How to use the Retirement Corpus Calculator
- Enter your current age, planned retirement age and life expectancy.
- Enter your current monthly expenses and expected inflation.
- Set expected returns before and after retirement and any savings you already have.
About this tool
First, your current monthly expenses are inflated to the year you retire: expense at retirement = today’s expense × (1 + inflation)years to retirement. The corpus needed is the amount that can pay those expenses every year of retirement — taken out at the start of each year and rising with inflation — while the remaining money earns the post-retirement return: corpus = Σ yearly expense × ((1 + inflation) ÷ (1 + return))k for each retirement year k.
Your existing savings grow at the pre-retirement return, and the gap is covered by a monthly SIP = gap ÷ [((1 + i)n − 1) ÷ i × (1 + i)], with i the monthly return and n the months left. These are long-term estimates: a 1% change in return or inflation changes the answer a lot, so review the plan regularly and include EPF, PPF and NPS balances in “savings already invested”.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to retire in India?
It depends on your expenses, inflation and how long retirement lasts. For ₹50,000 monthly expenses today, retiring at 60 from age 30 with 6% inflation, the corpus needed runs into several crores — enter your own numbers to see.
Why is the corpus so large?
Inflation multiplies today’s expenses many times over 25–30 years, and the money has to last 20–30 years of retirement.
What return should I assume?
Many planners use 10–12% before retirement for an equity-heavy portfolio and 6–8% after retirement, when the money moves to safer options.