Retirement
Retirement planning in India has three statutory pillars and one optional one. The statutory three: EPF (mandatory for most salaried roles, 8.25% interest in FY26), gratuity (paid out by employer after five years of continuous service under the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972), and the National Pension System (voluntary tier-1 lock-in till 60 with mandatory annuity at exit). The optional pillar is whatever you build yourself through SIPs, lumpsum investments, PPF and FDs. The statutory three are almost never enough on their own.
Calculators in this category
Gratuity — the lump sum nobody plans for
Under the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, an employer must pay gratuity after five years of continuous service. For employees covered by the Act, the formula is (Last drawn basic + DA) × 15/26 × years served. For non-covered employees, the formula uses average basic+DA over the last 10 months and a 30-day-month convention. Section 10(10) of the Income Tax Act exempts gratuity up to ₹20 lakh cumulatively across all employers in a lifetime; anything above is taxed at slab. The gratuity calculator handles both covered and non-covered modes and surfaces the tax-free portion.
Why ₹1 crore is not enough
Most retirement-corpus headlines anchor to ₹1 crore as a milestone. At a 4% safe withdrawal rate, ₹1 crore funds about ₹33,000 per month, which inflation halves in roughly 18 years at 4% CPI. For a couple in their early 30s targeting retirement at 60 with current monthly expenses of ₹60,000, the actual corpus required in nominal terms is closer to ₹4-5 crore. The retirement-corpus calculator (when live) inflates current expenses forward, computes the corpus that sustains them at a post-retirement return, and shows the monthly SIP required to get there.
NPS — corpus and the annuity catch
NPS Tier-1 is the only structured retirement vehicle in India with an additional ₹50,000 deduction under Section 80CCD(1B) beyond the standard 80C ₹1.5 lakh limit. The catch is the exit rules at 60: only 60% of corpus is tax-free lumpsum, and the remaining 40% must compulsorily buy an annuity from an empanelled life insurer. Annuity rates in India have hovered between 5.5% and 7% for decades, which means part of your retirement income is locked at a yield below most fixed deposits. The NPS calculator (when live) shows the split and lets you compare against an equivalent SIP + lumpsum FD strategy.
Stack the optional pillar
The statutory three rarely deliver more than 25-40% of pre-retirement income on their own. The rest has to come from the optional pillar — SIPs into equity mutual funds during accumulation, lumpsum investments of bonuses and gifts, and a mix of PPF and FD for the safe slice. The SIP and lumpsum calculators handle the equity side; once retired, an SWP from the same corpus replaces the salary, and the SWP calculator (when live) will project how long that corpus lasts.
Coming soon in Retirement
- NPS Calculator — National Pension System corpus & annuity
- EPF Calculator — EPF maturity at retirement
- Retirement Corpus — Amount needed to retire comfortably