SWP Calculator — Systematic Withdrawal Plan
Plan regular monthly withdrawals from your invested corpus while it continues to earn. See how long your retirement money will last.
Inputs
Result
Composition
Year-by-year growth
About the SWP Calculator
An SWP (Systematic Withdrawal Plan) lets you convert an accumulated corpus into a predictable monthly paycheck. Essential for retirees, financially-independent individuals, and anyone living off investments. Unlike an FD or annuity that gives a fixed payout, SWP keeps your money in market-linked funds — so the residual corpus continues to grow even as you withdraw, often producing a better total outcome than locking in at a fixed rate.
This calculator simulates each month: balance grows at your expected return divided by 12, then you subtract the withdrawal. The final balance shows how much corpus remains after the period — or how many years it lasted before depletion. The math is unforgiving: if your withdrawal rate exceeds your portfolio's return rate, the corpus enters terminal decline and the date of zero balance is mathematically locked in from day one.
The classic safe withdrawal rate research (the 'Trinity Study' from US data) found that a 4% initial withdrawal rate, inflation-adjusted, has a 95%+ chance of lasting 30 years. Indian context is different: higher long-term returns (8–10% balanced portfolio) but also higher inflation (6%). For Indian retirees, a 5–6% initial withdrawal with annual inflation step-up is generally considered safe over 30-year horizons, while 7%+ creates meaningful risk of running out.
Tax efficiency is where SWP genuinely beats interest-bearing alternatives like FDs. Each SWP withdrawal is treated as a partial redemption — only the gain portion is taxable, not the full amount. For an equity fund, gains above ₹1.25 lakh per year are taxed at just 12.5% LTCG. Compare to FD interest, which is fully taxable at slab rate (potentially 30%+ for higher earners). On a ₹1 crore corpus generating ₹6 lakh/year, the post-tax difference can be ₹1–1.5 lakh annually.
Tip: your withdrawal shouldn't exceed ~60–70% of expected returns if you want your corpus to last 30+ years in real terms. Build in a 'guardrails' approach: in years where the market drops 20%+, freeze your inflation step-up for that year. Small flexibility in down years adds 5–10 years of corpus longevity. Use this calculator to stress-test multiple scenarios — return at 7%, 9%, 11% — before committing to a withdrawal rate.