I asked ChatGPT to calculate the savings needed as a freelance artist, to live my old age in Pune

Saving for future: I asked ChatGPT to calculate the how much savings corpus I should build for my old age as a freelance artist with irregular income, living in Pune.

The ChatGPT prompt:

I am a 33-year-old freelance artist living in Pune. I earn per project between ₹20,000-1,00,000. It is not a monthly job, and I may do 6-7 projects each year depending on the scale (this can be between ₹3,00,000-7,00,000 lpa). How much should I put away for old age, medical expenses, emergency fund and lifestyle in the city. I do not plan to retire but may have to reduce work with age. I have my ancestral house and own a scooter. I invest ₹1.5 lakh in PPF and ₹50,000 in NPS, annually. I also have a monthly SIP for ₹2,000 (equity MF).

Here's what ChatGPT said:

You’re already doing several things right for a freelance income pattern with no rent burden (ancestral house), no car EMI, existing long-term investing habit, moderate fixed commitments and PPF + NPS already create retirement discipline.

For someone in your situation — irregular income, creative profession, no formal pension, likely variable work capacity with age — the goal is not “retire at 60 and stop working.” The goal is to survive long dry spells without stress, maintain health independence, and build enough capital so you can choose lower intensity work later.

Here’s a practical framework for a freelance artist in Pune earning roughly ₹3–7 lakh annually.

1. First Priority: Emergency + Income Buffer

Freelancers need a much larger emergency fund than salaried people. You should ideally keep 12-18 months of essential expenses because projects can stop unexpectedly.

If your monthly essential spending is around ₹25k the target should be ₹3–4.5 lakh, and if it is ₹35k the target should be ₹4.5–6 lakh in savings account, sweep FD and liquid mutual fund, NOT equity. This fund is more important for you than increasing SIPs aggressively right now.

2. Medical Protection

This is very important for freelancers and where many independent artists struggle later.

• You should have health insurance and at age 33 aim for ₹10–15 lakh covers minimum. A decent individual policy may cost roughly ₹12k–25k/year depending on insurer and features. Consider no-claim bonus, restoration benefit, low waiting periods/
• Medical reserve must be separate from insurance as the latter does not cover diagnostics, medicines, recovery gaps, parents’ emergencies and income loss during illness. Build ₹1–2 lakh medical reserve

3. Retirement / Old Age Corpus

You already invest ₹1.5 lakh in PPF, ₹50k in NPS and ₹24k in SIP annually = ₹2.24 lakh/year. That is actually strong relative to your income range. If sustained for 25+ years, it can become substantial.

Assuming long-term continuation PPF can have conservative growth, NPS + equity MF can have moderate equity exposure. At age 60, your corpus could potentially reach roughly ₹1.8–3 crore in future value terms (depending on income growth and inflation). That is not luxury-retirement money in India 2050s terms, but enough for basic independence, healthcare support, and reduced work pressure, especially since you own housing already. Housing ownership changes retirement math massively.

4. What You Should Improve

Increase equity exposure gradually as right now PPF is very debt-heavy, NPS has partial equity and SIP is too small/ For long-term inflation protection, you need more equity over time.

Suggested target allocation

Suggested SIP progression

Instead of fixed ₹2k forever try ₹2k/month now and increase by ₹1k every time you finish a big project. Even ₹5k–8k/month average over next few years would dramatically improve long-term freedom.

5. Lifestyle Spending — What Is Safe?

With your income variability, avoid calculating lifestyle based on your “best year.” Instead use a 3-bucket system when a project payment arrives:

A good freelance rule for you if annual income is:

• ₹3 lakh year — survival year, invest minimums only, avoid guilt.
• ₹5 lakh year — maintain investments, modest travel/lifestyle okay.
• ₹7 lakh+ year — aggressively build reserves, increase SIPs, create future downtime buffer.

6. A Practical Target Structure for You (Next 5–7 Years)

8. One More Important Thing: Taxes

Since you’re freelance look into presumptive taxation under Section 44ADA if eligible, maintain clean invoices/accounts, separate business and personal banking. A CA can save you meaningful money legally.

Overall, you are not “behind” financially for your profile. In fact, compared to many freelancers in creative fields, your foundation is fairly stable because you own housing, already invest consistently, and have relatively low fixed liabilities.

The main improvement area is bigger emergency reserves, better health protection and gradually increasing equity investments.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.