How much more corpus is needed if post-retirement returns are only 5%?
With a lower 5% assumed return during retirement, a 26-year-old targeting ₹40,000/month today needs a larger corpus of about ₹3,98,63,690 — a lower post-retirement return means the same expense needs more capital behind it. The monthly SIP required is about ₹6,929.
Tip: don’t just use your current expense as-is
Base the “target monthly expense” on what you’ll actually spend after retirement, not your current spending unchanged — some costs typically fall away or shrink by then (a home loan EMI that’s finished, children’s education and other dependent costs, daily commuting) while others may rise (healthcare). Most people find a reasonable retirement budget is somewhat lower than their current one, but this is a personal estimate only you can make well.
How this is calculated
Three steps: (1) your target expense is inflated from today’s value to what it will actually cost in rupee terms at your retirement date; (2) the corpus required is sized using the same present-value-of-annuity math as the retirement withdrawal calculator — a level, non-inflation-adjusted withdrawal during retirement, kept consistent with that calculator on purpose; (3) the required monthly SIP is the accumulation-phase contribution (see the SIP calculator) that reaches that corpus by your retirement date. Two different return assumptions are used deliberately — a higher one while building the corpus (often equity-heavy) and a more conservative one while drawing it down.
What does "corpus" mean?
Corpus just means the total pot of savings you need by retirement — a term used often in Indian retirement planning, but it simply means "your savings" at that point in time.