Retirement planning is a crucial aspect of financial planning where in there is a need to save money in pre-retirement period in order to enjoy the desired post-retirement lifestyle. To enable individuals to plan and prepare for post retirement life, the Government of India in conjunction with the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) launched the New Pension Scheme (NPS) in January 2004. The scheme was first introduced for government recruits and then in May 2009 for the general public. This study has analyzed salient features, various benefits after retirement and investment pattern of pension funds under National Pension Scheme in detail. This study was an attempt to examine the role of Government in producing a low-cost product which can be useful to the masses and will provide a great help to the nation in reducing post-retirement problems. An attempt was made in this study to benefit the investor greatly by showing how the pension portfolios under this scheme can be designed as per the risk appetite of an investor. This paper also discussed the progress made under this Scheme by the Central Government, State Government, Corporate and Unorganised sector so far.
New Pension Scheme (NPS), Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA), Employee Provident Fund(EPF), Unit Linked Insurance Plan(ULIP), Mutual Fund (MF)
