Retirement Calculator

What EPF, NPS and PPF add up to by sixty — in today's rupees, not in the rupees of 2054.

Where you are now
EPS pension starts at 58, reduced from 50. NPS exit is at 60. There is no universal state pension — EPS is funded from your employer's EPF contribution and is capped hard.
Per month, across EPF, VPF, NPS and PPF together.
Per month. An employer contributes 12% of basic to EPF, of which part goes to the EPS pension rather than to your balance.
Before charges. The calculator takes the charge off this figure.
EPF and PPF carry no visible fee — the declared rate is net. An equity mutual fund charges an expense ratio, commonly 0.5%–2% a year, and NPS is among the cheapest managed products anywhere at well under 0.1%.
What turns the big number into the real one. This is the assumption that matters most.
Leaving this at zero models paying in the same cash at 60 as at 25, which nobody does.
Per year, in today’s money. Say what it would cost you now.
Per year, in today’s money. EPS is capped by a ₹15,000 pensionable-salary ceiling, so it is small — thirty-five years of service at the ceiling gives ₹7,500 a month.
A 65-year-old today has a better than even chance of reaching 90. Planning to 25 or 30 years is not pessimistic.

How this is worked out

The projection compounds your existing balance and your monthly contributions at the return you enter, then deflates the result by the inflation you enter so the answer is in today's rupees. Both halves matter here more than in any other market on this site, because India has both the highest guaranteed return and the highest inflation of the five.

real return = (1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1

The default return is 8.25% because that is what EPF actually pays — declared by EPFO for FY 2025-26 and ratified by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, held there for a fourth consecutive year. It is a guaranteed nominal rate, and no other market on this site has one. At 5% inflation it is a real 3.1%, which is a positive but modest figure, and that is the honest picture.

There is no single cap to project against, which is why the notice beside the result names several. EPF is compulsory and effectively uncapped as a contribution. What is capped is the tax relief — ₹1,50,000 under section 80C across everything in it, plus ₹50,000 for NPS under 80CCD(1B) — and the interest that stays tax-free, which is ₹2,50,000 of your own contributions a year under Rule 9D, or ₹5,00,000 where the fund receives no employer contribution.

Separately, section 17(2)(vii) makes employer contributions to recognised PF, NPS and approved superannuation a taxable perquisite once they exceed ₹7,50,000 together. That is a different test from the 80CCD(2) percentage and catches high earners who never notice it.

And the largest single fact: under the new tax regime none of 80C, 80CCD(1B) or PPF relief is available at all. Only the employer's own NPS contribution under 80CCD(2) survives — 14% of basic plus dearness allowance for a private-sector employee under the new regime, 10% under the old. Anyone contributing extra for the tax break needs to know which regime they are in before any of these numbers mean anything.

A worked example

Age now / retirement age
32 to 60
Balance today
₹4,00,000
Your contribution
₹12,000 a month
Employer EPF
₹1,800 a month
Return / inflation
8.25% nominal, 5% inflation — a real 3.1%
EPF tax-free interest ceiling
₹2,50,000 of your own contributions a year
Same, with no employer contribution
₹5,00,000
Section 80C cap, shared
₹1,50,000 — your compulsory EPF already uses part of it
NPS under 80CCD(1B), on top
₹50,000
Employer contributions taxable above
₹7,50,000 across PF, NPS and superannuation
Available under the new regime
Only 80CCD(2) — the employer's NPS contribution

EPS is not a state pension and will not fund a retirement

The Employees' Pension Scheme is a defined benefit funded out of your employer's EPF contribution — 8.33% of it, capped at ₹1,250 a month. The formula is (pensionable salary × pensionable service) ÷ 70, with pensionable salary capped at ₹15,000 and a minimum of ten years' service required.

Work that through: thirty-five years of service at the ceiling gives ₹7,500 a month. That is the maximum the scheme is designed to pay, and it is the figure to have in mind when someone describes EPS as an Indian state pension. It is not one. The minimum pension is ₹1,000 a month.

The consequence is that your EPF balance, your NPS corpus and whatever else you have saved are the retirement income, and EPS is a small supplement on top. The "other income" field on this page defaults to ₹90,000 a year for exactly that reason — it is deliberately modest, because the scheme is.

Three wrappers, three completely different bargains

EPF is compulsory for establishments with twenty or more employees, pays 8.25% guaranteed, and the employer matches your 12%. Voluntary Provident Fund lets you contribute more than 12% at the same rate with no matching increase — which for a conservative saver is one of the better deals available anywhere, subject to the ₹2.5 lakh tax-free interest ceiling.

PPF is exempt at all three stages: the contribution is deductible under 80C, the interest is tax-free and so is the maturity value. It is capped at ₹1.5 lakh a year with a ₹500 minimum, runs fifteen years and extends in five-year blocks, and its rate is reset quarterly by the Ministry of Finance. Its certainty is the point, and comparing its rate with an assumed equity return as though they were the same kind of number is the commonest error on Indian personal-finance forums.

NPS is a managed market-linked product with the lowest charges of anything here, well under 0.1% a year. At 60 you may take 60% as a tax-free lump sum; the remaining 40% must buy an annuity, and that annuity income is taxable as it is received. That mandatory annuitisation is the real cost of NPS and it is rarely mentioned in the same breath as the 80CCD(1B) deduction that sells it.

The regime question comes before every other question

Under the old tax regime, ₹1,50,000 of 80C, ₹50,000 of NPS under 80CCD(1B) and PPF relief are all claimable, and for a taxpayer in the 30% band that is real money back — enough that the deduction is a substantial part of the return on the contribution.

Under the new regime, which has been the default since FY 2023-24, none of them exists. The wider slabs are what you get instead. So a person in the new regime who contributes ₹50,000 to NPS specifically for the 80CCD(1B) deduction receives nothing for it, and should be judging the product on its own merits alone.

The one survivor is 80CCD(2) — the employer's NPS contribution, deductible at 14% of basic plus dearness allowance under the new regime against 10% under the old. That is the only retirement-related deduction the new regime keeps, which makes an employer NPS arrangement disproportionately valuable to anyone on it, and worth asking payroll about. The salary calculator on this site will show you which regime is cheaper for your own figures.

The ceilings people trip over

Rule 9D: interest on your own contributions above ₹2,50,000 a year is taxable in the year it accrues, not on withdrawal. It rises to ₹5,00,000 where the fund receives no employer contribution, which is what makes a government employee's GPF different. Anyone using VPF aggressively to chase the 8.25% should know where that line is.

Section 17(2)(vii): employer contributions to recognised PF, NPS and approved superannuation, added together, become a taxable perquisite above ₹7,50,000 a year. This is a separate test from the 80CCD(2) percentage and it catches senior employees with generous packages who have never been told about it.

And 80C is one cap shared by everything in it — EPF, PPF, ELSS, life insurance premium, home-loan principal, NSC, five-year deposits and children's tuition fees. Your compulsory EPF already consumes part of it before you invest a rupee voluntarily, which means the marginal ₹1 of ELSS is often worth less in tax relief than people assume.

Assumptions and sources

EPF interest rate
8.25% declared by EPFO for FY 2025-26 and ratified by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, credited from June 2026. Held with its source in assets/js/tax/retirement-2026.js. checked 2026-09
Taxable EPF interest thresholds
Rule 9D of the Income Tax Rules — ₹2,50,000 of employee contributions a year, ₹5,00,000 where the fund receives no employer contribution. In force from 1 April 2021. checked 2026-09
Employer contribution perquisite cap
Section 17(2)(vii) — ₹7,50,000 across recognised PF, NPS and approved superannuation combined, a separate test from the 80CCD(2) percentage. checked 2026-09
80CCD(2) rates
14% of basic plus dearness allowance under the new regime, 10% under the old, for a private-sector employee; 14% in both for a government employee. checked 2026-09
80C and 80CCD(1B) caps
₹1,50,000 and ₹50,000 respectively, neither available under the new tax regime. checked 2026-09
PPF
₹1,50,000 annual cap, ₹500 minimum, fifteen-year term extendable in five-year blocks, rate reset quarterly by the Ministry of Finance, exempt at all three stages. checked 2026-09
EPS formula and ceiling
Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 — (pensionable salary × pensionable service) ÷ 70, pensionable salary capped at ₹15,000, ten years' minimum service, ₹1,000 minimum monthly pension. Thirty-five years at the ceiling gives ₹7,500 a month. checked 2026-09
EPF wage ceiling
The statutory ceiling remains ₹15,000 a month. A rise to ₹25,000 has been widely reported and is NOT in force — no gazette notification has issued. The conflict is recorded in assets/js/tax/in-2026-27.js. checked 2026-09
Not modelled
Tax on NPS annuity income, equity mutual fund capital gains, the Atal Pension Yojana, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, gratuity as a lump sum, and the effect of a mid-career change of employer on EPS pensionable service.
Rates current as of 2026-27 — verify before relying on this. There is no single Indian retirement wrapper and no single cap. EPF pays a rate declared annually, PPF a rate reset quarterly, and equity pays whatever it pays. Under the new tax regime almost none of the deductions below are available — check which regime you are in before planning around any of them.
Questions

What people ask about retirement in India

How much pension will I get from EPS?

(Pensionable salary × pensionable service) ÷ 70, with pensionable salary capped at ₹15,000. Thirty-five years of service at the ceiling gives ₹7,500 a month, and the minimum is ₹1,000. EPS is a small supplement, not a retirement income — your EPF balance and other savings are the retirement income.

Is EPF or PPF better?

They answer different questions. EPF is compulsory, pays 8.25% declared annually, and your employer matches your 12%. PPF is voluntary, capped at ₹1.5 lakh a year, exempt at all three stages, and its rate is reset quarterly. If you have spare capacity and want more of the EPF rate, VPF gets you it — subject to the ₹2.5 lakh tax-free interest ceiling.

Which retirement deductions survive under the new tax regime?

Only section 80CCD(2) — your employer's NPS contribution, at 14% of basic plus DA. Section 80C, 80CCD(1B) and PPF relief are all unavailable. If you are contributing extra specifically for a deduction, check which regime you are in first, because under the new one you are getting nothing for it.

When does EPF interest become taxable?

Interest on your own contributions above ₹2,50,000 in a year is taxable in the year it accrues, under Rule 9D — rising to ₹5,00,000 where the fund receives no employer contribution. It is a reason to know where the line sits before using VPF heavily.

Why does the calculator default to 8.25% and 5% inflation?

Because 8.25% is what EPF actually pays — a guaranteed declared rate no other market on this site has — and Indian inflation has run materially higher than in the US, UK, Canada or Australia. Together they give a real return of about 3.1%, which is the honest figure to plan with.

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