The question "how much do I need to retire" sounds complicated but has a surprisingly clean answer: multiply your annual expenses at retirement by 25 to 30. That corpus, invested in a mix of equity and debt, can sustainably fund your lifestyle for 30+ years using the 4% withdrawal rule.
The 4% rule, adjusted for India
The 4% safe withdrawal rate comes from US-based research. In India, with higher inflation (5–6% vs 2–3%) and higher nominal returns, most planners recommend a 3.5% withdrawal rate for safety. That translates to a corpus of 28.5x your annual expenses.
Account for inflation
If you spend ₹60,000 a month today and plan to retire in 25 years, inflation at 6% will push that to roughly ₹2.58 lakh per month by retirement. You're not planning for today's numbers — you're planning for future-you's numbers. Use our inflation calculator to run your own scenario.
The corpus target
For a 25-year-old wanting to retire at 60 with today's ₹60,000 monthly expenses: future expenses of ₹2.58 lakh × 12 months × 28.5x = roughly ₹8.8 crore. Sounds massive, but SIP math makes it achievable — roughly ₹22,000/month invested at 12% over 35 years gets you there.
Don't aim for perfection
Life throws curveballs. Salary hikes, job changes, kids, health events, market cycles — your plan will need to flex constantly. The goal is to save aggressively, invest consistently, and recalibrate every year. Missing perfection is fine; missing the effort is not.