SWP Calculator

An SWP (Systematic Withdrawal Plan) calculator takes your lump-sum investment, a fixed monthly withdrawal, an expected return and a time period, then simulates each month: it pays you the withdrawal at the start of the month and lets the remaining balance grow at the monthly rate (annual return ÷ 12). It shows three things — your total withdrawn, the final corpus left, and, crucially, whether the money lasts the full period or runs out early. For example, ₹5,00,000 with ₹10,000 withdrawn monthly at 8% for 5 years pays out ₹6,00,000 in total and still leaves about ₹5,256, because the corpus keeps earning while you draw it down.

It depends on whether you want the corpus to last forever or to run down over a set period. At a 9% return, withdrawing about ₹7,500 a month from ₹10 lakh would let it last indefinitely — you'd be spending only the returns. The conservative '4% rule' suggests around ₹3,333 a month as a safe cushion. If you're happy to exhaust the corpus, you can withdraw much more — say ₹12,000–₹15,000 a month over 8–10 years. Enter ₹10 lakh above and adjust the withdrawal to see exactly when the money would run out.

The 4% rule is a retirement guideline that says you can withdraw about 4% of your corpus in the first year and adjust it for inflation each year, with a good chance the money lasts ~30 years. On a ₹1 crore corpus that's ₹4 lakh a year, or roughly ₹33,000 a month to start. It's deliberately conservative because it assumes some bad market years early on. An SWP at a flat high return can support a larger withdrawal, but the 4% rule protects you against sequence-of-returns risk — which is why this calculator shows both the 'spend only the returns' figure and the 4% figure.

Yes, but only the gain portion of each withdrawal is taxed — the rest is your own capital coming back, which is what makes an SWP far more tax-efficient than an FD paying the same rate. For equity funds, units redeemed within 12 months of the original purchase are short-term gains taxed at 20%; units held longer are long-term gains taxed at 12.5% on the amount above ₹1.25 lakh of gains per financial year. For debt funds bought on or after 1 April 2023, the gain is taxed at your income-tax slab regardless of holding period. A 4% cess applies on top. This calculator estimates the gain and tax using the proportionate (average-cost) method.

For most people in a taxable bracket, yes. An FD or an IDCW (dividend) payout is taxed in full at your slab every year. An SWP withdrawal is mostly return of your own capital, with only the small gain portion taxed — and equity LTCG is just 12.5% versus up to 30% slab on FD interest. An SWP also lets the untouched balance keep compounding at equity returns. The trade-offs: SWP returns aren't guaranteed (markets fluctuate), and a sharp fall early on can deplete the corpus faster, so don't withdraw more than the sustainable figure shown above.

No — an SWP is only as safe as the fund it draws from. From an equity fund, your withdrawals are fixed but the corpus value swings with the market, and withdrawing during a downturn locks in losses (sequence-of-returns risk), which can drain the money faster than a steady-return calculator suggests. From a debt or arbitrage fund it's steadier but still not capital-guaranteed like an FD. The safest approach is to keep withdrawals at or below the 'spend only the returns' level shown above, hold 2–3 years of withdrawals in low-risk funds, and review annually.