Your Retirement Number: Are You ₹5Cr Short?

Most Indians never calculate how much money they truly need to retire comfortably. Inflation, medical costs, and longer lifespans mean your real retirement number is likely far higher than you think — and the time to act is now.

Here's what happened: Rising job stress and layoff fears are pushing salaried Indians to think about early retirement or 'financial exits' in their 40s.. Inflation at 5-6% annually means ₹1 lakh in monthly expenses today could cost ₹3.2 lakh per month in 20 years.. Most Indians underestimate retirement corpus needs by ignoring healthcare inflation, which runs at 12-14% per year in India..

What you should do: Calculate your retirement number using this formula: (Monthly expenses × 12 × 25) adjusted upward by 30% for healthcare and inflation surprises.. Check if your current SIP contributions are on track — use any free retirement calculator to see the gap between your projected corpus and actual need.. Separate your retirement savings from other goals — open a dedicated PPF, NPS Tier-1, or long-term equity mutual fund account labelled only for retirement..

The 25x rule (save 25 times your annual expenses) assumes a 4% withdrawal rate — but in India, factor in 6% inflation and plan for a 30-year retirement to avoid outliving your money.