Modes of Investing in Mutual Funds

You can cherry-pick from a slew of investment vehicles for your retirement ranging from National Pension System (NPS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Insurance Pension Plans, Annuity Plans, and Mutual Funds.

Surprised to see Mutual Funds enlisted? Well, we aren't joking!

Traditional avenues that act as a source of savings may have some limitations in generating the desired cash flows and securing retirement.

Retirement Fund could be an effective option for investors as it is professionally managed by Fund managers with deep expertise in the industry. They offer diversification and has the potential for creating a sizeable retirement corpus. By investing in a Mutual Fund, you benefit from transparency as you can receive regular updates on how the fund is performing. They are well regulated and the fund houses abide by the rules and regulations laid by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

While retirement funds have a lock-in period of 5 years, investors can easily purchase and redeem the units of an open-ended mutual fund scheme on all the market days after the lock-in period. And since the fund has a lock-in period, it helps the investor to be invested for a long-term.

Invest

You can choose to invest in a Retirement Fund via Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). SIP enables you to invest small amounts of money regularly in a mutual fund scheme at fixed intervals such as weekly, monthly or quarterly. You can decide the investment amount, frequency and tenure based on your financial goals. Alternatively, you can invest a lumpsum amount which is a one-time investment in a Retirement Fund.

Switch

You can even choose to switch your investment from an existing scheme to a Retirement Fund. You can opt for a one-time switch or go the Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) route. Just like SIP in STP you can transfer a fixed amount of money regularly from once scheme to another. You can decide the transfer amount, frequency and duration.

Redeem

Once you have accumulated your desired amount of wealth, you can decide to withdraw/redeem your investment partly or the entire amount. You can choose to withdraw a fixed amount at regular intervals by enabling the Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) facility. You can decide the amount, frequency and the duration for which you wish to withdraw your amount. On the other hand, you can decide to withdraw the entire or part amount by opting for one-time redemption.