Planning your retirement corpus
Retirement planning can feel vague until you attach real numbers to it. A “comfortable retirement” means different things to different people, but the process to reach there is surprisingly similar for most of us.
Step 1: Think in today’s value
First, forget inflation for a moment and ask: how much monthly income (in today’s money) would make you feel comfortable in retirement?
- Basic expenses: food, utilities, medicines, transport
- Optional expenses: travel, hobbies, small luxuries
- Support for dependents, if any
Add these up and you get a simple target like “I want ₹60,000 per month in today’s value”.
Step 2: Convert monthly income to corpus
A common rule of thumb is that a sustainable withdrawal rate may be around 3–4% per year of your retirement corpus, depending on risk and asset mix.
For example, if you want ₹60,000 per month (₹7,20,000 per year) and assume a 4% withdrawal rate:
- Required corpus ≈ ₹7,20,000 ÷ 0.04 = ₹1.8 crore
This is a rough estimate, not a guarantee, but it helps you move from “I have no idea” to a concrete “ballpark number”.
Step 3: Work backwards from your current age
Now ask: how many years do you have until retirement? And how much can you invest every month from now on?
This is where a goal-based calculator helps: it connects your target corpus, time available and expected return to show you a realistic monthly investment.
Step 4: Stay flexible
Life will not follow your Excel sheet. Income, expenses, health, returns – all will change over time. The idea of planning is not to predict perfectly, but to give yourself a clear direction and a way to track progress.
Review your retirement plan every few years. If your income grows faster than expected, you may be able to increase your monthly investments and reach your target sooner or with more cushion.