SWP calculator

How long does a corpus actually last?

A systematic withdrawal plan takes a fixed amount out every month while the rest stays invested. The calculator shows what is left at the end of your horizon, what you will have drawn in total, and — if the withdrawal is too large for the corpus — the month it runs out.

Your numbers

Change anything; the result updates as you type.

Result

A withdrawal plan lives or dies on the return underneath it.

What the remaining corpus earns decides how long it lasts. MindForge publishes the backtest behind each of its three strategies, and the two paid ones trade in their own broker-verified Zerodha accounts — the kind of evidence a withdrawal assumption deserves.

How a month works — about ten minutes on the 1st

See the strategies

How an SWP is modelled here

Month by month: the balance grows by one twelfth of the annual return, then the withdrawal is taken out. If a month's balance cannot cover the withdrawal, the remainder is paid and the plan ends there — the calculator reports that month rather than showing a negative balance.

balance = balance × (1 + i) − withdrawal, each month

The withdrawal rate is the number to watch

Annual withdrawal divided by the corpus is the figure that decides everything. Draw meaningfully less than the return you earn and the corpus keeps growing while paying you; draw more and it shrinks — slowly at first, then quickly, because every rupee withdrawn also stops earning.

What this model does not capture

Sequence risk. A constant return is the friendliest possible assumption for a withdrawal plan. Two portfolios with the same average return can end very differently if one of them falls early, because withdrawals during a drawdown sell more units at lower prices.
Inflation in the withdrawal. The amount you take out here stays the same every month. In practice the cost of living rises, so a plan that just works today is usually short later. The step-up SWP and step-up SWP with inflation calculators model a withdrawal that rises.
Tax. Each withdrawal from a mutual fund is a redemption, and the gain portion is taxable. The figures here are gross.

Questions

What is a safe monthly withdrawal?

There is no universal number, and any calculator that offers one is overstating what it knows. As a sanity check, an annual withdrawal well below the return you can defend leaves the corpus intact; the closer the two get, the more the outcome depends on the order in which returns arrive.

Does the calculator increase my withdrawal with inflation?

No, the withdrawal here is constant. The step-up SWP calculator raises it by a percentage you choose every year, and the step-up SWP with inflation calculator does the same and also shows every figure in today's money.

When is the withdrawal taken?

At the end of each month, after that month's growth. Taking it at the start would exhaust the corpus slightly faster.

Is an SWP better than a dividend or an interest payout?

It is more predictable: you choose the amount, rather than taking whatever a fund or a bank declares. The tax treatment differs by instrument, and only the gain portion of each withdrawal is taxed in a mutual fund SWP.

Other calculators

Fee Calculator What a percentage-of-AUM fee costs against a flat subscription. Step-Up SWP Calculator A withdrawal that rises every year, and how long the corpus lasts. Step-Up SWP with Inflation A rising withdrawal, with every figure also in today’s money. Retirement Calculator The corpus your expenses need, and the monthly SIP that builds it. FD Calculator A fixed deposit’s maturity, and what it earns after tax and inflation. Inflation Calculator What something will cost in future, and what a future sum is worth today. SIP Calculator What a monthly SIP grows to at a return you choose. All 17 calculators Grouped by the question each one answers.