Deepak and Mrinalini wanted to plan their finances. Deepak, aged 45, wanted to check if he can retire in the next five years due to health reasons. Mrinalini is career-oriented and will continue to work and is currently not looking at any specific age for retirement. Her income will likely continue till her age of 60 — for the next 18 years. They have a daughter, aged 13, and a son, aged 6.

Their goals are listed below:

* To provide ₹25 lakh for their children’s education when they turn 18 at current cost

* ₹40 lakh for daughter’s marriage at her age of 25 at current cost and ₹10 lakh for son’s marriage at his age of 25

* Home purchase at current cost of ₹1.4 crore before retirement

* Retirement at the earliest for a current cost of ₹75,000 per month

* School expenses of ₹4.5 lakh per year for both kids to be available for the remaining years till their son completes his schooling, if Deepak retires early

* They do not want to opt for any loan

* Both of them are comfortable with an upper middle-class lifestyle; they do not want to alter or compromise their living standards.

Both of them have considerable exposure to market-related investments and have accumulated a balanced portfolio. Deepak wants to understand if they can move to an aggressive investing style to reach his goals sooner. Both of them have adequate life cover and the family is covered for sufficient health insurance. Based on their living standards and aspirations, it was advised to update the goal cost to realistic values.

Review and recommendation

* They have enough liquidity towards any emergency needs through their fixed income investments.

* It was suggested to allocate MF equity investments of ₹64 lakh towards children’s education to fund their education at current cost of ₹40 lakh, adjusted for an inflation of 8 per cent with an expected return of 11 per cent CAGR.

* Sukanya Samriddhi current value and MF investments of ₹23 lakh were allocated to children’s marriage.

* As their high-priority goals are funded with available investments, it was suggested that they have a re-look at Deepak’s early retirement and house purchase goals. It is highly unlikely that Deepak can retire at 50, as the surplus is insufficient to fund both these goals.

* Mrinalini’s income after Deepak’s preferred retirement age of 50 for the subsequent 13 years will help them towards family’s expenses, if they can provide for own house and funds allocated towards children’s school fees. This arrangement will provide cushion to the retirement fund’s growth till she retires.

* The family needs ₹4.13 crore when Deepak turns 55 with a minimal contribution equivalent to their EPF savings for the next 10 years. Hence, they can focus on their home goal with ₹1.5 lakh per month for the next five years. This will help Deepak have his own home and retire at the age of 50, with Mrinalini continuing her career till her age of 60.

* As long as Mrinalini continues working, the family expenses will be taken care of with her income. When she decides to retire, the retirement corpus — built and compounded over the years — will be readily available.

* This plan needs to be regularly reviewed to understand their change in income, behaviour and lifestyle affecting the family goals over time. There are other goals related to retirement too, like travel, children, wealth transfer, improving living standards, etc. Hence, it is essential to look at the holistic plan before deciding on Deepak’s retirement.

Retirement is a key goal for any family.  Hence, it is best to start planning as early as possible; else, the retirement age may have to be postponed.

The author is the Principal Officer at Ploutus Asset Services LLP, a SEBI registered investment advisory firm. https://ploutus.in

Published on February 22, 2026