Most retirement calculators ask for monthly spending and stop there. Indian retirements often carry a few large, lumpy costs on top: the end of a child's education, a wedding, a car or two, a house that needs work. They are easy to leave out because they are not "spending", and each one looks affordable on its own. The tables below add them to a plan one at a time and then together, using the app's engine: 10,000 simulated market paths, in rupees.
How much do one-time costs add to the corpus?
For a Bangalore couple retiring at 55, the chance that ₹3.05 crore lasts to 90 and the smallest corpus, to the nearest ₹5 lakh, that reaches 80%:
| Cost (today's price) | Chance on ₹3.05 Cr | Corpus for 80% |
|---|---|---|
| None (for comparison) | 81% | ₹3.05 Cr |
| College, ₹8 lakh a year from 55 to 58 | 72% | ₹3.35 Cr (+₹30L) |
| Wedding at 60, ₹20 lakh | 75% | ₹3.25 Cr (+₹20L) |
| A car at 60 and another at 70, ₹12 lakh each | 75% | ₹3.30 Cr (+₹25L) |
| Home repairs at 65, ₹15 lakh | 77% | ₹3.20 Cr (+₹15L) |
| All four | 53% | ₹3.95 Cr (+₹90L) |
The four costs add ₹90 lakh in today's money between them, and the extra corpus needed is about the same. Each costs a few points of survival on its own; together they cost 28.
Enter the price in the year you pay it
A one-time cost in Bhavitta is entered as the amount you will pay in that year, not today's price. A ₹20 lakh wedding five years from now costs about ₹25.5 lakh then at 5% inflation; a ₹12 lakh car bought 15 years from now costs about ₹24.9 lakh. The figures above use those grown amounts: ₹25.5 lakh for the wedding, ₹15.3 lakh and ₹24.9 lakh for the cars and ₹24.4 lakh for the repairs. College is different: it is a yearly cost entered in today's money, and the app grows it with inflation itself.
The further away the cost, the more this matters. Entering today's ₹20 lakh for a wedding five years away moves this plan by about one point; for a car fifteen years away, today's price would be about half the real one.
What the numbers assume
- A couple retiring at 55 in Bangalore with no further income, at the app's resident cost of living (₹9.7 lakh a year today, rising 5% a year), with health insurance at ₹40,000 a year rising 10%.
- The costs: college fees of ₹8 lakh a year in today's money for four years from 55; a wedding at 60, cars at 60 and 70 and home repairs at 65, each at today's price grown 5% a year to the year it is paid.
- Returns from the app's Balanced India Monte Carlo preset: 9.5% a year on average, 13% volatility. 10,000 trials per figure.
- Survival means the balance stays above zero every year to 90. 80% is the bar the app uses for "ready".
Common questions
How do I plan for my child's wedding in my retirement corpus?
Add it as its own cost in the year you expect to pay, at that year's price. For a Bangalore couple retiring at 55, a wedding costing ₹20 lakh today and paid at 60 (about ₹25.5 lakh then) adds about ₹20 lakh to the corpus they need for an 80% chance of lasting to 90.
Should children's education be part of the retirement corpus?
If the fees fall after you stop working, yes. Four years of college at ₹8 lakh a year from the first year of retirement adds about ₹30 lakh to the corpus in this example, and costs 9 points of survival on ₹3.05 crore.
How much extra corpus do I need for big expenses in retirement?
Roughly their total in today's money. College, a wedding, two cars and home repairs come to about ₹90 lakh at today's prices in this example, and the corpus needed rises by ₹90 lakh, from ₹3.05 crore to ₹3.95 crore.
Does it matter when a one-time cost happens?
Less than you might expect for a single cost. A wedding at 56 and one at 70 each leave this plan at 75%: the later one costs more rupees but comes out of a pot that has had longer to grow. What matters more is the total, and remembering to include them at all.
Add your own costs
- Set the currency to INR and build your plan on the Start tab.
- On My Plan, tap "Add a life event" and choose Wedding, Kids' college or Big purchase. Set the age and the amount you expect to pay that year.
- Copy the plan without the costs on Scenarios and tap Compare to see what they cost you.
Find your own number
Free on iPhone and Android. No account; your plan never leaves your phone.
