How to Calculate Your Retirement Corpus

Most people have no idea how much they need to retire. Here is a simple calculation. Step 1: Estimate monthly expenses at retirement. If you spend Rs 50,000 today, accounting for inflation at 6% for 25 years, you will need Rs 2.15 lakh per month at retirement. Step 2: Calculate the corpus needed. Using the 4% withdrawal rule — you need 25 times your annual retirement expenses. If you need Rs 25 lakh per year, your corpus must be Rs 6.25 crore. Step 3: Work backwards to find monthly SIP. Use an online SIP calculator to find how much to invest monthly at expected returns to reach your corpus. Step 4: Adjust annually — increase SIP by 10-15% every year as income grows. The corpus requirement feels large but with compounding over 25-30 years, consistent investing makes it very achievable.