Planning your retirement? Check out IRDAI's Saral Pension Plan - Details here

Many people start making investments early on to create an avenue for benefits during their retirement. One such scheme that would allow them to secure their plans once they retire from their jobs is the Saral Pension Plan. The Saral Pension Plan is a standard individual immediate annuity product that could be beneficial for those making personal finance decisions this year.

Zee News recently reported that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has directed the insurance companies in India to start the Saral Pension Plan from April 1. It means that the Saral Pension Plan may start from the beginning of the next financial year.

As per the information available, the Saral Pension Plan has two annuity options to be availed by the insurer — single-life annuity and joint-life annuity. According to the guidelines of the IRDAI, the Saral Pension Yojana allows for a minimum annuity amount contribution of Rs 1000 per month, Rs 3000 every three months, Rs 6000 every six months, and Rs 12,000 every 12 months or a year.

The IRDAI guidelines further suggest that the insurers can surrender the Saral Pension Plan any time after six months from the date of commencing the plan. Also, the IRDAI deemed that it was important to launch personal immediate annuity with set protocols and some basic facilities.

According to the experts, the initiative of the IRDAI would make it much easier for the consumers to make a selection of insurance plans.

For those who are not familiar with the language of such plans, the annuity refers to the annual amount guaranteed by an insurance company against the deposited amount of the consumers. This annuity can be availed by the investors as per the pension plan after their retirement for daily use. 

It is to be noted that the investment annuities grow tax-free until the insurer withdraws them or takes them as income generally during their retirement.