Retirement Calculator
Find out how big a retirement corpus you need to maintain your lifestyle after you stop working.
The retirement calculator estimates the lump sum you need on the day you retire so that you can keep spending what you spend today. It first inflates today\u2019s expenses to their future value, then calculates the corpus required to pay that amount for every year of retirement.
How to use the calculator
- Enter your current monthly expenses — the lifestyle you want to maintain.
- Add your current age, retirement age and life expectancy.
- Set inflation and the return you expect after retirement.
- The result is the target corpus; compare it with your current savings to see the gap.
How it is calculated
Step 2: Corpus = annual expense × [1 − (1 + real return)−n] ÷ real return, where real return = (1 + return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1 and n = years in retirement.
Worked example
₹50,000 monthly expenses, retiring at 60, life expectancy 85
Expenses at retirement (6% inflation, 30 years) ≈ ₹2,87,000 a month
Corpus needed ≈ ₹6.82 crore, assuming an 8% post-retirement return.
Who should use this calculator
- Anyone in their twenties to forties who wants to know whether their current savings rate is on track.
- People deciding between retiring at 55 and 60, and wanting to see how five extra working years change the corpus needed.
- Employees with only EPF and no pension, who need to build retirement income deliberately.
- Anyone comparing the corpus required against what an annuity, rent or a pension would cover.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Projecting expenses without inflation. Living on today's ₹50,000 a month is not the same as living on ₹2.87 lakh a month in thirty years at 6% inflation — and the corpus has to fund the inflated figure.
- Ignoring healthcare. Medical costs typically rise faster than general inflation and often become the largest expense after retirement.
- Assuming a high return after retirement. A corpus that has to fund monthly withdrawals is usually invested conservatively, so use a lower return than your pre-retirement assumption.
- Forgetting pension, rent and other income. Reliable post-retirement income reduces the corpus you need, and leaving it out of the calculation pushes you to over-save or under-plan.
- Starting late and hoping to catch up. Doubling the monthly investment is far harder than starting ten years earlier, because the missing years of compounding cannot be replaced.
Why the required corpus looks so large
A 30-year-old spending ₹50,000 a month today, retiring at 60 and living to 85, is told they need roughly ₹6.8 crore. The number shocks people, but it follows from two forces working at once: inflation raises monthly expenses to about ₹2.87 lakh by retirement, and there is no salary coming in for the twenty-five years that follow.
Two conclusions follow. First, the corpus is a moving target, so review the projection every couple of years rather than treating it as fixed. Second, the only reliable way to close the gap is time. A smaller amount invested early does more work than a larger amount invested at 45, because the early money gets decades of compounding while the late money gets a few years.
Retirement terms explained
- Corpus
- The total retirement fund you need on the day you stop working, before any withdrawals.
- Real return
- Return after inflation. The gap between your post-retirement return and inflation is what funds your expenses.
- Life expectancy
- How long you plan to fund. Choosing 85 rather than 75 adds a decade of expenses to the calculation.
- Safe withdrawal rate
- The share of the corpus you can withdraw each year without running out — commonly 3–4% in India.
- Sequence risk
- The danger that poor returns in the first years of retirement permanently reduce how long the money lasts.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the required corpus so large?
Two forces work against you: inflation raises your expenses every year, and once you stop earning there are no fresh contributions. A corpus that looks huge today is simply the amount needed to pay inflated expenses for 20–25 years.
Should I include pension or rental income?
Yes. Any reliable post-retirement income — a pension, annuity, rent or interest — reduces the corpus you must build. Subtract that income from your projected monthly expense before using the calculator.
How much should I save every month?
Use a target-based SIP calculation: once you know the corpus, work backwards to a monthly investment using your expected pre-retirement return. Our Target SIP calculator does exactly that.