How long will your money last?
Enter your balance, expected return, and monthly withdrawal to estimate your financial runway.
How long will your money last?
If you stop earning tomorrow and live off your savings, the only question that matters is how many months the balance survives. That span is your financial runway โ a term borrowed from startups, where runway means the time before the bank account hits zero.
Three numbers decide it: how much you have, what return it earns, and how much you take out each month. The calculator above runs the arithmetic month by month and tells you the answer in years and months, then shows you every step so you can see exactly where the money goes.
How this calculator works
There is no hidden model and no guesswork. Each month, the balance earns one-twelfth of the annual return, then your withdrawal is subtracted. The result carries into the next month, which is why the interest shrinks as the balance falls.
monthly rate = annual return รท 12 interest = balance ร monthly rate closing balance = balance + interest โ withdrawalThat loop repeats until the balance reaches zero, and the number of loops is your runway. Because interest is applied monthly rather than annually, the figures match how a bank or debt fund actually credits returns.
One consequence is worth noticing. If your monthly interest is larger than your withdrawal, the balance grows instead of shrinking and the money never runs out. The calculator reports that as "Does not run out" and shows you the exact withdrawal at which the outcome flips.
The number that decides everything is a ratio, not an amount
People assume a bigger balance means a longer runway. It does not, on its own. What determines the answer is your withdrawal as a proportion of your balance.
At an 8% annual return, โน1 crore withdrawing โน1,00,000 a month and โน25 lakh withdrawing โน25,000 a month both last 13 years and 10 months. Identical runways, four times the money. The ratio is the same, so the outcome is the same.
This is why cutting your monthly withdrawal is far more powerful than most people expect. It moves the same lever as multiplying your savings.
Because it is a ratio, the answer does not care which currency you use. A balance of 100 times your monthly withdrawal, earning 8% a year, lasts 13 years and 10 months โ whether that is โน1 crore against โน1,00,000 a month, $1,000,000 against $10,000 a month, or ยฃ250,000 against ยฃ2,500 a month. Same multiple, same runway, every time.
That leads to a rule worth remembering. To live on the interest alone and never touch the balance, you need 1,200 รท your annual return percent times your monthly withdrawal:
| Annual return | Balance needed | If you withdraw 3,000 a month |
|---|---|---|
| 4% | 300ร monthly withdrawal | 900,000 |
| 6% | 200ร monthly withdrawal | 600,000 |
| 8% | 150ร monthly withdrawal | 450,000 |
| 10% | 120ร monthly withdrawal | 360,000 |
| 12% | 100ร monthly withdrawal | 300,000 |
The right-hand column deliberately carries no currency symbol โ it holds for rupees, dollars, pounds or euros without alteration. Fall below that multiple and your runway becomes finite; the calculator shows you exactly how finite.
How long will โน1 crore last?
The most common version of this question in India. The answer depends entirely on the monthly withdrawal, and the cliff edge is sharper than people expect:
| Balance | Return | Monthly withdrawal | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| โน1 crore | 8% | โน50,000 | Never runs out |
| โน1 crore | 8% | โน66,667 | Never runs out (breakeven) |
| โน1 crore | 8% | โน1,00,000 | 13 years, 10 months |
| โน50 lakh | 7% | โน40,000 | 18 years, 9 months |
| โน25 lakh | 8% | โน25,000 | 13 years, 10 months |
Notice the jump between rows two and three. At โน66,667 a month the money lasts forever; at โน1,00,000 it is gone inside fourteen years. A 50% increase in spending does not cut the runway by half โ it collapses it from infinite to finite. That threshold is the breakeven figure the calculator shows you, and it equals your balance times the annual return, divided by twelve.
How long will $1 million last?
The same question, asked in dollars. Retirement guidance in the US and UK usually assumes a lower return than Indian investors are used to, so these examples use 6โ7%:
| Balance | Return | Monthly withdrawal | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000,000 | 7% | $5,000 | Never runs out |
| $1,000,000 | 7% | $8,000 | 18 years, 9 months |
| $1,000,000 | 7% | $10,000 | 12 years, 7 months |
| $500,000 | 6% | $4,000 | 16 years, 5 months |
| $250,000 | 6% | $2,000 | 16 years, 5 months |
The last two rows repeat the lesson from the ratio section: half the balance and half the withdrawal produce exactly the same runway. And note the first row โ $5,000 a month from $1,000,000 at 7% never depletes, because the breakeven withdrawal at that rate is $5,833. Between $5,000 and $8,000 a month lies the difference between a permanent income and one that ends before you turn 70.
The calculator handles any currency: pick yours from the selector above. Amounts, grouping and the shorthand units all adjust โ lakh and crore for India, thousands and millions elsewhere.
What is an SWP, and is this an SWP calculator?
A Systematic Withdrawal Plan is the mirror image of an SIP. Instead of putting a fixed amount in every month, you take a fixed amount out while the remainder stays invested. Retirees in India commonly set one up against a debt or hybrid mutual fund to create a monthly income.
The arithmetic of an SWP is exactly what this tool computes, so yes โ you can use it as an SWP calculator. Enter your corpus, the return you expect from the fund, and the monthly withdrawal, and the month-by-month table shows the same depletion schedule the fund house would produce. Two differences to keep in mind: an actual SWP redeems units at a fluctuating NAV rather than earning a smooth monthly return, and redemptions attract capital gains tax that this calculator does not model.
The 4% rule, and why it travels badly to India
You will run into the 4% rule in any discussion of retirement withdrawals. It comes from research on US market history and suggests withdrawing 4% of your starting portfolio in year one, then raising that amount with inflation each year, to survive a 30-year retirement.
Two reasons to be careful with it here. It was calibrated on US stock and bond returns over a specific historical window, and Indian inflation has generally run higher than the US figures the rule assumed โ which shortens how far a fixed real withdrawal stretches.
This calculator can model either behaviour. Leave the yearly increase at zero and your withdrawal stays fixed in rupees, which matches how a fixed SWP mandate actually behaves. Set it to your expected inflation rate and the withdrawal rises each year the way the 4% rule intends, so the runway reflects constant purchasing power rather than constant rupees. The second is more realistic and always produces a shorter runway.
What this calculator assumes, and where it breaks down
Being clear about limits matters more than looking precise. This model deliberately keeps four things simple, and each one is a real-world risk it does not capture:
- Returns are steady. Real markets deliver 14% one year and โ6% the next. A fixed rate cannot show sequence risk โ a bad run early in retirement damages a portfolio far more than the same run later, even with identical average returns.
- Withdrawals change only on a yearly schedule. You can set a yearly increase to model inflation, but it steps up once a year by a fixed rule. It cannot anticipate the medical bill or wedding that arrives outside the monthly budget.
- Tax is ignored. Interest income and capital gains are both taxable in India, and the rate depends on the instrument and your holding period. Your spendable amount is lower than the gross figures shown.
- Nothing is added. No pension, rental income, or salary โ this is a pure drawdown from a single pot.
Treat the result as a clear answer to a simplified question, not a forecast. Its real value is comparison: seeing what happens when you withdraw โน10,000 less, or when the return is 7% instead of 10%.
Who this is for
- People planning retirement checking whether a corpus supports the monthly income they need
- Anyone taking a career break โ sabbatical, study, caregiving โ who needs to know how many months of freedom the savings buy
- Freelancers and consultants sizing an emergency buffer between contracts
- Founders working out personal runway while a business is pre-revenue
- Anyone weighing an early exit against the arithmetic of living off savings
- SWP investors checking how long a mutual fund corpus sustains a fixed monthly redemption
Frequently asked questions
How long will my money last if I withdraw every month?
It depends on the ratio of your withdrawal to your balance and the return you earn. Enter all three numbers above for an exact answer in years and months. As a reference point, a balance earning 8% a year supports a monthly withdrawal of about 0.67% of that balance indefinitely; anything above that will eventually exhaust it.
What return should I enter?
Use the return you realistically expect from where the money actually sits, not a hoped-for number. A savings account, a fixed deposit, a debt fund and an equity fund have very different expectations and very different risk. If you are unsure, run the calculation twice โ once optimistic, once pessimistic โ and plan against the lower figure.
Does the calculator account for inflation?
Yes, optionally. Set a yearly increase and your withdrawal steps up at the start of every year โ either by a percentage, which is how you model inflation, or by a fixed amount. Leave it at zero and the withdrawal stays flat in nominal terms.
The effect is larger than most people expect. โน1 crore at 8% withdrawing โน50,000 a month never runs out while the withdrawal stays flat, because the interest covers it. Add a 6% yearly increase and the same balance is exhausted in 21 years and 6 months. Nothing changed except keeping up with rising costs.
An alternative approach is to enter a real return instead: subtract expected inflation from your expected return, so 9% growth with 5% inflation becomes 4%. The runway then represents purchasing power rather than rupees.
What does "does not run out" mean?
Your monthly interest equals or exceeds your withdrawal, so the balance stops falling. In that case the calculator shows the breakeven withdrawal โ the exact monthly figure at which the balance would start depleting.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser. The numbers you type are never transmitted to a server, and nothing is stored except your currency preference, which stays on your own device.
Can I use this for currencies other than rupees?
Yes. The currency selector above covers the major world currencies with correct symbols and local number formatting โ Indian grouping with lakh and crore for rupees, thousands grouping with K, M and B elsewhere.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is an arithmetic tool. It applies a formula to numbers you supply and shows the result, with no knowledge of your tax situation, obligations, or goals. For decisions that matter, talk to a SEBI-registered investment adviser.
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