Retirement made simple: Why you should invest in NPS

A comfortable retirement is the ultimate goal we all work for, but most Indians don’t save for their retirement. This is why we introduced NPS on Coin last year One of the best ways to save for retirement is through the National Pension Scheme (NPS). It’s not only one of the lowest cost investment options but also offers plenty of tax advantages. Perhaps, most importantly it keep you disciplined.

Many of you might know about NPS and its benefits, we thought we’d publish a refresher. At its core, NPS has three benefits:

1. It forces you to save regularly for your retirement.
2. Forces you to diversifiy your investments in equity and debt.
3. It provides tax advantages.

The lock-in feature of NPS until age 60 is often seen as restrictive, but this restriction is precisely what makes NPS effective. Think about your own investment behavior. How many times have you withdrawn money from investments because the markets are down or for random expenses? Most of us have done this at some point. Data shows that less than 5 out of 10 investors stay invested in equities for more than three years. That is nowhere near enough time for long-term wealth creation.

NPS prevents this premature withdrawal habit. Locking away your retirement savings (with limited exceptions), it ensures your money remains invested for the long term, benefiting from the power of compounding. A quick example: If you are 25 years old and start saving Rs 5000 a month that increases by 5% evey year, you would’ve saved about Rs 2.8 crores by the age of 60 assuming a 10% return.

NPS offers tax benefits that few other investment options can match:

1. Additional Deduction Under Section 80CCD(1B)

   Most of you already know about the Rs 50,000 additional tax deduction under Section 80CCD(1B). This is over and above your Section 80C limit of Rs 1.5 lakh (old tax regime).

   What many don’t realize is the cumulative impact of this benefit. If you’re in the 30% tax bracket, this single deduction saves you Rs 15,000 in taxes annually. Over 25 years, that’s Rs 3.75 lakh in tax savings.

2. Corporate NPS Advantage
   
   This is perhaps the most underutilized NPS benefit. If your employer contributes to your NPS account, that contribution:
   • Is not considered part of your taxable income
   • Is deductible up to 10% of your basic salary Basic + DA (under old tax regime)
   • Is deductible up to 14% of your basic salary (under new tax regime)
   • Doesn’t count toward your 80C or 80CCD(1B) limits

   Imagine your annual basic salary is Rs 8 lakh. Your employer can contribute Rs 80,000 to your NPS account under the old regime (or Rs 1.12 lakh under the new regime), and this amount won’t be taxed as part of your income.

   If your employer doesn’t offer this benefit, consider requesting a salary restructuring. Many companies are willing to redirect a portion of your CTC to NPS once they understand the tax advantages, the only thing to remember is that your take-home salary will be lower in this case.

3. Tax-Free Withdrawals
   
   When you retire, you can withdraw up to 60% of your NPS corpus completely tax-free. Even partial withdrawals for specific needs before retirement (after 3 years) are tax-exempt. Only the annuity income is taxable at your income slab rate.

NPS Investment Choices

Last year, we briefly touched on Active Choice and Auto Choice options. Let’s understand these better:

Active Choice:

Under Active Choice, you decide exactly how much goes into each asset class:

• Equity (E): Maximum 75% – Invests in stocks for growth
• Government Bonds (G): Up to 100% – Provides stability
• Corporate Bonds (C): Up to 100% – Offers better returns than G with slightly higher risk
• Alternative Assets (A): Maximum 5% – Includes REITs, InvITs for diversification

NPS forces you to diversify default and this ensures a smoother investing journey in the long run.

Auto Choice:

If investment decisions aren’t your cup of tea, Auto Choice adjusts your allocation automatically based on your age. You have three options:

1. Aggressive (LC75): Starts with 75% in equity when you’re young, gradually reducing as you age
2. Moderate (LC50): Begins with 50% in equity
3. Conservative (LC25): Maintains only 25% in equity for those with low risk tolerance

For most young investors (below 40), the Aggressive option makes sense as you have time to ride out market volatility.

While NPS is designed for retirement, life often has other plans. You can access your NPS funds before age 60 in two ways:

Partial Withdrawals
After 3 years as an NPS subscriber, you can withdraw up to 25% of your contributions (not the total corpus) for:

• Children’s education or marriage
• Home purchase or construction
• Medical treatment for specified illnesses. These are a few other reasons.

You’re allowed up to 3 such withdrawals during your NPS tenure.

Premature Exit

If you need to completely exit NPS before 60, you can do so after 10 years, but with conditions:

• 80% of your corpus must be used to purchase an annuity
• Only 20% is available as a lump sum
• If your corpus is less than Rs 2.5 lakh, you can withdraw the entire amount

Opening your NPS account on Zerodha Coin is straightforward:

1. Log in to Coin and click on “NPS” from the dashboard
2. Accept the terms and fill in your personal details (place of birth, parents’ names, marital status)
3. Add nominee details
4. Select your preferred pension fund manager
5. Choose between Active and Auto Choice investment options
6. Enter your investment amount (minimum Rs 1,000)
7. Complete payment via Net banking or UPI

Your PRAN (Permanent Retirement Account Number) is generated immediately, and you can start tracking your NPS investments right on the Coin dashboard. The single biggest determinant of retirement success isn’t tax planning – it’s time. Starting early provides the runway your investments need to grow through compounding. Every year of delay significantly reduces your final corpus. Your retirement isn’t just another financial goal it’s the culmination of your life’s work. Give it the attention it deserves.

We have also created a dedicated module for NPS on Varsity, do check it out.