Quick Answer: To build a ₹2 crore retirement corpus by age 60, you need: ₹5,200/month starting at age 25 (35 years), ₹9,800/month starting at 30 (30 years), ₹18,500/month starting at 35 (25 years), or ₹36,000/month starting at 40 (20 years). All at 12% expected annual return.
Retirement isn't an event. It's the result of 25–35 years of monthly decisions.
Nobody thinks seriously about retirement at 25. I didn't. Most people don't.
At 25, retirement is 35 years away. That's longer than you've been alive. It's abstract and easy to defer.
But the numbers below will make it very concrete — and very urgent.
The Target: What Does a "Comfortable Retirement" Cost?
Let's define the goal first. Assume:
- Retirement age: 60
- Monthly expenses at retirement: ₹60,000/month (today's money)
- Inflation: 6% per year
- Retirement duration: 25 years (till age 85)
- Post-retirement return on corpus: 7% (conservative debt/balanced allocation)
- *
- ₹60,000 × (1.06)^30 = ~₹3,44,000/month in future money.
- *
- Approximately
The SIP Numbers by Starting Age
Interactive Mini SIP Calculator
Starting at 25 (35 years to retirement)
| Monthly SIP | Corpus at 60 (12% return) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹3,000 | ₹1.49 crore | ||
| ₹5,000 | ₹2.48 crore | ||
| ₹8,000 | ₹3.97 crore | ||
| ₹12,000 | ₹5.96 crore | ||
To reach ₹5 crore: ~₹10,000/month at 25*
| |||
Starting at 30 (30 years to retirement) | |||
| Monthly SIP | Corpus at 60 (12% return) | ||
| ----------- | -------------------------- | ||
| ₹5,000 | ₹1.76 crore | ||
| ₹10,000 | ₹3.52 crore | ||
| ₹15,000 | ₹5.28 crore | ||
| ₹20,000 | ₹7.04 crore | ||
| To reach ₹5 crore: ~₹14,000/month at 30 — roughly 20% of a ₹70,000 salary. | |||
Starting at 35 (25 years to retirement) | |||
| Monthly SIP | Corpus at 60 (12% return) | ||
| ----------- | -------------------------- | ||
| ₹8,000 | ₹1.63 crore | ||
| ₹15,000 | ₹3.06 crore | ||
| ₹25,000 | ₹5.09 crore | ||
| ₹30,000 | ₹6.11 crore | ||
| To reach ₹5 crore: ~₹24,500/month at 35 — about 25% of a ₹1 lakh salary. | |||
Starting at 40 (20 years to retirement) | |||
| Monthly SIP | Corpus at 60 (12% return) | ||
| ----------- | -------------------------- | ||
| ₹10,000 | ₹99.9 lakhs | ||
| ₹20,000 | ₹1.99 crore | ||
| ₹30,000 | ₹2.99 crore | ||
| ₹50,000 | ₹4.99 crore | ||
| To reach ₹5 crore: ~₹50,000/month at 40 — this is challenging on a typical salary. | |||
The Step-Up Strategy Makes All of This More Achievable | |||
| Nobody stays at the same salary for 35 years. The step-up SIP accounts for salary growth: | |||
| Example: Start at ₹5,000/month at 25, increase 10% annually: | |||
| Age | Monthly SIP | Cumulative Investment | Portfolio Value (12%) |
| ----- | ----------- | --------------- | ----------------------- |
| 30 (Yr 5) | ₹7,321 | ₹3.98L | ₹7.1L |
| 35 (Yr 10) | ₹11,789 | ₹10.2L | ₹19.6L |
| 40 (Yr 15) | ₹18,987 | ₹20.3L | ₹47L |
| 50 (Yr 25) | ₹49,211 | ₹63.5L | ₹1.80 crore |
| 60 (Yr 35) | ₹1,27,556 | ₹1.77 crore | ₹6.8 crore |
Key Takeaways
- Every 5-year delay roughly doubles the required monthly SIP. Starting at 25 vs 30 means ₹10,000 vs ₹14,000/month for the same ₹5 crore target.
- At 40, the math gets very hard — you'd need ₹50,000/month to reach ₹5 crore. Focus on aggressive step-up or alternative income streams.
- Step-Up SIP is not optional — it's essential. Starting at ₹5,000 with 10% annual increase reaches ₹6.8 crore by 60. Flat at ₹5,000 reaches ₹2.48 crore.
- Define your retirement number first. Then work backwards to the SIP amount. Vague retirement planning produces vague results.
Frequently Asked Questions
To retire at 50 with a ₹5 crore corpus, starting at 25 (25 years): you need approximately ₹24,000/month at 12% return, or ₹10,000/month with a 10% annual step-up.
For 20+ years to retirement: predominantly equity (80–90%), with some international fund or gold as diversifier. As retirement approaches (5–10 years away), gradually shift 20–40% to debt funds.
NPS gives additional ₹50,000 tax deduction under 80CCD(1B). But it has a mandatory annuity component (40%) at maturity, which offers lower flexibility. For pure corpus building, equity SIP has historically outperformed NPS equity returns. Most advisors recommend both: NPS for the tax benefit, SIP for the growth.