National Pension Scheme (NPS) Calculator | To Calculate Your NPS Returns

8 min read • Posted on 30 Aug 2024

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NPS Calculator to Calculate Your Annuity In the hustle and bustle of life, saving enough for your retirement becomes crucial, maybe in the early years or later. While investment choices may…

NPS Calculator to Calculate Your Annuity

In the hustle and bustle of life, saving enough for your retirement becomes crucial, maybe in the early years or later. While investment choices may vary, the National Pension Scheme (NPS) is one of the most secure schemes.

NPS is a government-backed pension scheme where you can make voluntary investments and ensure financial stability in your golden years of life. During the process, the NPS calculator plays a significant role. How? It helps you get answers to some of the important questions related to NPS investments, like:

How much should I invest in NPS?
How many years will it take to accumulate enough corpus for your retirement?

Reading ahead, you will explore the NPS calculator, why you should use it, and how it works.

What is the NPS Calculator?

NPS calculator is an online tool that helps estimate the maturity amount you will receive in return for your NPS contributions. While calculating manually can be tough, the NPS pension calculator does it in seconds using a few personal details, such as your age, the amount you invest, years of employment, and expected retirement age. Based on these inputs, it calculates the maturity value of your investment and the pension amount post-retirement.

Using the NPS calculator, you can also calculate how much money you might save on taxes by investing in NPS and the tax-free lump sum payment you will receive. This simplifies the process of determining the potential growth of your investment.

How to Calculate NPS Returns Online?

You can calculate the NPS returns using an NPS calculator online and customize your pension allocation preferences. Just follow the simple steps given below:

Input your age.
Specify the amount you are willing to invest towards NPS.
Mention the retirement age. Some NPS calculators automatically set it to 60.
Provide the expected rate of return on the investment.
Decide on what percentage of the accumulated corpus you wish to receive as a pension.
Enter the expected pension return rate.

The NPS return calculator will show you the overall investment amount, estimated monthly pension, lump sum amount, and pension wealth based on the information provided.

Why Should You Use the NPS Calculator?

The NPS calculator plays a significant role in making an investment decision that will provide a sufficient corpus for retirement. Here are some of the vital reasons why you should use it:

Estimate the NPS Benefits: NPS calculator helps you estimate your retirement corpus and pension amount. This is a complex calculation that can be difficult to do manually. But with the calculator, you can do it in minutes.

Calculate the NPS Returns: The NPS return calculator computes the contribution returns based on the available fund options. You can also choose between aggressive, moderate, and conservative investment options based on your risk appetite. This option is only available with some NPS calculators.

Simplify the Calculation: Using it, you can make complex calculations easily and accurately with all convenience. Hence, your retirement planning becomes convenient and accessible.

Plan a Secured Retirement: The handy NPS calculator gives you a clear picture of retirement benefits, allowing you to plan your retirement better while keeping your goals in mind. This calculated amount includes different parameters, such as invested amount, maturity amount, lump sum amount, annuity, monthly pension, and tax benefits incurred over the years.

Compare the Scenarios: The calculator lets you compare various scenarios to see how contributions or retirement age changes affect your corpus. Thus, a clear estimation helps you set the required monthly investment.

Calculate the Tax Benefits: Based on the contributions made to NPS, the calculator reflects the potential tax savings and tax-free lump sum amount.

How Does the NPS Calculator Work?

The National Pension Scheme (NPS) calculator provides a predicted future value of your retirement corpus based on the information provided related to your investment. Here's a simple break-down of how the NPS calculator works:

Phase	Key Measures	Descriptions
1. Input Details	Age	Your current age and the age at which you plan to retire
	Monthly/Annual Contribution	The amount you plan to invest regularly in the NPS
	Expected Rate of Return	The assumed annual return rate on your NPS investments
	Annuity Purchase	The percentage of the corpus you use to buy an annuity (regular pension) after retirement
	Annuity Rate	The assumed rate of return on the annuity purchased
2. Calculation Process	Accumulation Phase	The calculator uses the NPS calculation formula to estimate the total amount accumulated by the time you retire. It takes your regular contributions and the expected NPS return rate to project the growth of your investment over the years.
2. Calculation Process	Annuity Phase	The calculator then calculates the portion of your corpus that will be used to purchase an annuity and estimates the monthly or annual pension you would receive based on the annuity rate.
3. Calculated Output	Total Retirement Corpus	Finally, using the NPS pension calculation formula, you can see the estimated total amount accumulated by the time you retire.
	Lump Sum Amount	The portion of the corpus you can withdraw as a lump sum (up to 60% of the total corpus).
	Annuity Amount	It is the portion of the corpus used to purchase the annuity and the estimated pension amount you will receive.

Based on your requirements, you can modify inputs to see different scenarios and plan accordingly. To have a better understanding of how the NPS calculator computes the monthly income, have a look at the example below:

Say Mr Sehgal, a 24-year-old central government employee, makes a monthly contribution of Rs. 3,000 to the National Pension Scheme.

He plans to retire at 60; hence, in this case, the policy maturity matures when he turns 60.
He will contribute for the next 36 years until the scheme matures.
He expects an annual return on investment of 10% and an expected annuity return rate of 6%.
He chooses to allocate 60% towards the annuity.

Based on the above information, the NPS calculator projects the below pension corpus at retirement:

At the age of 60, the total investment made by Mr Sehgal over the years is Rs. 13 Lakhs.
The estimated maturity amount at retirement is Rs. 1.27 Crore.
The total return earned on the investment is Rs. 1.14 Crore.
Furthermore, the estimated lump sum in hand is Rs. 50.9 Lakhs.
The expected monthly pension is Rs. 38,176.
The pension wealth is Rs. 76.4 Lakhs.
The NPS pension calculator also calculates the total tax saved as Rs. 4,75,200.

* Disclaimer: The above figures are for reference purposes only and may vary based on the calculations and input provided.

What is the NPS Calculation Formula?

By investing in the NPS scheme, you can benefit from the different pension schemes, including LIC Pension Fund, Birla Pension Fund, HDFC Pension Fund, etc. All these fund providers offer NPS calculators to help you check NPS corpus and benefits. The calculator works on the following formula:

NPS Calculator Formula
A = P (1+ r/n) * nt Where; A = total amount P = Principal sum r = Interest rate per annum t = Total tenure n = Number of interest compounds

NPS Calculator Formula

A = P (1+ r/n) * nt

Where;

A = total amount

P = Principal sum

r = Interest rate per annum

t = Total tenure

n = Number of interest compounds

Who Can Use NPS Calculator?

Every eligible individual investing in the National Pension Scheme (NPS) can use the NPS calculator, including private sector employees, government employees, self-employed, and individuals nearing retirement. Year after year, the number of subscribers to the NPS scheme is increasing. In fiscal year 2023, the NPS had approximately 17 million subscribers ( Source). You can use the NPS return calculator to accomplish the following two objectives:

Calculate the Investment Amount: Determine the future worth of your investment amount as the retirement corpus.
Set the Retirement Goal: Estimate the investment you need to make to achieve your retirement goals.

Below are the eligibility criteria for investing in NPS and require to use the NPS calculator:

Particulars	Specifications
Age	18 - 60 years
Other requirements	Fulfil Know-Your-Customer (KYC) guidelines

What is the NPS Interest Rate?

The investments made are market-linked. Hence, it doesn't offer a fixed interest rate. The NPS returns depend on the market performance of the underlying asset. However, considering the past data, the NPS pension return range lies between 9% - 12% per annum. NPS is a good way to earn profitable returns compared to other investment options.

Using NPS Calculator for Income Tax Calculation

Besides providing the benefit of generating a retirement corpus, the investment towards the National Pension Scheme also affects your income tax calculation over the years. Here's how:

Phase	Key Measures	Descriptions
1. Input Details	Age	Your current age and the age at which you plan to retire
	Monthly/Annual Contribution	The amount you plan to invest regularly in the NPS
	Expected Rate of Return	The assumed annual return rate on your NPS investments
	Annuity Purchase	The percentage of the corpus you use to buy an annuity (regular pension) after retirement
	Annuity Rate	The assumed rate of return on the annuity purchased
2. Calculation Process	Accumulation Phase	The calculator uses the NPS calculation formula to estimate the total amount accumulated by the time you retire. It takes your regular contributions and the expected NPS return rate to project the growth of your investment over the years.
2. Calculation Process	Annuity Phase	The calculator then calculates the portion of your corpus that will be used to purchase an annuity and estimates the monthly or annual pension you would receive based on the annuity rate.
3. Calculated Output	Total Retirement Corpus	Finally, using the NPS pension calculation formula, you can see the estimated total amount accumulated by the time you retire.
	Lump Sum Amount	The portion of the corpus you can withdraw as a lump sum (up to 60% of the total corpus).
	Annuity Amount	It is the portion of the corpus used to purchase the annuity and the estimated pension amount you will receive.

You need to take into account that:

The total deductions on the NPS contributions cannot exceed your gross income.
When the employer contributes to your NPS account, they can avail of tax benefits under Section 80 CCD(2).

Tax Calculation for Withdrawal of NPS Benefits

Once the NPS matures, you can enjoy tax benefits on up to 60% of the corpus withdrawal.
The remaining 40% provides a regular income scheme, which is taxable as per the applicable tax slab.

NPS Calculator for Government Employees

You can also use the NPS pension calculator if you are a government employee. Have a look at how the NPS calculator benefits government employees:

Benefit	Descriptions
Clear Financial Planning	Allows government employees to plan their retirement savings effectively by estimating their retirement corpus.
Regular Contribution Tracking	Helps track regular contributions from both employee and employer, giving a comprehensive view of the total investment.
Future Fund Estimation	Provides an estimate of the total fund accumulated by retirement, helping set realistic retirement goals.
Tax Benefits Awareness	Shows potential tax savings under Section 80C and 80CCD, allowing employees to understand their tax benefits over the years.
Customizable Scenarios	Allows employees to input various scenarios (such as different contribution amounts and retirement ages) to see how changes affect their retirement corpus.

Final Words

To make your NPS returns calculation easy, you can use any NPS calculator available online from different fund managers. By providing simple details and specifying your retirement financial goals, you can quickly get a clear estimate of your retirement corpus, lump sum, and monthly pension amount.

If you use the NPS return calculator to plan your retirement investment, you can try and compare different combinations to find the most suitable one that provides an adequate retirement corpus.

* Disclaimer: The details, facts, or figures given here are intended solely for the reader's informational purposes and should not be relied upon for personal, medical, legal, or financial decisions. Please visit the insurer's website for the latest updates. We do not endorse any particular insurance company or insurance product provided by any insurer.