Q & A:
1. There are so many investment options available. When I compare them with NPS, what is the difference?
2. Is NPS an all-in-one product where I get fixed income exposure, equity exposure, and safety together?
3. What’s the long lock-in period made NPS ?
4. How has NPS reduced or improved the lock-in issue?
5. What exactly is NPS? How would you define it?
6. How would you convince me that there is no better retirement product than NPS?
7. Will I really get 8–10% returns from NPS?
8. Since NPS is market-linked, are the returns lower or higher ?
9. Can I personally choose how much equity and debt allocation I want in NPS?
10. What is the investment process in NPS? Do I choose allocations myself or are plans pre-designed?
11. How much amount can I invest in NPS and how should I decide the amount?
12. Can I realistically build a ₹16 crore retirement corpus only through NPS?
13. If I am very conservative and don’t want to take risk, can NPS still help me reach that goal?
14. If I invest only in NPS for retirement, can it really take me to that retirement target?
15. Why is annuity compulsory in NPS? Why not allow full withdrawal?
16. There is criticism around annuity because returns are only around 5–6%, similar to or lower than FDs. Isn’t that a disadvantage?
17. Are These annuity returns are taxable ?
18. How are these annuity products invested and managed?
19. For a 30-year-old with ₹1 lakh monthly expenses, which type of NPS scheme would you suggest?
20. If the accumulated amount in NPS is small, can we withdraw everything together instead of following the 80–20 rule?
21. During the lock-in period before retirement, can we withdraw money in emergencies?
22. Can you explain SLW (Systematic Lump Sum Withdrawal) and SUR (Systematic Unit Redemption)?
23. Can I combine lump sum withdrawals with systematic withdrawals?
24. When NPS became more flexible, did that reduce the original retirement-focused discipline of the product?
25. NPS vs SIP — if I can invest in mutual funds through SIPs with more flexibility and liquidity, why should I choose NPS?
26. Are the Pension Fund Managers (PFMs) in NPS different from mutual fund managers?
27. What exactly is different between NPS PFMs and mutual funds?
28. What is your view on NPS Vatsalya?
29. Should parents really worry about children’s retirement planning?
30. What is the biggest retirement planning mistake people make?
31. Is NPS truly the right product for retirement planning?
32. What if I cannot invest ₹51,000 per month and can only start with ₹10,000? Should I forget the ₹16 crore target?
33. If I face a job break or financial difficulty, can I stop NPS contributions temporarily?
34. Can contributions later be increased step-by-step like SIP step-up investing?

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by Amit Kukreja