It is very good hear you have built a saving. New things looks scary but once you start it is quite simple and easy. The corpus you have created can be parked in liquid funds and then do a STP to equity funds so that you invest without taking too much risk.

You may start with saving in bank in form of Fixed Deposit (FD) and Recurring Deposit (RD). Whatever amount to decide to save in FD & RD, 10% of it you can start investing in Liquid Mutual Fund and Balanced Mutual Fund. Once you are comfortable with the market volatility, you may increase your investment gradually. For better clarity on your risk-taking appetite and financial goals, contact your Financial Advisor/Planner.

To begin with, categorise your goals/needs as per short (0 to 2 years), medium (between 2 to 7 years) and long term (in excess of 7 years). Then prioritize them

And then invest the current and future cashflows and current savings available as per the impending needs.

For  your short term goals invest in short term MF products like ultra short and short term funds. For medium term goals you can invest in bond funds or banking and PSU debt funds and for your long term goals invest across diversified equity MFs. While investing in equity funds it is suggested that you invest in a staggered fashion. if you have monthly surplus, you can initiate a SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) across diversified equity MFs, if you have lumpsum money available, you can start investing in the equity funds by initially putting up the amount available in the respective liquid/ultra short fund and then start a STP (Systematic Transfer Plan) to the equity fund over 6 or 12 installments

 

The very first idea of investment of a salaried individual is to beat the inflation consistently and sustainably so that savings retain the value to take care of post retirement phase. Equity as an asset class has beaten inflation meaningfully over a long period of time. However, as you seem to be risk averse, a combination of debt funds and balanced funds could be the right option for you. This will give you a safe start to future retirement planning. As you go forward , you should take help of a financial advisor to sail you through in this journey.