How this retirement calculator works
Planning for retirement is a two-step inflation problem, and this calculator handles both:
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Grow your expenses to retirement. Your current monthly spend is inflated to the
year you retire: expense at retirement = current expense × (1 + inflation)years to
retirement. At 6% inflation, ₹50,000 today becomes about ₹2.87 lakh a month in
30 years.
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Fund those expenses through retirement. The corpus must pay for rising expenses for
the rest of your life. We use a real return — your post-retirement return minus
inflation — to find the lump sum needed, then subtract any pension income.
Finally, we grow your existing savings to retirement and solve for the monthly SIP
that fills the remaining gap, using your pre-retirement return.
Key assumptions you control
- Inflation (default 6%) — applied before and during retirement.
- Pre-retirement return (default 12%) — while you are still investing, typically equity-heavy.
- Post-retirement return (default 7%) — after you retire, when the corpus is usually shifted to safer options.
- Life expectancy (default 85) — how long the corpus must last.
- Pension income — EPS, NPS annuity or rent that reduces the corpus needed.
Start early — the SIP gap widens fast
Because of compounding, the monthly SIP needed rises steeply the longer you wait. Someone starting at
30 might need less than half the monthly investment of someone starting at 40 for the same corpus. If
you are investing through mutual funds, our SIP calculator lets you add
a yearly step-up, and the lumpsum calculator covers one-time
investments.
Where should the corpus sit?
A retirement plan usually blends several products: equity SIPs for
growth, PPF and EPF for tax-free debt, and
NPS for a pension-linked, low-cost option. After you retire, an
SWP or annuity turns the corpus into monthly income. If you want to
retire well before 60, see our FIRE calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate a retirement corpus?
First, grow your current monthly expense to the year you retire using an inflation rate — that gives the expense you will actually face on day one of retirement. Then work out the lump sum needed to fund those (still rising) expenses for the rest of your life, using a "real" return: the post-retirement return minus inflation. This calculator does all of that: it inflates your expenses, applies a real rate over your retirement years, and subtracts any pension income to arrive at the corpus you need.
How much do I need to retire in India?
It depends on your monthly spend, the age you retire, how long you expect to live, and inflation. As a rough guide, a 30-year-old spending ₹50,000 a month today and retiring at 60 typically needs a corpus of ₹8–12 crore, because 30 years of 6% inflation makes today’s ₹50,000 worth roughly ₹2.9 lakh a month at retirement. Enter your own numbers above for a precise figure.
Why does inflation matter so much for retirement?
Because retirement can last 25–30 years, inflation compounds twice — once until you retire (raising the expense you start with) and again through retirement (raising it every year you are retired). At 6% inflation, prices roughly double every 12 years, so ignoring inflation can make you under-save by more than half. This calculator is inflation-adjusted throughout.
How much should I invest every month (SIP) for retirement?
Once the calculator knows your target corpus and how much your current savings will grow to, it solves for the monthly SIP that closes the gap by your retirement age, assuming your pre-retirement return. Starting early makes a huge difference: because of compounding, someone who starts at 30 may need less than half the monthly SIP of someone who starts at 40 for the same corpus.
How does a pension or annuity change the corpus I need?
Any guaranteed income in retirement — EPS pension, NPS annuity, rental income or a government pension — reduces the expense your corpus has to cover. Enter your expected monthly pension (in today’s value) and the calculator subtracts it from your retirement expenses, lowering the corpus and the SIP you need.
What return should I assume before and after retirement?
Before retirement, when you can hold more equity, many people assume 10–12%. After retirement, when the corpus is shifted to safer debt and hybrid options for stability, a more conservative 6–8% is common. The gap between your post-retirement return and inflation (the "real return") is what actually sustains your withdrawals, so keep the post-retirement assumption realistic.
Retirement calculator vs FIRE calculator — what is the difference?
This retirement calculator assumes a normal retirement age (around 60) and focuses on the corpus and monthly SIP to get there, allowing for pension income. Our FIRE calculator is for early retirement — it works out your FIRE number from a safe withdrawal rate and tells you the age you could retire early. Use this one for a standard retirement plan and the FIRE tool if you want to stop working well before 60.
Is my retirement corpus taxable when I withdraw it?
It depends on where the corpus sits. Equity and debt mutual fund withdrawals attract capital-gains tax, EPF and PPF maturity are tax-free if conditions are met, and NPS allows a tax-free lump sum with the annuity portion taxed as income. This tool estimates the corpus you need; plan the tax with the specific product calculators and your income tax slab.