I am 50 years old. Where should I invest my corpus of ₹2 crore to get ₹1.5 lakh per month (9% p.a.) regularly for 30 years, with the corpus remaining intact after the said period?
— Name withheld on request
Realizing a 9% annual return would be very difficult over a 30-year period without taking some risk. No reliable fixed income instrument or a portfolio of debt funds can provide such returns today, and sustain it over 30 years.
A different approach would be to consider a ‘bucket approach’ - where you place some amount of money (say 4 years’ worth of withdrawals) in low-risk funds and invest the rest in higher-risk funds. You can do systematic withdrawals from the low-risk bucket, while the higher-risk bucket will grow at a rate higher than 9%. As the first bucket gets exhausted, you can move money to it from the high-risk bucket as needed and keep this going. While even this will not guarantee you 9% withdrawal ability, it will increase the probability and stretch your corpus further.
I am 30 years old with a moderate risk appetite.I am investing ₹18,000 in equity funds under systematic investment plan (SIP) and plan to add another ₹4,000 more. How can I build a ₹5 crore corpus in 20 years.
— Name withheld on request
The primary keys to reaching a financial goal in a given time frame are the amount you invest and the types of assets you invest in. The funds you choose are indeed important, but less so, as long you choose reasonably good funds. To have a ₹5 crore corpus in 20 years, you need to invest ₹55,000 to ₹60,000 a month (annual portfolio return of 11-12%). Currently, you are investing ₹18,000 a month (and could go to ₹22,000). With this, you will reach ₹2 crore in this period. So, you need to increase your SIP.
Your funds are all reasonably good, although SBI small-cap would be a good choice. Parag Parikh fund is reopening subscriptions, and you should be able to invest.
Srikanth Meenakshi is co-founder of PrimeInvestor.in.
