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NPS Calculator

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About This Tool

NPS Calculator – Corpus, Pension and the 2025 Exit Rules

The National Pension System (NPS) is India's PFRDA-regulated, market-linked retirement scheme. Money in a Tier I account is invested in a mix of equity (E), corporate bonds (C) and government securities (G), and at exit part of the corpus can be taken as a lump sum while the rest buys an annuity that pays a monthly pension. This NPS calculator projects your corpus year by year, applies the exit rules to it, and shows the pension, the tax-free lump sum and the tax your contributions save.

Why a flat 10% overstates your NPS corpus

Most online NPS calculators treat NPS like a SIP and apply one return for 30 years. But if you never pick your own mix, your money sits in an Auto choice lifecycle fund, and those funds move money out of equity and into bonds on every birthday after 35. Under LC50, a 30-year-old holds 50% equity; by 55 it is down to 10%. The expected return falls with it, so the corpus is noticeably smaller than a flat-rate estimate. This tool reads the allocation for each age from the lifecycle tables and blends your return assumptions:

expected return = (E × rE + C × rC + G × rG) ÷ 100

The balance then grows by (1 + R)^(1/12) each month, with contributions paid at the start of the month. The glide path chart shows how the mix and the return change as you age, and the "Same money, different choice" bars compare LC75, LC50, LC25, BLC, Active and a flat rate on your own contributions.

Auto choice, Active choice and Simple

  • LC75 (Aggressive) starts at 75% equity and tapers fastest; LC25 (Conservative) starts at 25%.
  • BLC (Balanced Life Cycle) keeps 50% equity until 45 and only then starts reducing it.
  • Active choice lets you set E / C / G yourself, but equity is capped at 75% up to 50 and the cap falls every year after that. Any excess is moved into government securities.
  • Simple applies one flat rate, useful for matching another calculator's figure.

How much you can withdraw at exit

PFRDA's December 2025 amendment replaced the old "60% lump sum, 40% annuity" rule with corpus bands. For non-government subscribers, a normal exit happens at 60 or after 15 years in NPS, whichever comes first:

  • Corpus up to ₹8 lakh: the whole amount can be taken as a lump sum.
  • Between ₹8 lakh and ₹12 lakh: take ₹6 lakh as a lump sum and receive the rest through systematic unit redemption (SUR) over at least six years, or use the 80/20 split.
  • Above ₹12 lakh: up to 80% as a lump sum, with at least 20% buying an annuity.

Leaving earlier is a premature exit: above ₹5 lakh, at least 80% must buy an annuity. Government subscribers follow a separate schedule (60/40 at superannuation). The calculator tells you which rule applies to your corpus and how much each part is worth in rupees.

80% lump sum does not mean 80% tax-free
Only a lump sum of up to 60% of the total corpus is exempt from tax. Anything you withdraw above that is added to your income for the year and taxed at your slab.

Tax benefits while you contribute

Under the old regime, your own contributions qualify for an additional ₹50,000 NPS deduction on top of the shared ₹1.5 lakh limit (capped at 10% of Basic + DA for the salaried or 20% of gross income for the self-employed). Under the new regime your own contributions get no deduction, but your employer's contribution is deductible up to 14% of Basic + DA. The tax card works out the deduction and the saving for the first year and for the whole term, and warns if employer contributions approach the ₹7.5 lakh perquisite limit.

Pension in today's money

An annuity usually pays the same amount for life, so inflation steadily erodes it. Every result is shown in rupees at exit and in today's money, and a chart shows what a fixed pension is worth at five-year steps after you retire. Use the Goal tab to work backwards from a target pension or corpus to the monthly contribution (or, for salaried subscribers, the voluntary top-up) you need.

Assumptions, not forecasts
Returns for equity, corporate bonds and government securities are your assumptions, and annuity rates vary by insurer and annuity type. Scheme and tax limits are hardcoded and should be checked against PFRDA and the Income Tax Department before you make a decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the NPS Calculator free?

Yes, NPS Calculator is totally free :)

Can I use the NPS Calculator offline?

Yes, you can install the webapp as PWA.

Is it safe to use NPS Calculator?

Yes, any data related to NPS Calculator only stored in your browser (if storage required). You can simply clear browser cache to clear all the stored data. We do not store any data on server.

How does this NPS calculator work?

It walks your Tier I account month by month from your current age to your exit age. Each year it takes the equity, corporate-bond and government-bond mix your investment choice sets for that age, blends your expected returns for those three asset classes, and compounds the balance at that rate. The exit rules then decide how much of the final corpus you can take as a lump sum and how much must buy an annuity.

How much of my NPS corpus can I take as a lump sum under the 2025 exit rules?

For a non-government subscriber exiting normally (at 60, or after 15 years in NPS), a corpus up to ₹8 lakh can be withdrawn in full, a corpus between ₹8 lakh and ₹12 lakh allows ₹6 lakh as a lump sum with the rest through systematic unit redemption or an annuity, and above ₹12 lakh up to 80% can be taken as a lump sum. A premature exit above ₹5 lakh allows only 20%. Government subscribers follow a separate 60/40 and 20/80 schedule.

Why does this calculator show a smaller corpus than ones that assume 10% returns?

Auto choice lifecycle funds move money out of equity and into bonds every year after 35 (45 for BLC), so the expected return falls as you age. Applying one flat 10% for 30 years ignores that glide path; for a default LC50 subscriber it overstates the corpus by roughly half.

LC75, LC50, LC25 or Balanced Life Cycle: which Auto choice fund suits me?

LC75 starts with the most equity and suits young subscribers comfortable with volatility, LC25 starts with the least and suits those who want stability, and LC50 sits in between. BLC keeps 50% in equity until 45 before tapering, so it holds more equity in your late thirties and forties than LC50. The comparison chart shows what each would give you on the same contributions.

Is the NPS lump sum tax-free if I withdraw 80%?

Not all of it. Only a lump sum of up to 60% of the total corpus is tax-free; the part above 60% is added to your income and taxed at your slab. The annuity purchase itself is not taxed, but the pension it pays is.

Can I exit NPS before 60?

Yes. Non-government subscribers get a normal exit after 15 years in NPS even before 60. Leaving earlier than both counts as a premature exit, and if the corpus is above ₹5 lakh at least 80% of it must buy an annuity. Government subscribers exiting before superannuation are also treated as premature.