Your NPS corpus at retirement depends on three factors: your monthly contribution (employee 10% + government 14% = 24% of Basic + DA), the number of years of service, and the annual return earned by your chosen Pension Fund Manager (PFM). Use the calculator above by entering your current age, retirement age, and expected return to get a personalised estimate.
As a rough benchmark: a central government employee at Pay Level 6 (Basic ₹35,400) contributing for 30 years at a 10% annual return can expect a corpus of approximately ₹1.2–1.5 crore — depending on DA revisions over the period. The calculator above accounts for your existing corpus too, which significantly boosts the final number.
💡 Tip: Enter your existing NPS corpus (check your NSDL CRA statement) into the calculator for a more accurate projection — most employees underestimate this figure.

At retirement, at least 40% of your total NPS corpus must be used to purchase an annuity from a PFRDA-empanelled Annuity Service Provider (ASP) such as LIC, SBI Life, or HDFC Life. This annuity then pays you a fixed monthly pension for life.
Monthly Pension = (40% of Corpus × Annuity Rate) ÷ 12
For example: If your total corpus is ₹1 crore, ₹40 lakh goes to annuity. At a 6% annuity rate, your monthly pension = (₹40,00,000 × 6%) ÷ 12 = ₹20,000 per month. Annuity rates currently range from 5.5% to 7% depending on the provider and plan type chosen. You can adjust the annuity rate slider in the calculator above to see how different rates affect your pension.

At retirement, at least 40% of your total NPS corpus must be used to purchase an annuity from a PFRDA-empanelled Annuity Service Provider (ASP) such as LIC, SBI Life, or HDFC Life. This annuity then pays you a fixed monthly pension for life.
Monthly Pension = (40% of Corpus × Annuity Rate) ÷ 12
For example: If your total corpus is ₹1 crore, ₹40 lakh goes to annuity. At a 6% annuity rate, your monthly pension = (₹40,00,000 × 6%) ÷ 12 = ₹20,000 per month. Annuity rates currently range from 5.5% to 7% depending on the provider and plan type chosen. You can adjust the annuity rate slider in the calculator above to see how different rates affect your pension.

Yes. Under current income tax rules, the lump sum withdrawal of up to 60% of the NPS corpus at retirement is fully tax-free. This has been the rule since the 2019 Union Budget, which brought NPS to EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) status on par with PPF and EPF.
The remaining 40% used to purchase an annuity is also not taxed at the time of purchase. However, the monthly pension income you receive from the annuity is taxable as per your applicable income tax slab. So if you receive ₹20,000/month as pension, that ₹2.4 lakh annual income is added to your total income and taxed accordingly.
⚠️ Note: If you withdraw before age 60 (premature exit), different rules apply — only 20% can be taken as lump sum and 80% must go to annuity.

NPS Tier I equity funds (Scheme E) have historically delivered 10–12% CAGR over the long term, while the balanced Auto Choice lifecycle fund has given around 9–10%. Conservative estimates using government securities (Scheme G) average 7–8% p.a.
For planning purposes, financial advisors typically recommend using 10% for aggressive projection, 8% for moderate, and 6–7% for conservative. Since NPS returns are market-linked and not guaranteed, using 9–10% in the calculator gives a realistic middle-ground estimate. Avoid using 12%+ as it can lead to over-optimistic projections. The calculator above defaults to 10% — you can adjust it using the slider.

The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), available to central government employees from 01 April 2025, guarantees a pension of 50% of average basic pay of the last 12 months — provided you have 25+ years of service. This is a defined-benefit guarantee, unlike NPS which is market-linked. Employees with 10–24 years of service get a proportional pension, with a floor of ₹10,000/month.
Whether to switch depends on your years of service remaining and risk appetite. If you have fewer than 10 years left to retirement, UPS offers more certainty. If you have 20+ years and started early with NPS, your accumulated corpus under NPS could yield a higher pension than UPS guarantees. The switch is a one-time irrevocable decision — so model both scenarios carefully before choosing.
📌 Use this NPS calculator alongside our NPS vs UPS comparison tool to make a side-by-side decision for your specific pay level and years of service.

To receive ₹50,000/month as pension, you need the 40% annuity portion of your corpus to be large enough. Working backwards at a 6% annuity rate: ₹50,000/month requires an annuity corpus of ₹1 crore, which means a total NPS corpus of ₹2.5 crore (since annuity = 40%).
Required Corpus = (Monthly Pension × 12) ÷ Annuity Rate ÷ 0.40
= (50,000 × 12) ÷ 0.06 ÷ 0.40 = ₹2.5 Crore
To reach ₹2.5 crore: starting at age 30 with a 10% expected return, you would need to contribute approximately ₹11,000–12,000 per month over 30 years. For government employees, your employer’s 14% contribution counts — so your personal outgo is less. Plug your own numbers into the calculator above to find your exact figure.

If an NPS subscriber dies before retirement, the entire accumulated corpus is paid to the nominated family member (spouse, children, or parents) as a lump sum — without any mandatory annuity purchase. The nominee does not need to use 40% for annuity; they receive the full corpus tax-free.
This is a significant advantage of NPS over traditional pension schemes. The nominee simply needs to submit a death certificate, the subscriber’s PRAN details, and KYC documents to the nearest PoP (Point of Presence) or CRA to claim the amount. It is strongly advisable to keep your NPS nomination updated — especially after marriage or the birth of a child — by logging into the NSDL CRA portal.