Murthy’s story highlights the need for proper retirement planning with regular pension income rather than relying only on lump-sum savings. The last 10 years have been very difficult for Murthy. He is now a 70-year-old man who drives an auto-rickshaw in Bengaluru just to meet his and his 65-year-old wife’s basic needs like food, medicines, and rent for daily living. Murthy retired from his job about 10 years ago. He had worked for over 35 years in a reputed automobile distribution company, selling leading car brands. The company itself had a century-long legacy and enjoyed strong respect among its employees and the community. Murthy had no formal higher education — he studied only till 10th standard. Before joining the company at age 25, he did odd jobs at a small mechanic’s garage near his house. Once he got a break in the distribution company, life became smooth. He worked there with dedication until retirement. Even the initial years of retirement were comfortable. He has two children — a son and a daughter — both graduates and now reasonably well settled. His son works in a public sector company as an Assistant Manager, while his daughter teaches in a private school. Both are married and live separately with their families. When Murthy retired in 2015, he received a lump sum of ₹20 lakhs as retirement benefits. At that time, he thought this was a huge amount, enough for him and his wife to live peacefully for the next 20 years. He had his own house, and in 2015 his monthly expenses were around ₹15,000, so the calculation seemed right. For the first two years, life was smooth. But in 2017, both his children’s weddings took place, and Murthy spent nearly ₹8 lakhs on the celebrations. By 2018, his savings had reduced to ₹10 lakhs. The following year turned out to be tragic — his wife suffered a paralytic attack and was hospitalized for over two months. Medical bills, physiotherapy, and medicines wiped out another ₹4 lakhs. Even after discharge, she required a full-time caretaker, which further increased household expenses. By 2022, Murthy’s savings were down to just ₹2 lakhs. That’s when he realized his retirement corpus had completely eroded and would not even last a year with monthly expenses now crossing ₹25,000 due to inflation, medical needs, and daily living costs. At 67, he tried searching for part-time work, but his age and lack of digital skills made it very hard to find employment. Finally, drawing on his lifelong familiarity with automobiles, he decided to buy a second-hand auto-rickshaw. Today, at 70, Murthy struggles to drive almost 10–12 hours a day, even on Sundays, just to make ends meet.