Enter your age, monthly expenses, and expected returns. See exactly how large a corpus you need, and how much to invest every month to get there.
Note: All calculations are inflation-adjusted. Review and update assumptions annually for accuracy.
Most people know they should be saving for retirement. Very few have run the actual numbers on what that means in rupees. This Retirement Calculator gives you the real figure: the corpus you need at the day you stop working, the monthly SIP you need to start today, and what your existing savings will be worth by then. The numbers are inflation-adjusted throughout, which is where most retirement planning goes wrong.
India's average life expectancy crossed 70 in 2023. Urban educated populations are living to 80 and beyond. That means someone retiring at 60 needs their money to last 20 to 25 years. Without a plan, those years become financially dependent ones. Most Indian families still rely on children to support ageing parents, which is not a comfortable position for either side. The calculation here takes your current expenses, inflates them to what they will be at retirement age, then figures out what corpus is large enough to fund those inflated expenses for 20 to 25 years without running out.
Step 1: Project expenses to retirement age
Future Monthly Expenses = Current Expenses x (1 + Inflation Rate)^Years to Retirement. At 6% inflation over 30 years, Rs.50,000 in today's money becomes Rs.2.87 lakh per month. This step is where most people underestimate their target.
Step 2: Adjust for retirement lifestyle
Retirement expenses are typically 70 to 80% of working-life expenses: no commute costs, no school fees, home loan usually paid off. The calculator defaults to 80% but you adjust this up or down based on the retirement lifestyle you have in mind.
Step 3: Calculate the total corpus required
The corpus is sized to fund your annual retirement expenses for the full retirement period while earning the post-retirement return rate. The formula ensures the corpus is not exhausted before the end of your projected life expectancy.
Step 4: Credit existing savings
Current retirement savings (EPF balance, PPF, mutual funds, FDs earmarked for retirement) compound at the pre-retirement return rate until retirement age. This amount is subtracted from the total corpus required to give you the additional corpus still to be built.
Step 5: Calculate the monthly SIP needed
The additional corpus is broken down into the monthly investment required, assuming it compounds at the pre-retirement return rate. This is the number that tells you whether your current saving level is on track or needs to be increased.
The 25x rule is a starting point: multiply your expected annual expenses at retirement by 25. It is based on a 4% annual withdrawal rate, which research suggests a diversified portfolio sustains indefinitely. For Rs.50,000 per month in today's money, you need around Rs.1.5 crore at minimum. But 4% worked in markets with lower inflation. In India, where inflation runs at 6 to 7%, the 30x rule is safer: annual expenses times 30. That same Rs.50,000 monthly household requires Rs.1.8 crore. Add another 20 to 30% purely for medical contingencies, which inflate faster than general expenses. The realistic target for a comfortable, medically covered retirement on Rs.50,000 monthly expenses today is Rs.2 crore to Rs.2.5 crore.
Starting at 25 instead of 35 does not mean saving 10 more years. It means needing roughly 2.6 times less monthly investment to reach the same corpus by 60. That is compounding doing the work instead of you. Someone starting at 25 needs approximately Rs.6,000 per month to build Rs.3 crore by 60 at 12%. Someone starting at 35 needs Rs.18,000 per month for the same outcome. The time difference is worth more than the money difference. In your 20s and 30s, put 80 to 90% in equity: large-cap and index funds, with small and mid-cap exposure for those with a longer horizon. In your 40s, bring equity down to 60 to 70% and increase debt. In your 50s, shift to 40 to 50% equity and protect what you have built.
Use multiple vehicles simultaneously rather than concentrating in one place. EPF is mandatory for salaried employees and gives 8.25% guaranteed with employer matching. PPF offers 7.1% tax-free, EEE status, and a 15-year compounding engine. NPS gives market-linked returns between 9 and 12% and the exclusive Rs.50,000 deduction under 80CCD(1B). Equity mutual funds through SIP provide the highest long-term growth at 12 to 14% historically but with year-to-year volatility. The right allocation by decade: 20s and 30s lean heavily on equity funds with EPF and PPF running alongside. 40s: increase NPS contributions, hold equity funds but add some balanced allocation. 50s: shift progressively toward debt, PPF, and guaranteed products while keeping 40 to 50% in equity for the remaining growth horizon.
Retiring at 50 is achievable but the numbers are significantly different from a standard retirement at 60. The corpus has to fund 35 to 40 years instead of 20 to 25, which by itself increases the requirement by 40 to 60%. The accumulation period is also shorter. Someone targeting early retirement at 50 needs to save 50 to 60% of their income from their late 20s onward. The semi-retirement approach is more realistic for most people: stop full-time employment at 50 or 55 but maintain some consulting, advisory, or part-time work generating Rs.30,000 to Rs.50,000 per month. This reduces the corpus drawdown significantly and gives the portfolio more time to compound. A fully funded early retirement at 50 with no income from work requires 1.5 to 2 times the corpus of a standard retirement at 60 on the same lifestyle.
Both at the same time is the answer, not either or. Buy the house when the time and finances are right, keep the EMI below 40% of take-home salary, and simultaneously invest whatever you have left in retirement instruments. The mistake people make is pausing retirement investment entirely during the loan period and planning to catch up later. Catching up at 45 after a 15-year loan is enormously more expensive than the Rs.5,000 or Rs.10,000 per month you were investing during the loan years. When the home loan is paid off, redirect the full freed-up EMI into retirement savings immediately. That redirection, done at 50 with 10 years remaining, meaningfully changes the corpus at 60.
Use 6 to 7% as the base assumption for general living expenses. India's long-term CPI average supports this range. Healthcare inflation is the big exception: it has been running at 10 to 12% for over a decade, driven by rising treatment costs, specialist fees, and medical technology. Undershooting inflation assumptions is one of the most common retirement planning errors. A corpus that is sized on 5% inflation but faces 7% actual inflation runs out years earlier than planned. For a 30-year retirement horizon, increasing the inflation assumption by 1% changes the required corpus by 30 to 40%. When in doubt, plan conservatively at 7% general and 10% healthcare, and treat any excess as a comfortable buffer.
After retirement, capital preservation matters more than maximum growth. A realistic post-retirement portfolio targeting 7 to 8% annual return holds roughly 30% in equity (large-cap dividend funds for steady income and some growth), 60% in debt (FDs, government bonds, NPS annuity), and 10% in gold as an inflation hedge. The bucket strategy manages the withdrawal sequence: keep 2 to 3 years of expenses in liquid funds or short-term debt for immediate access, the next 3 to 7 years in debt funds earning safely, and everything beyond 7 years in equity for long-term growth. This prevents being forced to sell equity during a market downturn to fund living expenses.
Building retirement income from three or four separate sources is more resilient than relying on a single corpus drawdown. SCSS at 8.2% on Rs.15 lakh generates Rs.10,250 per month. Post Office MIS at 7.4% on Rs.9 lakh generates Rs.5,550 per month. Together on Rs.24 lakh deployed, that is Rs.15,800 per month in guaranteed government-backed income with no market risk. Add a Systematic Withdrawal Plan from a balanced mutual fund, the NPS annuity, and rental income if applicable. Any income gap after these streams is filled from the broader corpus drawdown. Diversifying across income sources means no single market event or interest rate change cuts off all income simultaneously.
Medical planning needs to be separate from the main retirement corpus, not embedded in it. The reason: medical emergencies do not wait for a convenient market period. A Rs.5 lakh hospitalisation at 72 should not require selling equity during a downturn. Target a dedicated medical corpus of Rs.20 to 30 lakh in liquid instruments by age 60, separate from the retirement portfolio. Maintain Rs.10 to 20 lakh in health insurance cover, renewed annually. Most insurers become more selective with age, so buy a good individual policy before 55 while underwriting is still straightforward. Add a top-up plan to keep premiums manageable. Medical costs in India rise steeply after 70 and a single serious event runs Rs.10 to 20 lakh at a private hospital.
At 40 you have 20 years. That is still enough time for compounding to do meaningful work. Rs.50,000 per month invested at 12% over 20 years builds Rs.5 crore. The challenge for late starters is not the corpus target itself but the monthly contribution required to reach it. At 45, Rs.1.5 lakh per month is needed for the same goal that would have required Rs.30,000 at 30. The practical steps: maximize guaranteed high-return instruments first, VPF up to 100% of basic salary at 8.25% compounding guaranteed, NPS at Rs.50,000 minimum for the 80CCD(1B) benefit, PPF at Rs.1.5 lakh per year. Then direct everything surplus into equity funds. Also recalibrate the retirement lifestyle downward or extend the working years by 2 to 3 years. Every additional year of earning and not drawing from the corpus has a disproportionate impact on the final number.
NPS rules require 40% of the corpus to go toward an annuity. That 40% purchases a lifetime monthly pension from an empanelled insurer at 6 to 7% annuity rates. The remaining 60% is a tax-free lump sum. The strategy that maximises post-retirement income: take the full 60% lump sum and deploy it in SCSS at 8.2% and Post Office MIS at 7.4%, both of which yield more than the typical NPS annuity rate. Rs.20 lakh in SCSS generates Rs.13,700 per month. The same Rs.20 lakh in an NPS annuity generates Rs.10,000 to Rs.11,667 per month. The lump sum deployment wins on income. If you have other income at 60, defer the NPS withdrawal to 65 or 70. The corpus keeps compounding tax-free during that period, annuity rates for older buyers are higher, and the 60% lump sum grows meaningfully over those extra years.
