Retirement calculator
What your PF will actually be worth
Almost everyone assumes their provident fund will cover retirement. Very few have checked. This is the checking.
Basic plus dearness allowance, not your CTC. EPF is calculated on this, which is why the answer is smaller than people expect.
EPFO declares this each year. It is an input rather than a fixed figure so this page cannot quietly go out of date — change it if the rate has moved.
Your EPF at the end
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Indicative only, based on the assumptions below. Not an offer or a guarantee.
What this assumes
- Employee 12% of basic and employer 12%, of which 8.33% of wages goes to the Employees’ Pension Scheme and is capped at a ₹15,000 wage — ₹1,250 a month.
- Interest accrues on the running balance every month at a twelfth of the declared rate, and the whole year’s accrual is credited once at year end — EPFO’s own method, so a contribution made in April earns twelve months of interest and one made in March earns one.
- The rate you enter is held constant for the whole period. It will not be — EPFO redeclares it every year.
- No withdrawals, no job gaps, and no transfer losses between employers.
The boring bit
Where the other twelve per cent actually goes
Everyone knows the employee contributes 12% of basic and the employer matches it. What is far less well known is that the employer’s half splits: 8.33% of wages goes to the Employees’ Pension Scheme rather than into your provident fund, and only the remainder joins the balance you can see.
That diversion is capped at a ₹15,000 monthly wage — ₹1,250 a month. Below that ceiling a higher salary means a larger diversion; above it the amount is frozen. So two people on very different salaries lose the same ₹1,250 a month to the pension scheme, which is why the effective rate into the fund improves as basic pay rises.
The second thing this page is for is the comparison it invites. Take the figure at the top, put it into the retirement calculator, and look at the difference. For most salaried people the provident fund covers a fraction of what is needed — and the useful time to discover that is now, not at fifty-five.
Employee 12% of basic + employer (12% of basic − min(basic, ₹15,000) × 8.33%), compounded at the declared rate each year
FAQ
Questions about this calculator
Why is the number smaller than I expected?
Two reasons, usually. EPF is calculated on basic pay, not CTC, and basic is often only 40–50% of the total. And part of your employer’s contribution goes to the pension scheme rather than into the fund — capped, so it hurts higher earners proportionally less.
What is the pension part worth?
The EPS pension is calculated from your pensionable service and a capped pensionable salary, and for most people it is a modest monthly figure rather than a corpus. It is real, but it is not the answer to retirement on its own. Ask us to work yours out properly.
Is EPF enough to retire on?
For most salaried people, no — and finding that out at fifty-five is the problem. Put the figure above into the retirement calculator and compare it with what you actually need. The gap is the thing worth planning around.
Should I use VPF to add more?
It is a genuinely good option for the safe part of a portfolio — same rate, same tax treatment, no market risk. It is not a substitute for growth assets over a twenty-year horizon. Which mix suits you depends on how far off retirement is.
Why does this differ from other EPF calculators?
Because most of them simplify, and in two different directions. Some treat the employer’s full 12% as going into the fund, which ignores the pension diversion entirely and overstates the result — on a ₹50,000 basic that is roughly 12% too high. Others apply a flat 3.67% employer share, which is exactly right up to a ₹15,000 wage and increasingly too low above it, because the pension contribution is capped in rupees rather than as a percentage. This page applies the cap, which is what the rules actually say. If our figure is lower than one you have seen elsewhere, that is usually why.
Turn the number into a plan
A calculator gets you to a figure. Getting there needs a product, and that is the part we do.