How much retirement corpus do you need to generate ₹40,000 per month?

To draw ₹40,000 per month in retirement, you need a corpus of about ₹80 lakh at a conservative 6% perpetual return (the 4-percent rule says ₹1.2 crore is safer if you also want inflation-adjusted withdrawals over 25-30 years). Both numbers can be right — they answer different questions.

The perpetual approach assumes the principal stays intact forever and the family inherits ₹80 lakh on your death. The 4-percent rule assumes the corpus depletes to zero over 25-30 years — so you need a larger starting point but get more spending power each year via inflation-adjusted withdrawals.

Three real-world adjustments matter for Indian retirees. First, inflation in India runs higher than the US 4-percent rule assumes — 6% versus 3% — so withdrawal rates should be lower (3-3.5% real). Second, medical costs in retirement are the wild card; budget separately for health insurance (₹25,000-50,000/year for senior citizens) and emergency medical fund of ₹10-20 lakh. Third, NPS, EPF, PPF combined typically cover 40-60% of the corpus need for salaried Indians — you don’t have to build the entire ₹80 lakh in one bucket.