Retirement Planning Calculator

How much do you need to retire?

Retirement planning answers two questions: how large a corpus you need on the day you stop working, and whether your savings are on track to reach it. The corpus has to pay your living costs — rising with inflation — for 25 years or more, while earning a modest return in safe investments.

This retirement calculator inflates your current monthly expenses to your retirement date, works out the corpus needed to fund them through your planned lifespan, projects what your existing savings and monthly investments will grow to, and shows the shortfall (or surplus) and the extra monthly investment needed to close any gap.

How this calculator works

Retirement planning runs in two halves. First, your current monthly expenses are inflated to the day you retire — that is what your lifestyle will actually cost then. Second, the calculator works out the lump sum needed on that day to pay those expenses, rising with inflation, until your plan-until age.

The corpus is discounted at the inflation-adjusted post-retirement return, not the nominal one. This matters: a 7% return during 6% inflation supports withdrawals at only about 0.94% real, so the corpus required is much larger than a naive calculation suggests.

Against that requirement it projects what your existing savings and monthly investments will actually grow to, and reports the gap plus the extra monthly investment that would close it.

Formula

Expense at retirement = current expense × (1 + inflation)^years to retire
Real return           = (1 + post-retirement return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1
Corpus required       = annual expense × [1 − (1 + real)^−n] ÷ real × (1 + real)
Projected corpus      = savings × (1 + pre-return)^years + future value of SIPs

Worked example

Age 32, retiring at 60, planning until 85. Expenses ₹60,000 a month, inflation 6%.
At 60 the same lifestyle costs about ₹3,07,000 a month.
Funding that for 25 years at a 7% post-retirement return needs a corpus of roughly ₹8.2 crore.
Existing savings of ₹15 lakh plus ₹25,000 a month at 11% gets to about ₹7.5 crore — a gap worth acting on early.

Corpus needed for different lifestyles

Age 32 today, retiring at 60, planning to 85; 6% inflation; 7% return after retirement
Monthly expenses today	Monthly expenses at 60	Corpus needed at 60
₹40,000	₹2,04,467	₹5,49,29,497
₹60,000	₹3,06,701	₹8,23,94,245
₹1,00,000	₹5,11,169	₹13,73,23,742

These figures look enormous because 28 years of inflation multiply today’s costs about five times. What matters is the monthly investment needed today, which the calculator also shows — and which falls sharply the earlier you start.

Ways to close a shortfall

Start or increase SIPs now, and step them up every year with your salary.
Work a few years longer: each extra year adds contributions and growth, and shortens the period the corpus must last.
Reduce planned retirement expenses — clear all loans before retiring and plan housing costs.
Hold a sensible share of growth assets before retirement; an all-deposit portfolio rarely beats inflation after tax.
Count EPF, PPF and NPS balances in your existing savings so the gap is measured correctly.

Assumptions & important notes

What this calculator assumes

Expenses stay level in real terms throughout retirement. In practice discretionary spending often falls after 75 while medical spending rises.
Returns are constant. Sequence-of-returns risk — a bad market in the first few years of retirement — is not modelled and is a real danger.
No pension, rental income, annuity or property sale is counted. Add such income by reducing your monthly expense figure.
The corpus is drawn down to zero by your plan-until age, leaving no estate.

Important notes

Healthcare costs rise faster than general inflation. Health insurance alongside the corpus is usually cheaper than self-funding medical risk.
Delaying retirement by even two or three years helps twice: the corpus grows longer and it has to last fewer years.
Review the plan every two years. Small course corrections early are far cheaper than large ones late.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the corpus required so large?

Because it has to survive both inflation and longevity. Twenty-five years of retirement with prices doubling roughly every twelve years needs far more capital than a simple “expenses × years” calculation suggests.

Is the 4% withdrawal rule useful in India?

It was derived from US market history and lower inflation. With Indian inflation, a real withdrawal rate closer to 3–3.5% is a safer starting point. This calculator works out the requirement directly from your own numbers instead of using a rule of thumb.

Should EPF and NPS be counted in current savings?

Yes, include the balances you intend to keep until retirement. If you plan to convert part of NPS into an annuity, treat that pension as income instead by reducing your monthly expense figure.

What if I cannot invest the extra amount needed?

There are three other levers: retire later, spend less in retirement, or increase investments gradually as your income grows. A 10% annual step-up in your investment usually closes a moderate gap on its own.

At what age should I start saving for retirement?

As early as possible — ideally with your first salary. Money invested in your twenties has 30–35 years to compound; starting ten years later can more than double the monthly amount needed for the same corpus.

What post-retirement return should I assume?

Because retirement money needs to be safer, a return of 6%–8% before tax is a common planning assumption, roughly 1%–2% above inflation. Using a lower real return gives a more cautious, larger corpus target.

Existing savings, grown	₹2.79 Cr	33.1%
Future monthly investing	₹5.63 Cr	66.9%

About the Retirement Planning Calculator