What the corpus at 60 will look like
The National Pension System is a defined-contribution scheme: what you get depends entirely on what you put in, how long it grows and what the markets do. This calculator projects the Tier I corpus from a monthly contribution, an assumed return and the years to retirement, and the sections below turn that corpus into the pension it actually buys.
The formula
Worked example: ₹5,000 a month at 10% for 30 years
- Contributed: ₹18,00,000
- Corpus at 60: ₹1,13,02,440
- Growth: ₹95,02,440 — more than five times what went in
What the corpus becomes at exit
NPS rules at 60: up to 60% can be withdrawn as a lump sum, tax-free, and at least 40% must buy an annuity from a PFRDA-registered insurer. The annuity income is taxable as pension.
| Part | Share | Amount | What it gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lump sum | 60% | ₹67,81,464 | Tax-free cash at 60 |
| Annuity purchase | 40% | ₹45,20,976 | At ~6% annuity rate: ₹2,71,258 a year, about ₹22,600 a month |
That ₹22,600 is the number to plan around, and it is nominal. At 5% inflation it buys in 30 years what about ₹5,200 buys today. Annuity options with a return of purchase price to the nominee pay less per month than those without.
What moves the corpus
| Monthly | Return | Years | Corpus |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹5,000 | 10% | 30 | ₹1,13,02,440 |
| ₹5,000 | 10% | 25 | ₹66,34,167 |
| ₹8,000 | 10% | 30 | ₹1,80,83,903 |
| ₹5,000 | 8% | 30 | ₹74,51,797 |
Five years fewer costs 41% of the corpus. Two points of return cost 34%. Starting early is worth more than any other decision, and the return depends on the equity share: Auto Choice moves from 75% equity at 35 to 15% at 55 under the aggressive lifecycle fund, which is why 10% is an assumption for the early decades, not the whole term.
The tax benefit that funds part of the contribution
Under the old regime, contributions count towards the ₹1.5 lakh limit of Section 80CCD(1) and get a further ₹50,000 under Section 80CCD(1B) that no other instrument offers. At a 30% marginal rate the extra ₹50,000 saves ₹15,600 a year — a quarter of the ₹60,000 contributed in the example.
Employer contributions under Section 80CCD(2), up to 14% of basic pay, are deductible under both regimes, which makes NPS the one retirement deduction still available to new-regime taxpayers.
What this calculator leaves out
Fund management charges (0.03% to 0.09%, among the lowest anywhere), the CRA and POP charges, the actual annuity rate at exit, and the equity glide path. It assumes a constant return, which no 30-year market delivers.
Related calculators
- NPS calculator with annuity split — the exit maths in more detail
- PPF calculator — the guaranteed alternative
- SIP calculator — the same compounding without the lock-in