Retirement Corpus Calculator
Calculate exactly how much you need to save for retirement and the monthly SIP required to get there, adjusted for inflation.
Retirement Plan Details
Your Retirement Number
Required Corpus at Retirement
₹7,71,48,478
Your Existing Savings will Grow To
₹1,14,46,148
Required Monthly SIP
₹23,215
What is this Calculator?
The Retirement Corpus Calculator estimates the total savings you'll need by the time you retire to maintain your current lifestyle — adjusted for inflation — for the rest of your life, and tells you exactly how much you need to invest every month, starting today, to get there.
It's designed for anyone who wants a concrete number to plan around, rather than a vague sense that they "should be saving more" for retirement.
How it Works
The calculation happens in three steps:
- 1. Project your future expenses: Your current monthly expenses are inflated forward to the year you retire.
- 2. Size the retirement corpus: Using your expected post-retirement investment return and inflation rate, the calculator finds the lump sum needed at retirement so that withdrawing your (inflation-growing) expenses every year exactly exhausts the corpus by your expected life expectancy.
- 3. Work backward to a monthly SIP: After subtracting what your existing retirement savings will grow to by then, the shortfall is converted into the monthly SIP amount, invested from today until retirement, required to close the gap.
This uses the standard "real rate of return" annuity approach — discounting future, inflation-adjusted withdrawals back to a single required corpus at retirement.
Example Calculation
Divya, age 30, wants to retire at 60 and plans for a life expectancy of 85 (25 years in retirement). Her current monthly expenses are ₹50,000, and she assumes 6% inflation, an 11% pre-retirement investment return, a 7% post-retirement return, and already has ₹5,00,000 saved for retirement.
- Her monthly expenses at retirement (after 30 years of inflation) balloon to roughly ₹2,87,175.
- Required Retirement Corpus at age 60 ≈ ₹7.71 crore
- Her existing ₹5,00,000 will grow to ≈ ₹1.14 crore by retirement, leaving a shortfall of ≈ ₹6.57 crore
- To close that gap, Divya needs to invest a fresh SIP of approximately ₹23,215 per month for the next 30 years.
The large corpus figure often surprises people — it's the combined effect of a long retirement, ongoing inflation even after retirement, and needing your money to keep growing while you draw it down.
Benefits of Using This Tool
- A Concrete Target: Turn "save more for retirement" into an exact monthly SIP number you can act on today.
- Inflation-Aware: Unlike simple calculators that ignore inflation during retirement itself, this accounts for your expenses continuing to rise even after you stop working.
- Gap Analysis: Instantly see how much of the job your existing NPS, PPF, EPF, or mutual fund savings are already doing, and how much more is needed.
Practical Tips:
- Re-run this calculation every few years, or after any major income change — your required SIP is very sensitive to your assumed return and inflation rates, so periodic recalibration matters.
- Consider healthcare costs separately — medical inflation in India has historically outpaced general inflation, so many planners recommend a dedicated health insurance/medical corpus on top of this baseline retirement number.
- Starting 10 years earlier can cut your required monthly SIP dramatically due to compounding — if the numbers feel intimidating, remember that starting immediately, even with a smaller amount, is the single biggest lever you control.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why is the required retirement corpus so much larger than my total lifetime expenses today?
Because of two compounding effects: your expenses will be inflated by decades of price rises by the time you retire, and they'll keep growing with inflation throughout your retirement too. On top of that, the corpus needs to keep earning a return even as you withdraw from it, which is exactly what the 'real rate of return' calculation accounts for.
What if I can't afford the required monthly SIP right now?
Start with whatever you can consistently invest, and increase it over time — ideally via an annual step-up in line with salary increases. Even a partial SIP started early, combined with increases over the years, closes much of the gap due to the power of compounding over long horizons.
Should I include my EPF and NPS in 'existing retirement savings'?
Yes — include the current balance of all your dedicated retirement accounts (EPF, PPF, NPS) along with any other investments earmarked specifically for retirement. This gives you an accurate picture of the gap you actually still need to fill with new SIP investments.
How do I choose realistic inflation and return assumptions?
For India, a common assumption range is 6-7% for long-term general inflation, 10-12% for pre-retirement equity-heavy portfolio returns, and 6-8% for more conservative post-retirement returns (as your portfolio typically shifts toward safer instruments). Run the calculator with a conservative and an optimistic scenario to understand your range of outcomes.
Sources & References
- Standard real-rate-of-return retirement corpus methodology used by financial planners