Retirement & FIRE Calculator

For ₹50,000/month today, your corpus requirement at age 60 (retiring in 25 years) with 6% general inflation and 3.5% safe withdrawal rate is approximately ₹8.3–9.5 crore, depending on healthcare inflation assumptions. In today's purchasing power, this is ₹2–2.3 crore. Use Tab 1 to get the exact number for your timeline and inflation assumptions.

The 4% rule says you can safely withdraw 4% of your corpus annually without depleting it over 30 years. It was derived from US data with ~3% average inflation. India's inflation averages 6%, making 4% too aggressive. The India-appropriate safe withdrawal rate is 3–3.5%. At 3.5% SWR, you need 28.6× your annual retirement expenses as a corpus.

"Corpus in today's money" divides the nominal future corpus by the compound inflation factor. If you need ₹8 crore at retirement in 25 years (at 6% inflation), that is equivalent to ₹1.86 crore in today's purchasing power. Both numbers are correct: ₹8 crore is what your bank account needs to show on retirement day; ₹1.86 crore is the intuitive equivalent in today's terms.

Medical costs in India inflate at 10–12% per year — roughly double the general CPI. Applying a single inflation rate to all expenses significantly underestimates your corpus need. This calculator carves out 15% of expenses as healthcare (adjustable) and inflates it at 10%, while the remaining 85% inflates at general CPI. For retirements spanning 25+ years, this difference is material.

FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) means having enough invested assets to sustain your lifestyle without working. FIRE number = Annual expenses ÷ Safe withdrawal rate. At 3.5% SWR: FIRE number = annual expenses × 28.6. For ₹50,000/month (₹6 lakh/year), FIRE number in today's money = ₹1.71 crore. The nominal FIRE number at retirement will be higher due to inflation.

Coast FIRE is when your existing savings are large enough to compound into your full FIRE number by retirement — without any additional contributions. Coast FIRE number (today) = Regular FIRE number ÷ (1 + return rate)^years to retirement. Once you reach Coast FIRE, you can stop investing for retirement. Every rupee earned after that can go to present spending instead. Tab 2 calculates your Coast FIRE number and checks whether your existing savings have reached it.

Barista FIRE means retiring from a high-stress career but keeping a part-time income (the "barista" job — consulting, teaching, freelancing). Your corpus only needs to cover the gap between expenses and part-time income. This requires a much smaller corpus than Regular FIRE and lets you retire years earlier. The trade-off: you still work, but on your terms, with much less financial pressure.

For a 30-year-old with ₹50,000/month expenses targeting retirement at 45 (15 years), the required corpus at 45 is approximately ₹5.9–7.5 crore (longer retirement = larger corpus at a conservative SWR). The monthly SIP required at 10% return is approximately ₹1.3–1.6 lakh/month. Retiring at 45 from scratch demands very high savings rates — typically 50–60% of take-home pay. Use Tab 1 for your specific numbers.

Pre-retirement: 10% p.a. is a conservative, achievable assumption for a diversified equity-tilted portfolio. Nifty 50 CAGR historically ~13%, but after costs, taxes, and behavioural drag, 10% is prudent. Post-retirement: 7% p.a. for a balanced portfolio (60% debt: SCSS, POMIS, gilt; 40% equity for inflation protection). These are this calculator's defaults.

₹1 crore today at 3.5% SWR generates only ₹35,000/year (₹2,917/month) — extremely lean. As a nominal corpus 25 years from now (due to inflation), ₹1 crore is equivalent to only ₹23 lakh in today's money. For most urban Indians with ₹50,000/month expenses, the retirement corpus target is ₹7–10 crore nominal, not ₹1 crore. Use Tab 1 to see your specific number.

Yes. Enter your combined EPF + NPS balance in the "Existing retirement savings" field. The calculator projects this forward at your pre-retirement return rate and reduces your monthly SIP requirement accordingly. Check your EPF balance at the EPFO member portal (epfindia.gov.in) and your NPS balance at the CRA website. For most salaried employees, EPF alone is a significant head start.

The 3-bucket strategy splits your corpus at retirement into: Bucket 1 (1–3 years of expenses, liquid: FD, liquid MF); Bucket 2 (4–10 years of expenses, income: debt MF, SCSS, POMIS); Bucket 3 (10+ year horizon, growth: equity MF, gold). Refill Bucket 1 from Bucket 2 every 2–3 years; refill Bucket 2 from Bucket 3 only when markets are positive. This prevents forced equity selling during downturns — the main cause of premature corpus depletion.

A step-up SIP increases your monthly SIP by a fixed percentage every year (e.g. 10% p.a., matching salary growth). Instead of ₹40,000 flat for 25 years, you might start at ₹23,000 and grow 10% annually. The year-1 amount is smaller (easier to start), while later years benefit from higher income. Tab 4 computes both flat and step-up SIP amounts, shows a year-by-year table, and highlights when you cross 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of your corpus target.

Monthly SIP = FV × (r/12) ÷ ((1+r/12)^n − 1), where FV = target corpus, r = annual return (decimal), n = months. If you have existing savings: SIP = (FV − Existing × (1+r)^years) × (r/12) ÷ ((1+r/12)^n − 1). Example: ₹5 crore in 25 years at 10% p.a. → SIP = ₹5 crore × (0.10/12) ÷ ((1+0.10/12)^300 − 1) ≈ ₹37,750/month.

This is longevity risk — the risk of outliving your money. The longevity panel in Tab 1 shows how much additional corpus you'd need if you live to 90 instead of 85. Planning to 90 is increasingly recommended. Another strategy: annuitize a portion of your corpus at retirement (NPS mandates 40% annuitization; you can voluntarily buy a life annuity with more). The annuity provides guaranteed income for life, eliminating longevity risk for that portion.

Sequence-of-returns risk is the danger that poor investment returns early in retirement permanently damage your corpus — even if long-term average returns are fine. If markets fall 30% in your first retirement year and you sell units to fund withdrawals, you lock in losses with fewer units to recover. A great 20-year average return doesn't help if the first 5 years are terrible. The 3-bucket strategy and a flexible withdrawal policy (reducing spending by 10–15% during market downturns) are the primary defenses.

For ₹1 lakh/month today, retiring in 25 years: blended inflation (6% general + 10% HC for 15% of expenses) brings monthly expenses at retirement to ≈ ₹4.58 lakh/month. Annual expenses: ≈ ₹54.9 lakh. Corpus needed at 3.5% SWR: ≈ ₹15.7 crore. In today's money: ≈ ₹3.66 crore. Monthly SIP at 10% return (25 years): ≈ ₹75,000–80,000/month. Adjust in Tab 1 for your exact ages and existing savings.

Yes, but with increased risk of running out of money. At 4% SWR, FIRE number = 25× annual expenses. At 3.5%, it's 28.6×. At 3%, it's 33.3×. A higher SWR reduces the corpus needed (and the SIP you must save), but dramatically increases the probability of depletion, especially in a long retirement (30+ years) with India's higher inflation. Tab 3's "Will It Last?" simulator lets you see the depletion curve at any SWR you choose.

Inflation-adjusted withdrawal means increasing your monthly withdrawal each year to maintain purchasing power. ₹1 lakh/month in year 1 → ₹1.06 lakh in year 2 → ₹1.124 lakh in year 3 (at 6% inflation). This is the realistic scenario. Fixed withdrawals are simpler but leave you with declining real income as expenses rise. Tab 3 lets you toggle between inflation-adjusted and fixed withdrawals to see the impact on corpus longevity.

This calculator uses standard PMT/FV formulas. The results are as accurate as the assumptions — particularly inflation and return rates, which are uncertain over 25–30 years. Best practices: run at multiple inflation rates (use the sensitivity table), plan to age 90 not 85, use 3.5% SWR not 4%, and revisit every 3–5 years as actual returns and inflation become known. For a binding financial plan, consult a SEBI-registered investment advisor.

Using PMT formula (Tab 3): At 7% return, 25-year retirement: max sustainable monthly withdrawal from ₹2 crore ≈ ₹1,41,300/month (nominal, non-inflation-adjusted). Perpetuity withdrawal (corpus never depletes): ₹2 crore × 7% ÷ 12 = ₹1,16,667/month. With inflation-adjusted withdrawals, the first-year sustainable withdrawal is lower. Use Tab 3 — enter ₹2 crore as corpus override and your expected monthly need to see if it lasts.

Gratuity is a lump sum paid at retirement for 5+ years of service: (Last basic salary × 15 × service years) ÷ 26, capped at ₹20 lakh (tax-free). For 30 years of service with ₹1 lakh basic salary: (1L × 15 × 30) ÷ 26 = ₹17.3 lakh. Add this to your retirement corpus alongside EPF. Enter the combined EPF + NPS + expected gratuity in the "Existing retirement savings" field to see how it reduces your SIP requirement.

At ₹1 lakh gross, post-tax take-home is roughly ₹75,000–80,000. If monthly expenses are ₹50,000, you can save ₹25,000–30,000/month. At 10% return over 25 years, ₹30,000/month SIP grows to ≈ ₹3.98 crore — well below the ₹8+ crore corpus needed for ₹50,000/month lifestyle at retirement. Early retirement at 45 on ₹1L salary requires either: (a) dramatically higher savings rate, (b) drastically lower target expenses (Lean FIRE), (c) a side income stream (Barista FIRE), or (d) Coastal FIRE — stop aggressive investing once Coast FIRE is reached.

An annuity provides guaranteed income for life — eliminating longevity risk for that portion of corpus. NPS mandates 40% annuitization; you can voluntarily annuitize more. Drawbacks: annuity rates in India are modest (5–6% p.a. currently), returns are fixed and don't beat inflation, and the corpus is locked — your heirs receive nothing. A common approach: annuitize enough to cover fixed monthly expenses (food, utilities, rent), invest the rest in a balanced portfolio for growth and flexibility.