Retirement Calculator
Find corpus needed, monthly savings required and your FIRE number. Inflation-adjusted.
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📘 What is the Retirement Calculator?
Retirement planning answers two deceptively simple questions: how much money will you need, and how much should you save each month to get there? This calculator projects your retirement corpus requirement based on your current expenses, expected inflation, years to retirement, and post-retirement life expectancy — then works backward to tell you the monthly savings required, all in inflation-adjusted terms.
⚙️ How Retirement is calculated
Why future expenses are higher than today's
If your monthly expenses today are ₹50,000 and inflation runs at 6% per year, those same expenses will cost roughly ₹1,60,000/month in 20 years — more than 3× today's figure. This calculator inflates your current expenses forward to your retirement date before calculating the corpus you will need, rather than using today's rupee value (a common mistake in simple retirement calculators).
The 4% rule and corpus sizing
A widely cited guideline (the "4% rule") suggests that withdrawing 4% of your retirement corpus in the first year, then adjusting for inflation each subsequent year, has historically lasted 30+ years across most market conditions. Working backward, this implies a target corpus of roughly 25× your annual expenses at retirement (since 1 ÷ 4% = 25).
How "years in retirement" changes the required corpus
A corpus sized for a 25-year retirement is meaningfully smaller than one sized for a 35-year retirement, even with identical expenses and returns — because the corpus must keep generating inflation-adjusted withdrawals for longer. This calculator lets you adjust life expectancy to see this sensitivity directly.
Reverse-engineering the monthly SIP needed
Once the target corpus is known, the calculator uses the standard future-value-of-annuity formula in reverse to determine the constant monthly investment (at your assumed rate of return) that would reach that corpus by your retirement date.
Corpus required (4% rule approximation)
Corpus ≈ Annual expenses at retirement × 25
Annual expenses at retirement = current annual expenses × (1 + inflation)^years to retirement
🧮 Worked examples
Example 1 — Early starter
Age 25, retiring at 60 (35 years to save), current monthly expenses ₹40,000, inflation 6%, expected return 11%.
→ Required corpus ≈ ₹6–7 crore · Monthly SIP needed ≈ ₹8,000–10,000
Example 2 — Late starter
Same expenses and assumptions, but starting at age 40 (only 20 years to save).
→ Required corpus is similar in real terms, but the monthly SIP needed roughly triples to ₹30,000–35,000 due to fewer compounding years
Example 3 — Early retirement (FIRE-style)
Age 30, targeting retirement at 45 (15 years), monthly expenses ₹60,000, inflation 6%, expected return 10%.
→ Required corpus ≈ ₹5–6 crore · Monthly SIP needed is substantially higher, illustrating the trade-off between an earlier retirement date and a larger required monthly commitment
💡 Original insights & how to use this calculator
Comparing the cost of starting at 25 vs 35
This is the single highest-impact comparison in retirement planning. Run the calculator twice with a 10-year difference in starting age — the monthly savings required typically increases by 2–3× for the later starter, for an identical retirement outcome, purely due to lost compounding years.
Stress-testing your inflation assumption
India has historically seen inflation in the 5–7% range, but healthcare and education costs — major retirement expense categories — have often risen faster. Try the calculator at both 6% and 8% inflation to see how sensitive your required corpus is to this single assumption.
Bridging the gap with a step-up SIP
If the monthly savings figure feels out of reach today, pair this calculator with the SIP Calculator's step-up feature: a smaller starting SIP that increases 8–10% annually (in line with typical salary growth) can reach the same corpus as a flat, larger SIP.
Why "FIRE" numbers and retirement corpus are the same maths
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) calculations use exactly the same 25× annual-expenses logic as traditional retirement planning — the only difference is the retirement age input. Try entering a much earlier retirement age here to see your personal "FIRE number".
💡 Expert Tips
4% rule: withdraw 4%/year — sustainable for 30+ years.
Starting at 25 vs 35 can halve the monthly savings needed.
How to read your result
The corpus number is inflation-adjusted, which means it will look large — that's intentional, not an error. A ₹4Cr number for someone retiring in 30 years reflects what that money will actually be worth then, not today's prices. Compare the "monthly savings required" figure against your real current income, not the intimidating headline corpus number, to judge whether the plan is actually achievable.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
✕ Comparing the future corpus number to today's salary and concluding it's impossible.
✓ The corpus is inflation-adjusted to your retirement year — a ₹4Cr target in 30 years is not the same as needing ₹4Cr worth of today's purchasing power. Focus on the monthly savings figure instead.
✕ Not including EPF, existing PPF, or other retirement accounts as current savings.
✓ Leaving out EPF/PPF understates how far along you already are. Add your expected EPF corpus at retirement as part of "current savings" for a realistic monthly-savings-required number.
✕ Using a single flat withdrawal rate assumption without a safety margin.
✓ 4% is a widely-cited historical guideline, not a guarantee — some retirees using 4% ran short in worst-case historical sequences. Consider 3.5% for extra safety if you're retiring earlier than 60.
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Frequently Asked
How much corpus do I need to retire?▾
A common formula: monthly expense at retirement × 12 × 25. For ₹50,000/month today, inflation-adjusted to roughly ₹1.34L/month at 60, that works out to about ₹4Cr — this calculator does the inflation adjustment for your own numbers.
What is a safe withdrawal rate?▾
4% annually is widely considered safe — historically it means a well-invested portfolio lasts 30+ years. A ₹2Cr corpus at 4% gives ₹8L/year, or about ₹66,700/month to spend.
Should I include EPF in retirement planning?▾
Yes. EPF at retirement can contribute significantly to your corpus — enter your expected EPF amount as part of your current savings in this calculator.
What if I want to retire at 50 instead of 60?▾
You will need a larger corpus (a longer retirement to fund) built in less time. This calculator accepts any retirement age — try changing it to 50 to see the required monthly savings.
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EPF Balance Estimator
Example — 30-year projection
Projected EPF corpus ≈₹2.83 crore at retirement