NPS Calculator

At least 40% of the corpus has to buy a pension

This is the feature that separates NPS from an ordinary retirement fund. On exit at 60, a minimum of 40% of the accumulated corpus must be used to purchase an annuity from a registered provider; the rest can be taken as a lump sum. The calculator lets you set that share so you can see both halves.

The consequence is that the headline corpus is not the amount you receive. Splitting a ₹2 crore corpus at 40% leaves ₹1.2 crore in hand and ₹80 lakh converted into a monthly payment for life — two quite different financial positions from one number.

The pension is the annuity corpus times the rate, divided by twelve

Monthly pension here is a simple conversion: the annuity corpus multiplied by the annuity rate, spread across the year. An ₹80 lakh annuity corpus at 6% produces ₹40,000 a month. The rate you can actually obtain at retirement is set by the market and the annuity variant you choose.

Those variants differ more than the headline rate suggests. An annuity that returns the purchase price to your nominee pays noticeably less each month than one that does not, and a joint-life option pays less again. The rate is a single input standing in for a real decision.

Starting at 30 rather than 40 is not a third more, it is far more

The contribution horizon is the gap between your current age and your retirement age, and compounding makes that gap behave non-linearly. Thirty years of contributions does not produce 50% more than twenty years at the same rate — it produces roughly double, because the earliest contributions are the ones compounded longest.

Move the current age down by five years in the tool and the corpus moves far more than the extra contributions alone account for. That difference is the entire argument for starting early, expressed as a number rather than as advice.

Asset allocation, charges, and a tax treatment that keeps moving

NPS is not a single return. Contributions are split across equity, corporate debt and government securities, and the equity share is capped and tapers with age under the auto choice. The single expected return here is an average standing in for that whole glide path.

Fund management charges, the lump sum’s tax treatment and the taxability of the annuity income all sit outside this calculation, and the rules have been revised repeatedly. Verify the current position before relying on the figure.

Sources & References

Figures on this page are checked against primary, authoritative sources. Links open in a new tab.

• About NPS — market-linked defined-contribution scheme; minimum 40% of the corpus must buy an annuity at exitNational Pension System Trust · verified 2026-06-04
• PFRDA — the statutory authority that regulates NPSPension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) · verified 2026-06-04

Related Calculators

More in Finance, or browse all calculators.