office Income Scheme which are considered highly safe and liquid. You can invest the balance 15-20% in low-risk mutual funds and/or tax-free bonds to fetch better returns than traditional instruments.

Consider Buying Health Insurance

Old age brings several ailments and illnesses. With increased life expectancy and the rising cost of medical care, you need to have some kind of financial backing. A health insurance plan is an ideal option to meet your medical bills. However, the health insurance premium for senior citizens can range anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 every year, which is indeed a huge amount. Hence, it is recommended that you speak to your children and find out whether they have taken any senior citizen plan, family health plan or employer insurance plan, which includes cover for parents. Accordingly, you can take the decision of buying health insurance.

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