SWP calculator
One crore
a month
How long it lasts
13 to 24 years
You withdraw ₹1,00,000 a month throughout.
Your last withdrawals are worth ₹23,527 to ₹46,206 in today's money, depending how long it lasts.
Hover a year on the chart to see the balance.
Tap a year on the chart to see the balance.
An illustration, not a forecast. The growth rate is the one you chose; InsightPier does not forecast returns. Mutual funds do not have a fixed rate of return and it is not possible to predict the rate of return.
This is not advice, and not a reason to buy, sell, hold or withdraw. Where it shows the withdrawal a growth rate would sustain, that figure is a comparison against the amount you entered — not a sum we suggest you withdraw.
Figures are gross of tax, of any product charge, and of any fee payable to a research analyst.
How this is calculated, and the bounds it applies
Each withdrawal is treated as an annuity due: it is taken at the start of the month, before that month's growth is applied to the balance that remains. Growth compounds at the effective monthly rate derived from the annual rate — (1 + annual)^(1/12) − 1.
The bounds this calculator applies:
- Your corpus: more than ₹0, up to ₹10,00,00,00,000
- Withdraw, each month: ₹0 or more, up to ₹1,00,00,000
- Growing, a year: −50% to 100% (a zero or negative rate is allowed)
- Inflation: 0% to 50%
- Range width: 0.5 to 10 percentage points
- Step up, each year: 0% to 100%
SWP basics
What is an SWP?
A systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) means taking a fixed amount out of a corpus at regular intervals, usually every month, while the rest stays invested. It is the opposite of a SIP: money comes out rather than goes in.
People use it to draw a regular income from a lump sum, for instance in retirement. Whether the corpus lasts depends on how much is taken out, how the remainder grows, and how long the two are set against each other.
What does the SWP calculator do?
It works out how long a corpus lasts if you take out a monthly amount and the remainder grows at a yearly rate you choose. The rate is yours: the calculator does not forecast one, and it does not know what any investment will do.
Because nobody knows the rate in advance, the answer is a range across a band of growth rates, not a single figure. The corpus is modelled for up to 60 years. If it would only run down after that, the calculator says so rather than giving a duration.
The answer takes one of a few shapes depending on your numbers: a range of years when the corpus runs down at every rate in the band, a lower bound when it runs down at the low rate but not the high one, or a statement that it does not run down within the model when the withdrawal is small enough.
What do the inputs mean?
The calculator needs a corpus, a monthly withdrawal and a yearly growth rate. The other inputs are optional: the width of the range, inflation and a yearly step-up on the withdrawal.
- Your corpus
- The amount you hold today and are drawing an income from.
- Withdraw, each month
- The amount you take out at the start of each month, before any step-up. A zero withdrawal is allowed: nothing is drawn, so the corpus does not fall.
- Growing, a year
- The yearly rate you want to test. It is an assumption, not a prediction. Zero and negative rates are allowed, so you can see what a flat or falling period does.
- Range width
- How many percentage points either side of your growth rate the low and high ends of the range sit. The result spans that band rather than a single rate.
- Inflation
- The yearly rise in prices. It is used only for the today's-money figure, not for the growth itself.
- Step up, each year
- How much the monthly withdrawal rises each year, as a percentage, from the first anniversary on. Leave it at zero for a flat withdrawal.
How is the duration calculated?
The withdrawal is treated as an annuity due: it is taken at the start of each month, and then that month’s growth is applied to the balance that remains. Growth compounds at the effective monthly rate worked out from your yearly rate:
monthly rate i = (1 + yearly rate)^(1/12) − 1
Starting from the corpus, each month the withdrawal comes out and the rest grows by that monthly rate. The calculator counts the whole months until the balance reaches zero. With a step-up, the withdrawal rises by the step-up rate at each anniversary of the first one, and the same month-by-month sum is done with the higher amount.
A corpus never runs down when the withdrawal is at or below the amount its growth can support. That sustainable amount is:
sustainable withdrawal = corpus × i ÷ (1 + i)
Worked example: ₹50,00,000 drawn at ₹55,000 a month. At 8% a year that lasts about 11 years; at 12% a year, about 17 years. So across an 8–12% band the corpus runs down in roughly 11 to 17 years — the range the calculator shows.
How do I read the result?
- A range of years
- When the corpus runs down at every rate in the band, the answer is how long it lasts at the low and high ends of that band.
- A lower bound
- When it runs down at the low rate but not the high one, the answer is how long it lasts at the low end, together with a note that it does not run down within the 60-year model at the high end.
- Does not run down
- When the withdrawal is at or below what the growth sustains, the answer compares your withdrawal against that sustainable amount rather than giving a duration.
- Depletes immediately
- When the monthly withdrawal is as large as the corpus or larger, the first withdrawal uses it all, whatever the growth rate, so there is no duration or chart to show.
- In today's money
- The withdrawal reduced by the inflation you entered, so an amount received years from now can be compared with what it is worth today.
What does the SWP calculator leave out?
It assumes the same rate every year. Real investments rise and fall, and the same average rate can give a very different duration depending on when the falls happen. A poor early stretch, while the corpus is largest, shortens it more than the same stretch later.
It also leaves out tax, exit charges and any product or advice charge, and it assumes every withdrawal is taken on time. The figures are gross of all of these.
To work out instead what a monthly amount could grow to while you are still investing, use the SIP calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is the duration what will actually happen?
No, it is an illustration based on a growth rate you chose. Mutual funds do not have a fixed rate of return, and it is not possible to predict one. The actual duration depends on how the investment behaves, especially in the early years.
What growth rate should I enter?
There is no right answer, and this calculator has no view on it. Try several, including low ones, zero and negative, to see how much the duration moves. Past figures for an investment do not tell you what it will do next.
What does "sustainable withdrawal" mean?
It is the largest monthly amount a corpus can support at a given growth rate without ever running down, worked out as corpus × i ÷ (1 + i), where i is the effective monthly rate. The calculator states it only to compare it against the amount you entered; it is not a figure it suggests you withdraw. With a yearly step-up the sustainable starting amount is lower, because later withdrawals are larger.
Why is the answer a range and not one number?
Because the future growth rate is unknown, a single figure at one chosen rate would read as more certain than it is. The calculator spreads the answer across a band of rates either side of the one you set, so you see how sensitive the duration is to the rate.
What happens if the corpus never runs down?
When the withdrawal is at or below what the growth sustains, the balance does not fall, so there is no duration to show. When it is above that amount, the corpus does run down eventually but may take longer than the 60-year period this calculator models; it says so rather than implying it lasts forever.
What is a step-up withdrawal?
A withdrawal that rises by a set percentage each year, for instance to keep pace with rising costs. Set it under the step-up control. It starts from the first anniversary of the first withdrawal, and a larger withdrawal each year shortens how long the corpus lasts.
How is an SWP different from a SIP?
A SIP pays a fixed amount into an investment at regular intervals; an SWP takes a fixed amount out of one. A SIP builds a corpus, an SWP draws it down. To see what regular monthly amounts could grow to, use the SIP calculator.
Does the calculator save or send my numbers?
No, the SWP calculator does not save or send your numbers. It runs in your browser. No number you type is stored or sent anywhere, or added to the page address. Sharing the calculator sends only a link to this page.