Nishith Vasavada, 50, is a travel entrepreneur with a background in aviation and corporate travel. His wife, Yuga Vasavada, 49, is a working professional. The couple have 20-year-old twins—Anarv and Arnee Vasavada—and their financial planning now places greater emphasis on preserving capital and ensuring predictable cash flows in the years ahead.

“In your 50s, the biggest risk is no longer low returns but a sharp market fall just before retirement, when there is very little time to recover. That realization changed how I approached my investments,” says Vasavada.

On the other hand, Udayendu Lahiri, 54, a creative industry consultant, does not see retirement as a fixed milestone. His wife, Sagarika Chatterjee, 49, an HR professional, manages long-term investments while he handles daily expenses. With 11-year-old twins, Yushan and Aleya, their planning balances present needs with steady saving, flexibility, and regular investments through mutual funds and ULIPs, while preparing for future education.

Retirement planning looks very different across households. Some individuals work towards a clear retirement date, while others expect their careers to evolve well beyond traditional timelines. Income patterns, family responsibilities, and personal choices all shape how people prepare for life after full-time work.

Yet, despite these differences, the need for deliberate planning remains universal—managing risk, protecting savings, and ensuring financial stability through the crucial years leading up to retirement.

Corpus first

“When you are in your mid-50s, it is important to evaluate if your accumulated savings spanning EPF, NPS, PPF, mutual funds and other assets project a corpus of 25–30 times your current annual expenses, assuming a 6% rate of inflation and a 30-year post-retirement time horizon (use retirement calculators),” said Prashant Mishra, founder and CEO, Agnam Advisors, an investment advisory firm.

At this stage, delaying retirement planning can be costly. After optimizing loan repayments, individuals should review monthly expenses, cut non-essential spending, and redirect surplus cash towards retirement savings.

With limited time left before retirement, increasing contributions consistently becomes crucial. “A disciplined approach combining debt reduction, controlled expenses, and accelerated retirement savings can help create financial stability,” said Swapnil Aggarwal, director, VSRK Capital, a wealth management firm.

“Channelize bonuses/increments towards repayment of debts and retirement fund enhancements instead of upgrading lifestyles,” said Rakshith H, head of digital sales, GoalTeller, a Sebi-registered financial planning app.

EMI clean-up

Carrying long-tenure EMIs into retirement is a common mistake. Loans taken for lifestyle upgrades often delay financial freedom.

“Prioritize prepaying high-interest personal or car loans and explore refinancing home loans to shorter tenures to ensure debt-free retirement,” said Rakshit H.

The first step is to list all existing loans, including outstanding amounts, interest rates and remaining tenures. Prepayments should be prioritised, starting with loans charging above 9–10% interest. Bonuses or surplus savings are best used for partial prepayments rather than lifestyle upgrades.

“For home loans, the aim should be to close them by age 60. If that is not possible, the outstanding balance should be reduced to a manageable level, with EMIs that can be comfortably paid even without active income,” said Nehal Mota, co-founder of Finnovate, a financial planning platform. Lahiri has about 10 years left on his home loan, but he believes it is manageable.

Retirement works best when you are no longer dependent on a paycheque and your needs are predictable.

Insurance check

Medical inflation in India has consistently exceeded headline CPI and is commonly estimated in the 8–12% range. Hospitalisation costs for major treatments in urban centres frequently exceed ₹6–10 lakh per episode, making adequate health insurance critical.

“For a large or metro city, having a base cover of ₹15–20 lakh plus a ₹20–30 lakh super top-up would help. Ensure there are no room rent caps or unreasonable waiting periods. Having a restoration or recharge of the sum insured and a separate critical illness cover would be useful,” says Vivek S G, founder, Wealth Crafts, a financial planning platform.

However, add-ons and riders often have limited impact. “Many critical illness riders provide fixed payouts in the ₹1–5 lakh range, which may be insufficient relative to actual treatment costs. Similarly, accident riders frequently overlap with other policy benefits,” said Chakrivardhan Kuppala, cofounder and executive director, Prime Wealth Finserv, a wealth management firm.

“In your 50s, term insurance is not about income replacement for decades. It is about protecting dependents from financial shock,” said Mota. He suggests assessing cover as: outstanding loans + five to seven years of annual household expenses + education costs, if children are still dependent.

Portfolio reset

This phase is not about maximizing returns. It is about ensuring money is available when needed.

“Rule one is that money needed in the next three years should not be in equity. If you plan to retire in three to five years, keep at least two to three years of retirement expenses fully out of equity to protect your income if markets fall sharply,” said Mota.

A simple allocation works best—equity at 40–50% and debt or fixed income at 50–60%—allowing growth while limiting volatility.

For equity, simplification matters. Use index funds or large-cap diversified funds, avoid sectoral or thematic bets, and stop experimenting with new strategies. Multiple equity funds should be consolidated into one or two core holdings, with equity exposure reduced gradually as retirement approaches.

“I consolidated multiple equity mutual funds and gradually shifted part of the gains into debt and hybrid funds. The objective now is stable cash flows that can support regular income, not just higher returns on paper,” said Vasavada.

Debt is no longer just a stabilizer—it becomes the future income engine. Short- to medium-duration debt funds, fixed deposits and government-backed instruments play a key role.