Life event guide · 11 steps
Start a few months before your last working day. Collect your PF, gratuity and other dues, put the money where it pays you safely, and set up the yearly tasks like the life certificate.
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Check that your name, date of birth, Aadhaar and bank account match in your EPF (UAN) record, your NPS account and your service book. Ask HR for a written statement of your dues: PF, gratuity, leave encashment and any pension papers. Fixing a spelling mistake now takes days; after retirement it can take months.
After the employer updates your date of exit, file the final settlement claim on the EPFO member portal with Aadhaar OTP; the portal shows the right claim form for your case. If you have enough years in the Employees’ Pension Scheme you apply for a monthly pension, otherwise you get a withdrawal benefit. Do not share your UAN password or OTP with agents who offer to speed up the claim.
Under the Code on Social Security, 2020 (in force since 21 November 2025), gratuity is due on retirement after at least five years of continuous service, at 15 days’ wages for each completed year, up to the ceiling notified by the Central Government. The employer must pay within 30 days of it becoming payable. Fixed-term employees qualify after one year.
Ask HR for the number of earned leave days you can encash and how the amount is worked out, along with the last month’s salary and any bonus. Get the full and final settlement in writing. Tax on leave encashment depends on whether you were in government or private service, so check the figure in the income tax calculator before filing your return.
Since PFRDA’s amendment of 16 December 2025, private sector and All Citizen subscribers can take up to 80% of the corpus as a lump sum and must buy an annuity with at least 20%; government sector subscribers can take up to 60%, with at least 40% in an annuity. If the corpus is ₹8 lakh or less you can take it all. You can also defer the withdrawal and stay invested, since the exit age is now 85.
Central government employees fill their pension forms online on Bhavishya, where you can also track the case until the pension payment order (PPO) is issued. Make sure your spouse is named in the PPO for family pension. State government employees follow their state treasury’s process, so ask your office.
The Senior Citizens Savings Scheme at a post office or authorised bank takes up to ₹30 lakh for five years and pays interest every quarter; the rate has been 8.2% a year in recent quarters and stays fixed for your deposit. You can open it at 60, or from 55 if you have retired, within the time limit after receiving your retirement money. Interest is taxable, so keep some money in easy-to-withdraw deposits too.
Group health cover from your employer usually stops on your last day, so buy or convert a personal policy before that, while you can still compare without a gap. At 70 or above, everyone can get the Ayushman Vay Vandana card for free hospital treatment up to ₹5 lakh a year, whatever the income. Keep a printed emergency card with blood group, medicines and contacts.
Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, Form No. 121 replaced Forms 15G and 15H from the tax year 2026-27. If you are 60 or above and the tax on your estimated total income for the year is nil, give Form 121 to each bank and post office at the start of the year so they do not deduct TDS on interest. If your income is taxable, do not give it; file your return instead.
Pensioners give a life certificate to the pension-paying bank every year, usually in November, or the pension can stop. You can do it from home with the Jeevan Pramaan face authentication app and Aadhaar, at your bank, or through India Post at your door. Note down the Pramaan ID from the SMS as proof.
Add or update nominees in every bank account, FD, SCSS, PF, NPS, insurance policy and demat account, and keep a simple list of them for the family. Write a will, signed in front of two witnesses, so that property does not need court papers later. Retirement money attracts fraud: never share OTPs, and check any "high return" offer or call from "the bank" first.
Tick what you already have.
EPFO allows full withdrawal at retirement at 58, on permanent disability, or after two months without a job. File the claim online on the EPFO member portal once your exit date is updated by the employer and your Aadhaar and bank details are linked to your UAN.
Since PFRDA’s December 2025 changes, private sector and All Citizen subscribers can take up to 80% as a lump sum and must buy an annuity with at least 20%. Government sector subscribers can take up to 60% and use at least 40% for an annuity. Small corpora up to ₹8 lakh can be taken fully.
From the tax year 2026-27, under the Income-tax Act, 2025, the declaration to stop TDS on interest is Form No. 121, which replaces both Form 15G and Form 15H. A senior citizen can give it to the bank or post office if the tax on their estimated total income for the year is nil.
Pensioners usually submit it every November. You can use the Jeevan Pramaan face authentication app, visit your bank, or ask India Post for a doorstep digital life certificate.
Last checked: . Fees and rules change, and many differ by state. Always confirm on the official site before you pay. This is general information, not legal advice.