Retirement Corpus Calculator
The number nobody wants to look at. Enter what you spend today — see the corpus you actually need, and the monthly investment that gets you there.
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Result
Your existing savings already cover the target on these assumptions. Anything you add is a buffer.
Retirement age must be greater than your current age, and the plan-until age must be greater than your retirement age.
A projection, not a promise. It assumes steady returns and steady inflation — reality delivers neither. Re-run it every year or two, and after any big life change.
How the number is built
- Inflate today's expenses to your retirement year:
E × (1 + i)years. - Discount the retirement years using a real return — post-retirement return adjusted for inflation, since your costs keep rising after you stop working. That gives the corpus.
- Grow what you already have at the pre-retirement return.
- The gap is corpus minus that. A standard SIP formula converts the gap into a monthly figure.
real rate = (1 + post-retirement return) / (1 + inflation) − 1
Using a real rate is what separates a serious retirement estimate from a bad one. A calculator that discounts at the nominal 7% while ignoring 6% inflation will understate the corpus by a third or more.
If the monthly number looks impossible
It usually does at first. The levers, in order of how much they move the answer:
- Retire later. Three extra working years cut the required SIP more than any other single change — you invest longer and draw down for less time.
- Spend less in retirement. The corpus scales linearly with monthly expenses. A 15% trim cuts 15% off the target.
- Start now. A 25-year-old needs roughly a third of what a 35-year-old needs monthly for the same corpus.
- Raise the SIP every year with your salary. A flat SIP for 30 years quietly loses to inflation.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to retire?
It comes down to your expenses, not your income. Take what you spend monthly today, inflate it to your retirement year, then work out the lump sum that can fund that inflating stream for the rest of your life. For most people the answer lands somewhere between 25 and 33 times their annual expenses at retirement — the calculator above computes it precisely from your own numbers.
Why does the calculator use a "real" rate of return?
Because your costs keep rising after you retire. Discounting a fixed nominal return against an inflating expense stream badly understates the corpus. The real rate — (1 + post-retirement return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1 — accounts for both at once, and is the difference between a serious estimate and a comforting one.
What return should I assume before and after retirement?
Before retirement, a portfolio weighted toward equity has historically returned around 10–12% a year in India over long horizons. After retirement most people shift toward debt and hybrid funds, so 6–8% is a more realistic assumption. Keeping the two separate matters — using the higher figure for both makes the target look far easier than it is.
What inflation rate should I use?
Headline CPI in India has averaged roughly 5–6%. But personal inflation for a retiree is usually higher, because healthcare and domestic help rise faster than the basket used for CPI. Many planners model 6–7% for a retirement plan, and stress-test at 8%.
The monthly number looks impossible. What now?
That is the normal first reaction, and there are four levers. Retiring even three years later cuts the required monthly investment more than anything else. Trimming planned retirement expenses scales the corpus down linearly. Starting earlier matters enormously — a 25-year-old needs roughly a third of what a 35-year-old needs monthly. And stepping the investment up each year with your salary beats a flat contribution over a 30-year horizon.
A 30-year plan starts with this month.
Money Track tracks the SIPs, the assets and the net worth behind your retirement number.
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