For a retirement SIP, why fix the years before the amount?
A retirement corpus target is a number of years you can actually stay invested, and only then a monthly amount. Shortening the tenure to make the goal feel closer multiplies the instalment. The 10% in this article is an assumption on the SIP calculator, not a pension product rate.
Last updated: · 4 min read
Monthly SIP for ₹1 crore at an assumed 10%
Bar chart of the monthly SIP that reaches ₹1 crore in 15, 20, 25 and 30 years at an assumed 10%.
- 15 years₹23,928
- 20 years₹13,060
- 25 years₹7,474
- 30 years₹4,387
The years decide whether the instalment is a salary
People open the SIP calculator and type the amount they feel like paying, then hope the years work out. Retirement is the other way round. The exit age minus the age you will actually start is the tenure. A 45-year-old who wants the money at 60 has 15 years, not 30.
At an assumed 10%, those 15 years need about ₹23,928 a month to reach ₹1 crore. That invests about ₹43,07,000. The same target over 30 years needs about ₹4,387 a month and invests about ₹15,79,415. The long plan looks cheap because it assumes you will still pay, and still not spend the corpus, for three decades.
Twenty and twenty-five years sit in between
Twenty years at the same assumed 10% needs about ₹13,060 a month and invests about ₹31,34,399. Twenty-five years needs about ₹7,474 a month and invests about ₹22,42,336. Each extra five years cuts the instalment by more than a small change in the rate would.
That is the point of fixing tenure first. Arguing about 10% versus 11% while the horizon is wrong produces a precise answer to the wrong question. If the job, the move, or the age you wrote down cannot support 25 years, do not use the 25-year instalment.
₹1 crore is a label, not a future cost of living
These figures reach ₹1 crore in future rupees. They do not say what ₹1 crore buys in 15 or 30 years. The inflation goal calculator inflates a cost you type and then solves the SIP. Use it when the target is “today’s expenses”, and use the plain SIP calculator when the target is a rupee number you have already chosen.
NPS and EPF are separate accounts. Do not add an EPF balance to this SIP and read ₹1 crore as a combined pension. This site does not project EPF.
- Write the years from a real start age and a real stop age.
- Solve the instalment second.
- Say whether ₹1 crore is future rupees or today’s cost.
A tenure you will break is not the tenure you typed
Stopping at year 12 of a 30-year plan does not leave you with a scaled-down version of the ₹4,387 result. You will have invested less, for fewer years, at whatever the market did. The calculator cannot show a retirement you abandon.
If the only instalment that fits this year’s take-home is the 30-year one, and you are 45, the target is too large or the date is too soon. Lower the corpus or move the date. Do not keep the 30-year SIP on a 15-year life.
Worked example: ₹1 crore at an assumed 10%
Monthly SIP solved so the start-of-month future value equals ₹1,00,00,000. Amounts are rounded to the rupee. No inflation, no tax.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| 15 years | about ₹23,928 a month, about ₹43.07 lakh invested |
| 20 years | about ₹13,060 a month, about ₹31.34 lakh invested |
| 25 years | about ₹7,474 a month, about ₹22.42 lakh invested |
| 30 years | about ₹4,387 a month, about ₹15.79 lakh invested |
Choose the row whose years you will actually complete. The ₹4,387 plan is not available to someone who needs the money in 15 years.
Sources
Results from FinanceChacha are estimates for planning, not financial or tax advice. Read the disclaimer.
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