The significance of retirement planning has been firmly taking root after the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease’s enormous impact on people’s health, finances, and the economy has served as a wake-up call for many Indians, particularly regarding their finances post-retirement. The crisis has encouraged many people to start thinking about their future. According to the “PGIM India Mutual Fund Retirement Readiness Survey 2023”, there has been an 18 percent increase in the number of people planning for retirement. Indians Fight Back Anxiety Over Finances In Old Age, let's understand further details from the survey. The anxiety over unexpected events, like critical illnesses, inflation, economic slowdown, job loss, etc., has triggered retirement planning. These and many other factors have changed people’s attitudes towards life after the 2020 pandemic. More people are now making plans for their financial security and are more conscious about their food, hygiene, and spending habits. 
How Are Indians Fighting Anxiety?
The fear of financial insecurity in old age is driving more people to make plans for the future. They now want to develop different income sources for current and post-retirement expenses. The report says that people are less anxious when they have a secondary income. Around 36 percent of respondents in the survey have an alternate income source, and 39 percent of the respondents said they plan to start a secondary income source soon. Twenty-five percent of people do not have a secondary income source, and they have not thought about it either. The data indicates that more people consider a secondary income source an answer to fight financial anxiety. Also, around 70 percent of the respondents with a secondary income source feel more secure financially than those who do not have another income source.
