How much money do you really need to retire comfortably in India?

Is ₹2 crore enough to retire? What about ₹5 crore?

It's tempting to look for one magic number, but the amount you need for retirement depends more on your lifestyle than someone else's retirement target.

First, understand your expenses

Imagine your ideal retirement involves spending ₹1 lakh a month.

That's ₹12 lakh a year at today's costs.

But if you're retiring several years from now, you'll need to account for inflation. Things like groceries, healthcare, travel and everyday living expenses are likely to cost more in the future.

What else affects your retirement number?

Your retirement corpus needs to account for:

• Retirement age: Stopping work at 40 is very different from retiring at 60.
• Life expectancy: How many years might your savings need to support you?
• Inflation: How much could your expenses increase?
• Investment returns: How might your portfolio perform over time?
• Healthcare: Are you prepared for potentially significant medical expenses?
• Other income: Will you have rental income, a pension or another source of money?

You also need to separate your total net worth from the investments available to fund retirement.

A ₹2 crore house you intend to live in is valuable, but it won't automatically pay your monthly expenses.

The takeaway: Start with the lifestyle you want, estimate what it will cost and work backwards to understand how much money you'll need. Your retirement number should be built around your life.