A simple retirement planning guide

Start with your future expenses Your retirement number depends on what your lifestyle will cost — in future rupees, not today's. Inflation quietly doubles many costs over a couple of decades, so always inflate your current expenses forward.

Build the corpus Work backwards from the annual income you'll need. A common rule of thumb is that your corpus should be large enough that a sustainable withdrawal covers your expenses without depleting the capital too quickly.

Draw it down wisely In retirement, a Systematic Withdrawal Plan can turn your corpus into monthly income while the remaining balance keeps earning returns. Withdraw too aggressively and the corpus runs dry; withdraw modestly and it can even keep growing.

The three levers - Save more each month while working. - Invest for growth so your corpus beats inflation. - Retire realistically — a later start or longer horizon changes everything.