Types of Pension Plans and Their Tax Benefits

Table of Content

1. Different Types of Pension Plans

2. Deferred annuity plans is of two types:

Different Types of Pension Plans

• NPS :

  National Pension Scheme or NPS is an option in which you will receive a regular pension after retirement. NPS helps you to contribute to a pension account during your career. Your funds are invested in a mix of debt and equity markets as per your choice. Once you at the age of 60 you can withdraw a part of the investment corpus as a lump sum and use the remaining for purchasing an annuity plan which will guarantee a regular income.

• Pension funds :

  Pension plans are a good way to secure your financial future, post your retirement. Pension plans that are maintained by the employers. Pension plans are vital to safeguard you from uncertainties that may come unannounced post your retirement.A Pension fund is a plan/scheme which will provide you a retirement income You may invest in government securities or in a mix of debt and equity.

• Immediate annuity plans

  are those plans wherein a person makes a one-time investment in a lump-sum plan and receives the money regularly as pension for the rest of their lives. While the pension can be with immediate effect; the frequency can be rolled out monthly, quarterly, yearly or semi-annually.

  Immediate annuity plans are suitable for those people who do not wish to delay receiving their pensions after retirement, however, the biggest issue with this plan is that you cannot withdraw from the plan or cancel the annuity. The returns on this annuity plan can vary as well, sometimes higher sometimes lower.

• Deferred annuity plan

  basically helps you defer the time of payment of the pension. It consists of two phases -- accumulation or savings phase and income phase. In the previous, the policyholder pays premiums at regular intervals. After this phase, the latter phase begins wherein, the policyholder can withdraw 1/3rd of the money and the remaining has to be invested in buying an annuity product to generate regular income for the rest of your life.

Deferred annuity plans is of two types:

• Traditional retirement plans

  wherein investments are made in debt instruments such as government securities as they are at low-risk and thus the most preferred option for those who are averse to risks. HDFC Life Click 2 Retire, retirement plans might just be the answer you were looking for.

• Unit linked pension plans

  meant for those who plan retirement early and seek higher returns on investments. One also has the scope to invest in different assets in a unit linked pension plan. The assets could be in the form of equities, mutual funds etc. Check out HDFC Life Click 2 Invest ULIP  to plan your investments accordingly.

  That there are tax benefits when you invest in pension plans is no hidden fact. The Section 80CCC of the Income Tax Act was introduced by the government in order to make people invest in pension plans. Under this, any investment made towards pension plans can be deducted from gross income, thus saving taxes. Hence, the sooner you plan your retirement, there are chances of getting better plans and higher returns. Choose your pension plans wisely.

Plan income tax