Well we are of the view that, in the process of planning for your retirement it imperative to undertake a holistic exercise considering your:

• age;
• income:
• expenses;
• risk appetite
• existing assets;
• existing liabilities;
• intermediate goals (which you are catering to viz. children's education and their marriage),
• nearness to goals

Taking into account the aforementioned along with the inflation factor (which haunts most of us and has eroding effect on our savings) would help you plan for your retirement prudently by having in place the right asset mix in your portfolio and investment avenues therein. But you need to act early, and not procrastinate executing the plan - as that may not help make your retirement life cosy. Moreover you got to refrain from digging into your retirement corpus, unless you absolutely need to (where your contingency funds are drained out).

The pension products from insurance companies, while they provide an annuity they do not help you optimally structure your retirement planning. The aforementioned new product launches are taking place since life insurers offering pension products withdrew them last year following IRDA's guidelines relating to pension plans that said all unit-linked pension plans (in which a part of fund is invested in stocks or bonds) should specify assured benefits on pension plans, applicable on death, surrender or maturity. So, there's no point merely getting swayed by the tall claims and sales pitch of your insurance agent. Instead it is imperative to have structured, intelligent financial plan in place for your retirement which can ensure smooth and cosy retired life ahead.