What Is a Pension Calculator?
A pension calculator estimates the retirement corpus your regular savings will build and the monthly pension that corpus can generate once converted into an annuity.
Enter your current age, target retirement age, monthly savings, existing corpus, and expected return to see a year-by-year projection.
The calculator also checks whether your projected pension meets your target, so you know how much to adjust your savings if there is a shortfall.
How This Pension Calculator Helps You
- Corpus projection: see your total retirement corpus from monthly savings, existing corpus, and compounding returns.
- Monthly pension estimate: see the pension your annuity ratio and annuity rate would generate at retirement.
- Shortfall check: compare the projected pension against your target and see the exact gap in rupees.
- Year-by-year detail: view the interactive bar chart and table showing how the corpus builds every year.
NPS Calculator
Project your National Pension System corpus separately using NPS-specific contribution rules.
How the Annuity Split Works
At retirement, a portion of your corpus (the Annuity Ratio slider) is used to buy an annuity, a product that pays a fixed monthly income for life.
The rest is available as a lump sum. Monthly pension equals the annuity amount multiplied by the annuity rate, divided by 12.
Annuity rates from Indian providers currently range from roughly 5.7% to 8.1% per annum depending on the plan and your age at purchase, so adjust the Annuity Rate slider to match a quote you have received.
The 2026 NPS Withdrawal Rules
PFRDA now allows non-government NPS subscribers to withdraw up to 80% of their corpus as a lump sum, down from the earlier mandatory 40% annuity purchase.
A minimum of 20% must still be annuitized for corpora above Rs 5 lakh, which is why the Annuity Ratio slider in this calculator goes as low as 20%.
If your total NPS corpus is Rs 5 lakh or less, PFRDA allows a full lump sum withdrawal with no mandatory annuity at all.
How Your Pension Is Taxed
The lump sum withdrawn from NPS is tax-exempt up to 60% of the corpus under Section 10(12A) of the Income Tax Act.
Any lump sum taken beyond that 60% (available since the 2026 PFRDA rule change) is taxed at your income slab rate.
The monthly pension you receive from the annuity itself is fully taxable at your slab rate in the year you receive it, regardless of the exemption on the original withdrawal.
Retirement Corpus Calculator
Work backwards from your desired retirement lifestyle to see the total corpus you need.
Key Assumptions Explained
- Annuity ratio: the share of your corpus converted into an annuity. PFRDA's 2026 rules set a 20% regulatory minimum for larger NPS corpora, adjustable up to 80% here.
- Annuity rate: the annual payout rate on the annuity portion. Current Indian annuity rates run roughly 5.7-8.1% depending on the provider and plan.
- Annual increment: the yearly percentage increase in your monthly contribution, meant to mirror salary growth. Set this to 0% if you do not plan to increase contributions.
- Expected return: the annual return on your corpus before retirement. A diversified equity-heavy portfolio has historically returned 10-12% CAGR over long periods in India.
Limitations of This Projection
This is a deterministic projection using one fixed return rate every year, which real markets never deliver exactly.
It also does not model inflation on your target pension, taxes on annuity income, or expense ratios on your investments, so treat the output as a planning estimate rather than a guarantee.
EPS: The Employees' Pension Scheme
The Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 is a separate EPFO scheme funded by 8.33% of the employer's contribution plus 1.16% from the Central Government, both subject to the statutory wage ceiling.
The monthly pension is calculated as Pensionable Salary multiplied by Pensionable Service, divided by 70, and requires a minimum of 10 years of eligible service.
EPS is distinct from your EPF savings balance and should be treated as a separate, additional pension source, not added into this calculator's SIP-based corpus.
Atal Pension Yojana: A Government-Backed Pension Option
The Atal Pension Yojana is a Central Government guaranteed pension scheme for the unorganized sector, open to anyone aged 18 to 40 with a savings bank or post office account.
Subscribers choose a fixed monthly contribution today in exchange for a guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, or 5,000 per month starting at age 60, for life.
After the subscriber's death, the spouse receives the same pension for life, making it a useful guaranteed floor alongside a market-linked corpus like the one this calculator projects.
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme as a Pension Income Alternative
The Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) is a government-backed fixed-income option for retirees aged 60 and above, currently paying 8.2% per annum as notified by the Finance Ministry for the July-September 2026 quarter.
Interest is paid out quarterly rather than monthly, so many retirees use SCSS alongside an annuity to diversify their guaranteed retirement income between two government-linked sources.
The Unified Pension Scheme for Government Employees
The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), effective from 1 April 2025, is an option under NPS for existing Central Government employees, offering an assured payout of 50% of the last 12 months' average basic pay after 25 years of qualifying service.
A minimum guaranteed payout of Rs 10,000 per month applies after at least 10 years of service, with a family pension of 60% of the employee's pension on death.
UPS applies only to Central Government employees covered under NPS, not to private-sector savers using this calculator, but it is a useful reference point when comparing guaranteed versus market-linked retirement income.
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