Build towards retirement, step by step

The National Pension System (NPS) is a defined-contribution pension system designed to help individuals build a retirement corpus during their working life. The accumulated corpus can be used to generate retirement income in accordance with the applicable NPS rules.

Under the All Citizen Model, eligibility is subject to the applicable citizenship, age and KYC requirements. Current PFRDA information states that eligible Indian citizens, including resident and non-resident citizens, and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), can subscribe, with the current age range stated as 18 to 85 years.

Yes. The Master FAQ notes that an individual can voluntarily subscribe to NPS along with other retirement or provident fund arrangements such as EPF or PPF, subject to the applicable rules.

PRAN stands for Permanent Retirement Account Number. It is the unique identification number associated with an individual's NPS account and remains associated with the subscriber even when employment or location changes.

No. NPS investments are market-linked. The eventual retirement corpus depends on factors such as contributions, investment choices and investment performance. NPS does not provide an implicit or explicit assurance of a specific investment return.

NPS offers features such as regulated retirement investing, portability, investment choice, access to multiple pension funds and tax-related benefits available under applicable tax laws. The applicable features and tax treatment should be checked against the rules in force at the relevant time.

NPS can form one component of a broader retirement plan by helping investors accumulate a retirement corpus through contributions. Retirement planning may also involve other investments, retirement savings, insurance, expected expenses and other sources of retirement income.

The applicable withdrawal and annuity treatment depends on the NPS rules in force at the time of exit and the subscriber's circumstances. Current PFRDA information for the All Citizen Model provides different options depending on the accumulated pension wealth, including lump-sum and annuity components. The applicable rules should be checked at the time of exit.

Yes. NPS withdrawal, exit and annuity rules are governed by the applicable regulatory framework and may be revised. The current PFRDA rules and applicable scheme conditions should therefore be checked before making an exit or withdrawal decision.