While surfing television channels over the weekend,a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us -- from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism   -- are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling?  Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years?  Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior -- India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement!  A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households' financial savings is put into a "safe" deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into "risky" assets   like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation  . The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point. What had not changed much over the many years according to the passage?
Value systems The poor situation of retirees Economic freedom Approach to consumerism