SWP calculator
For money you’re drawing down rather than building up. An SWP — a systematic withdrawal plan — takes a fixed amount out every month while the rest stays invested. This shows how long the balance could last.
Illustrative only — this is not a projection or a promise of returns. Every figure below is arithmetic applied to the rate of return you typed in. H2 Investment is not suggesting that rate, forecasting it, or promising it. Returns are market-linked, vary from year to year, and can be negative.
The figure is how long the corpus could sustain the monthly amount you entered, rising each year if you set an increase, at the rate you chose — an illustration, not a guarantee the money lasts that long.
What this is, and what it isn’t
This is arithmetic on the numbers you typed. It compounds them at the rate you chose and shows you the result. That is all it does.
It is an illustration, not a projection. It is not a forecast, not a recommendation, and not an offer. Nobody knows what any investment will return, so the rate you enter is an assumption you are making, not a rate anyone is offering you. Real returns arrive unevenly — good years, flat years and falling years, in an order nobody can predict — and that order matters as much as the average.
Use the output the way you’d use a rough estimate on the back of an envelope: to see whether the shape of a plan is roughly right, not to decide what a specific rupee amount will be worth on a specific date.
Read the “money lasts until” figure as the optimistic end of a range rather than as a date. Falling markets early in a withdrawal plan shorten it, sometimes by years.
What this calculation assumes
Each month the calculator applies one month’s return to the balance, then subtracts your withdrawal. If the withdrawals outrun the returns the balance falls and eventually reaches zero — showing you when that happens is the point of the tool, not a fault in it. If you set a yearly increase, the monthly withdrawal goes up by that percentage at the start of every new year. The “money lasts” figure runs the same plan past the period you chose, for up to 100 years, and counts the months of full withdrawals before the balance runs out. The assumptions:
- The same return every month, including the bad ones. This is the big one. A drawdown is far more exposed to a poor first few years than a portfolio you’re still adding to, because you are selling units while the price is low and those units never come back. Two people with identical average returns can run out years apart depending on when the falls happened. The calculator cannot show you that, and it is the main risk in this kind of plan.
- The withdrawal changes only by the yearly increase you set. No extra withdrawal for an emergency, and the increase lands every year in full. Prices do not rise by a steady percentage, so treat the increase as your assumption too.
- No tax deducted. Each withdrawal redeems units and may attract capital gains tax, so what lands in your bank account will be less than what this shows.
- No exit load. Many schemes charge one on units redeemed within a set period.
New to the idea behind this? Setting a financial goal walks through it in plain language.
Planning income for retirement? See the whole picture.
About these calculators
How much can I withdraw every month with an SWP?
That depends on the corpus, the monthly amount and how the balance behaves — which is what this tool illustrates from your inputs. It shows how long a chosen monthly withdrawal could last; it is arithmetic, not a guarantee about a real scheme.
Can the withdrawal rise with inflation?
Yes. Enter a yearly increase in the optional field and the withdrawal goes up by that percentage once a year. The tool then shows the balance at the end of your period and how long the corpus could last — or says plainly if, at your assumptions, it does not run out.
Is this figure a projection of what I will earn?
No. Every figure here is an illustration produced from the numbers you type in, at a rate of return you choose yourself. It is arithmetic, not a forecast: mutual fund returns are market-linked and not assured, and the actual outcome will differ.
What rate of return should I assume?
That assumption is yours to make — the tool leaves it in your hands on purpose. A rate you enter is an illustration, not a rate we are promising or suggesting is likely. If you want to understand what drives returns in different kinds of funds, the explainers do that without putting a number on the future.
Does this account for tax, expense ratio or exit load?
Unless a field asks for it, no — the core calculators show how compounding works on the inputs you give. Real outcomes are reduced by the scheme’s expense ratio, by any exit load, and by tax on your gains.
Why do your figures differ from another site’s calculator?
Almost always because of the assumptions, not the maths — the return rate, whether tax and costs are included, and how compounding frequency is handled. Change those to match and the numbers converge. Every one of these is an illustration of arithmetic, not a claim about a real scheme.
Is an SIP better than investing a lump sum?
Neither is universally better — they suit different situations. An SIP spreads your investment across many dates, which fits money that arrives monthly and takes the timing decision off your plate; a lump sum puts money to work at once, which fits money you already hold. Which applies to you depends on your cash flow and goal, so it is a conversation rather than a rule. SIP or lump sum, compared goes deeper.
Talk to us
If you’d rather go through your own numbers with a person than a form, that’s what we’re for. You’ll speak to Himani, who runs H2 — the same person every time.
Other calculators
See all calculators. None of these ask for your name, your phone number or your PAN. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. Use them as often as you like without hearing from us.