01
Enter your ages and expense
Add your current age, retirement age, life expectancy, and what you spend a month today.
Retirement Calculator
Find the corpus you need and the monthly SIP to get there.
Updated Reviewed by Sajid Hussain· Editor
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Why trust this calculator
Last updated
June 15, 2026
Coverage
9 markets · 8 currencies
Privacy
Calculated in-browser · no data stored
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Financial Tool
What Is a Retirement Calculator?
A retirement calculator shows the corpus you need to retire, whether your current savings will get you there, and the monthly investment to close any gap — all adjusted for inflation, which is what makes retirement planning hard.
**It sizes the corpus from your expenses.** Your monthly expense today is inflated to your retirement year, then the calculator finds the fund that pays those rising expenses through your life expectancy at the post-retirement return.
**It checks if you are on track.** Your existing savings and ongoing investment are grown at the pre-retirement return and compared to the target — showing a clear shortfall or surplus, not just a number to chase.
**It gives you one action.** Instead of a vague goal, it tells you the extra monthly investment needed to close the gap — the single most useful figure for actually planning.
**It separates the two phases.** Returns are higher while you build the corpus and lower while you draw it down. Using one rate distorts the answer, so the calculator models both.
Quick facts
- Sizes
- Corpus needed
- Checks
- On-track or short
- Action
- Monthly investment
- Adjusts for
- Inflation
- Two phases
- Pre & post return
- Free to use
- No sign-up needed
How It Works
Plan Your Retirement in Three Steps
02
Set your assumptions
Choose inflation and the returns you expect before and after retirement, then add any current savings.
03
See the corpus and the gap
See the corpus you need, what you are on track for, and the extra monthly investment to close the gap.
Steps to use the Retirement Calculator: Enter your ages and expense, Set your assumptions, See the corpus and the gap.
The Formula
How the Retirement Corpus Is Worked Out
01
Expense at retirement
Future expense = current expense × (1 + inflation)^years to retire
Your monthly expense today is grown by inflation to the year you retire — the base for the corpus.
Example: 50,000 × 1.06^30 ≈ 2,87,175 a month
02
Corpus needed
Corpus = annual expense × annuity factor at the real return
Using the real return (post-return adjusted for inflation), the corpus funds inflation-growing withdrawals for the whole retirement.
Example: ≈ 77 times the first-year annual expense here
03
Extra to invest
Shortfall = corpus needed − corpus projected ; solve the monthly SIP
Your savings and current investment are grown to retirement; the gap is converted into the extra monthly investment needed.
Example: ≈ 21,856 a month from age 30
Worked Example
Walkthrough (age 30, retire at 60, plan to 85)
Currency note: the example below uses a benchmark scenario priced in Indian Rupee (INR). Values are converted to US Dollar (USD) at the latest exchange rate so you can compare against your own numbers.
Scenario
Aged 30, retiring at 60 and planning to 85, with a $50,000.00 monthly expense today, 6% inflation, 12% returns before and 7% after retirement, starting from zero savings.
1
Step 1 · Inflate the expense
The $50,000.00 monthly expense grows at 6% over 30 years to retirement.
Expense at 60 = $287,175.00/mo
2
Step 2 · Size the corpus
Funding that expense, growing with inflation, to age 85 at 7% needs a lump sum.
Corpus needed = $77,148,478.00
3
Step 3 · The monthly investment
Building that corpus from zero at 12% over 30 years takes a steady monthly investment.
Invest $21,856.00/mo
The takeaway
Retiring at 60 on today's $50,000.00-a-month lifestyle needs about $77,148,478.00 — reachable with roughly $21,856.00 a month from age 30. Start even a few years later and that monthly figure climbs steeply, because compounding has less time to work.
Rules of thumb
Retirement Planning Benchmarks
| Metric | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Corpus (the 4% rule) 4% safe withdrawal rate | ~25× annual expenses | |||
Conservative corpus Longer life / lower returns | ~30× annual expenses | |||
Post-retirement real return Prudent drawdown assumption | > 4% | 2–4% | 0–2% | |
Expense doubling time Rule of 72 on inflation | ~12 years at 6% |
Comparison
Calcrux vs Generic Retirement Calculators
| Feature | Calcrux (Free) | Generic | Advisor Tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation-adjusted corpus | |||
| Separate pre/post-retirement return | |||
| On-track shortfall or surplus | |||
| Extra monthly investment to close gap | |||
| Works in any currency | |||
| No sign-up or login | |||
| Free |
Common Mistakes
Retirement Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Ignoring inflation
Why it matters
Planning around today's expenses badly understates the corpus — costs can multiply five-fold over a 30-year career.
Fix
Always inflate expenses to your retirement year, as this calculator does, and plan around that figure.
Using one return for both phases
Why it matters
Assuming a high equity return through retirement overstates how long the corpus lasts and understates what you need.
Fix
Set a lower post-retirement return for the safer, drawdown phase — separately from the building phase.
Starting too late
Why it matters
Each year of delay raises the required monthly investment sharply, as compounding has less time to work.
Fix
Begin as early as possible; the calculator shows how much lighter the monthly amount is when you start young.
Underestimating longevity
Why it matters
Planning to 70 when you may live to 90 risks running out of money in your most vulnerable years.
Fix
Plan the corpus to last to 85–90, and revisit it as life expectancy and your health change.
Forgetting other income
Why it matters
Counting a pension or rent twice, or not at all, distorts the corpus you actually need to build.
Fix
Enter only the expense your own corpus must fund — after any guaranteed pension or rental income.
Pro Tips
Build Your Retirement Corpus Smartly
Start early, even small
Time in the market beats timing it. A modest amount invested in your twenties outgrows a large one started late.
Step up with your income
Set the annual step-up in this calculator: raising your SIP 5–10% a year as your salary grows lets you start with a far smaller monthly amount.
De-risk near retirement
Shift gradually from equity to safer assets as retirement nears, so a market fall does not derail your corpus.
Plan for a long life
Size the corpus to last to 85–90. Running out at 80 in a 90-year life is the costliest planning error.
Revisit yearly
Re-run the plan each year as your income, expenses and goals change, and adjust the monthly investment.
Who Uses This
Who Uses This Retirement Calculator
The Retirement Calculator works across every stage of the workflow.
Young professionals
Someone in their twenties or thirties finds the monthly investment to retire comfortably decades from now.
Mid-career planners
A worker at 40 checks whether their savings are on track and how much more to invest to catch up.
FIRE seekers
Someone aiming to retire early sets a lower retirement age and longer horizon to size the corpus.
Near-retirees
A person close to retirement checks whether their corpus will fund their expenses through life expectancy.
Couples planning together
A household combines expenses and savings to plan a single retirement corpus and monthly investment.
Glossary
Key Retirement Terms
Every important term you'll encounter in this calculator and the broader topic.
- Retirement Corpus
- The total fund you accumulate by retirement, which then funds your expenses through the rest of your life.
- Real Return
- The return after inflation — roughly (1 + return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. It drives how long a corpus lasts in retirement.
- 4% Rule
- A guideline that withdrawing about 4% of the corpus in year one, adjusted for inflation, lasts a long retirement — implying ~25× annual expenses.
- Shortfall
- The amount by which your projected corpus falls below the corpus you need at retirement.
- FIRE
- Financial Independence, Retire Early — accumulating enough to live off investment returns well before the usual retirement age.
- Drawdown Phase
- The retirement years when you withdraw from the corpus rather than add to it, usually with a lower, safer return.
Help & answers
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about how the Retirement Calculator works.
01What is a retirement calculator?
A retirement calculator works out how large a fund (corpus) you need to retire, by inflating your current expenses to retirement and funding them through your life expectancy. It also shows whether your savings are on track and the monthly investment to close any gap.
02How much money do I need to retire?
Enough to fund your expenses, growing with inflation, for your whole retirement. A common shorthand is 25–30 times your annual expenses, but the exact corpus depends on inflation, your post-retirement return and how long retirement lasts — which this calculator computes precisely.
03How is the retirement corpus calculated?
Your current monthly expense is inflated to your retirement year, then the calculator finds the lump sum that funds those inflation-growing withdrawals, earning the post-retirement return, until your planned age. It uses the inflation-adjusted (real) return to do this.
04What is the 4% rule?
A guideline that you can withdraw about 4% of your corpus in the first year, then adjust for inflation, without running out over a long retirement. A 4% rate implies a corpus of about 25 times your first-year expenses — a quick sanity check on the precise figure here.
05Why does inflation matter so much for retirement?
Because retirement is decades away and lasts decades more. At 6% inflation, expenses roughly double every 12 years — so a lifestyle that costs a certain amount today can cost five to six times as much by the time you retire 30 years on.
06What return should I assume after retirement?
Usually lower than before retirement, since you shift to safer, income-focused assets. A real (after-inflation) return close to zero to 2% is prudent for the drawdown phase. This calculator lets you set the post-retirement return separately from the pre-retirement one.
07Does starting early really make a difference?
Enormously. Because of compounding, the monthly amount needed rises steeply the later you start. Beginning in your twenties versus your forties can cut the required monthly investment by more than half for the same corpus.
08What does the shortfall or surplus mean?
The shortfall is how far your projected corpus (current savings plus ongoing investment) falls below what you need. A surplus means you are on track to exceed the target — so you could retire earlier, spend more, or ease the monthly investment.
09Should pre- and post-retirement returns be different?
Yes. While earning, you can hold more equity for higher growth; in retirement you protect capital with safer assets that yield less. Using one rate for both over- or under-states the corpus — so this calculator separates them.
10What is FIRE?
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early — building a corpus large enough to live off its returns well before the traditional retirement age. The same maths applies; you simply set an earlier retirement age and a longer retirement.
11Does the calculator account for a pension or other income?
Not directly. Enter the expense you must fund from your own corpus — after any guaranteed pension or rental income. The corpus then covers the remaining gap between your expenses and that other income.
12What is a step-up SIP for retirement?
A step-up SIP raises your monthly investment by a fixed percent each year — typically 5–10% — to match your rising income. Because you invest more in later years, you can start with a smaller amount and still reach the same corpus. Set the annual step-up here to see the lower starting SIP.
13What is my retirement corpus worth in today's money?
Far less than the future figure looks. A corpus that seems huge in 30 years is mostly inflation; deflated to today's purchasing power it is much smaller. This calculator shows the corpus in today's money so the target feels real, not alarming.
14Is this retirement calculator free and accurate?
Yes — it is free, needs no sign-up, and uses a standard inflation-adjusted annuity for the corpus and compound growth for your investments. Treat the figure as a well-grounded estimate and revisit it as your income and goals change.
Category
Operational Financial Planning
Subcategory
personal finance
Availability
Global · 9 markets
Price
Free forever
Topics
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