Understanding Retirement Confidence: With Special Reference to India

The notion of retirement evokes a series of questions about financial security, joblessness and many alike. With increasing life expectancy, consumption oriented lifestyles and changing perception about the post retirement life, financial planning needs to be at the forefront during the working life of an individual. Private organized sectors have emerged as the major employers that are driven by market based resource allocation with almost absent pension systems which render individuals vulnerable to the dynamic environment. Aegon India 2016 report indicated that working Indians are most confident relative to their American and European counterparts about a comfortable retirement. Such confidence requires a close examination in the wake of evidence of widespread low financial literacy, with very few opting for formal retirement plans. This paper tries to understand the underlying theoretical socio-economic considerations for the sense of security and confidence among the individuals towards retirement and seeks to add to the limited literature in this area with respect to the Indian diaspora.