Post-Retirement Expense Planner
Don't just guess your retirement number. Break down your expenses, factor in high healthcare inflation, and calculate the exact corpus you need to sustain your lifestyle.
Required Retirement Corpus
To sustain 25 years of retirement
First Month Expense (At Age 60)
Inflated from ₹₹50,000 today
Due to 10% medical inflation, healthcare will jump from being 10.0% of your expenses today to 45.1% of your expenses by age 85.
Expenses Today
Expenses at Age 60
Annual Expenses During Retirement
Notice how the red area (Healthcare) expands rapidly in your later years due to higher medical inflation.
Understanding Post-Retirement Expenses
The Healthcare Timebomb
Most retirement calculators apply a flat inflation rate (e.g., 6%) to your total expenses. However, medical inflation in India is consistently double digits (10-14%). By separating healthcare from general expenses, this planner reveals how medical costs will dominate your budget in your 70s and 80s, ensuring you don't run out of money when you need it most.
The "Smile" Spending Curve
Retirement spending isn't a flat line. It typically resembles a smile:
Go-Go Years (60-70): High spending on travel, hobbies, and dining out.
Slow-Go Years (70-80): Spending drops as you settle into a quieter routine.
No-Go Years (80+): Spending spikes again due to healthcare and assisted living needs.
How to Estimate Future Expenses
- Housing: Will your mortgage be paid off? Will you move to a smaller home?
- Transport: No more daily commute, but perhaps more leisure travel.
- Children: Education and marriage costs should be zero.
Enter the amount you expect to spend in today's money, and the calculator will inflate it for you.
The Discounting Method
To calculate the required corpus, this planner projects your expenses year-by-year until your life expectancy. It then calculates the Present Value (PV) of all those future cash flows, discounted by your expected post-retirement return rate. This is the most mathematically rigorous way to calculate a retirement corpus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I separate healthcare inflation from general inflation?
Medical inflation in India typically runs much higher (10-14%) than general inflation (5-7%). As you age, healthcare becomes a larger portion of your expenses. If you apply a flat 6% inflation to all expenses, you will severely underestimate the corpus needed for medical care in your 70s and 80s.
How do expenses change during retirement?
Retirement spending often follows a 'Smile Curve'. In the early 'Go-Go' years (60-70), travel and leisure expenses are high. In the middle 'Slow-Go' years (70-80), expenses drop as you become less active. In the final 'No-Go' years (80+), healthcare and assisted living expenses rise sharply, creating the upward curve of the smile.
Should I include my current rent in the housing expense?
Only if you plan to continue renting in retirement. If you plan to buy a house before retiring, your housing expense will drop to just property taxes, maintenance, and utility bills. Adjust the 'Housing & Utilities' input to reflect what you expect to pay during retirement in today's money.
What is a safe post-retirement return rate?
Once retired, your primary goal is capital preservation. You should shift a large portion of your corpus to safer debt instruments (like SCSS, FDs, Bonds). A conservative blended return rate of 7% to 9% is realistic for a post-retirement portfolio in India.