SWP Calculator

Plan a systematic withdrawal — a corpus that keeps compounding while you draw a fixed amount every month, and what is left at the end.

What is an SWP?

A Systematic Withdrawal Plan is the reverse of a SIP: instead of paying money into a fund every month, you draw a fixed amount out of an invested corpus every month while the balance left behind keeps compounding. It is the standard way to turn a retirement corpus or a large lump sum into a monthly income.

This calculator simulates the plan month by month and shows the three numbers that matter: how much you withdrew in total, how much the corpus grew while you were drawing it down, and what is left at the end. Returns on mutual funds are market-linked — the projection uses your assumed rate, not a guarantee.

The month-by-month math

Closing = Opening × (1 + i) − W, where i = r ÷ 12 ÷ 100

  • Opening — the corpus at the start of the month
  • i — the monthly return derived from your expected annual return r
  • W — the fixed monthly withdrawal
  • The step repeats for every month of the plan; a withdrawal is never larger than the balance available, so if the draw outpaces growth the corpus depletes and the schedule stops there

How to use this calculator

  1. Enter your total investment — the corpus the plan starts with.
  2. Enter the monthly withdrawal you want to receive.
  3. Set the expected return per annum. Debt-oriented funds have historically sat in the 6–8% band and hybrid funds a little higher; returns are not guaranteed.
  4. Set the withdrawal period in years.
  5. Read off the total withdrawn, the total growth and the final value — the corpus left when the period ends.

A worked example

₹50,00,000 earning 8% p.a., drawing ₹30,000 a month for 5 years:

  • Total withdrawn: 60 months × ₹30,000 = ₹18,00,000
  • Growth earned along the way: ₹20,44,922.85
  • Corpus left after 5 years: ₹52,44,922.85

The corpus ends higher than it began: at 8% p.a. the first month’s growth is about ₹33,333 — more than the ₹30,000 drawn — so the balance creeps up even while paying you every month.

How SWP withdrawals are taxed

Every SWP instalment is a redemption of fund units, so only the gain inside each withdrawal is taxed — not the whole amount. For equity funds, units held over 12 months attract LTCG at 12.5% on gains above ₹1,25,000 a year, and units sold within 12 months attract STCG at 20% (rates current for FY 2025-26). Debt fund units bought after 1 April 2023 are taxed at your slab rate regardless of holding period.

This makes an SWP more tax-efficient than a dividend (IDCW) payout, which is fully taxable at slab. Mutual fund returns remain market-linked; plan with conservative assumptions.

SWP questions, answered

Sustainability, tax and the fine print of drawing a corpus down.