Lumpsum and CAGR calculator
What will a one-time investment grow to, and what return do I need?
₹10.53 L of gains on ₹5 L · doubles every 6.1 years at 12%
Growth, nominal and in today's money
How this is calculated
Rules checked against their sources on 29 September 2026. Tax year FY2026-27.
Compounding, and its two enemies
A one-time investment grows by the same formula every year: value = amount × (1 + return) to the power of years. ₹5 lakh at 12% is ₹15.5 lakh in ten years and ₹48 lakh in twenty; the second decade adds twice what the first did, which is the whole point of starting early. The rule of 72 gives the doubling time in your head: 72 divided by the return, six years at 12%.
The two enemies are inflation and tax. At 5.5% inflation the real return on 12% is about 6.2%, not 6.5%, and ₹48 lakh in twenty years buys what ₹16 lakh buys today. Equity-fund gains held over a year are taxed at 12.5% above ₹1.25 lakh; debt-fund gains at your slab. The calculator shows all three numbers, nominal, real and after tax, because a goal set in today's rupees has to be met by the last one.
CAGR: the honest way to compare
Compound annual growth rate is the single yearly return that would turn the start value into the end value over the period. It is how funds report performance and how you should compare a property that tripled in fifteen years (7.6% a year) with a fund that doubled in seven (10.4%). Enter a target and the page solves both ways: the CAGR needed to get there in your years, and the years needed at your return.
Lumpsum or SIP
A lumpsum invested today beats the same total spread over a year, on average, because more money is in the market for longer. It also carries the full risk of a bad entry point. For money you already have, invest it; for money you earn monthly, the question does not arise. Splitting a large sum over six to twelve months is a reasonable price for sleeping well, not a return-enhancing strategy.
How this fits a retirement plan
A lumpsum is one account's opening balance. A plan grows it at the return for its asset class, taxes withdrawals on the right dates, and tells you what it covers. The retirement calculator on this site does that from five numbers.
Questions people ask
- Is the return compounded yearly or monthly?
- Yearly here, which is how a CAGR is defined and how fund returns are reported. A bank deposit that compounds quarterly at the same nominal rate earns slightly more; its advertised annualised yield already includes that.
- What does real return mean?
- The return after inflation: (1 + return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. At 12% with 5.5% inflation it is 6.2%. It is the rate at which your purchasing power grows, and the one that matters for a goal set in today's money.
- How is CAGR different from average return?
- Average return adds up yearly returns and divides; CAGR asks what constant rate gives the same end value. A fund that rises 50% and then falls 50% has an average return of 0% and a CAGR of −13.4%. CAGR is the truthful one.
- How is the tax calculated?
- As if you sold everything at the end. Equity funds and listed shares: gains on holdings over twelve months are long-term, taxed at 12.5% above ₹1.25 lakh in the year; shorter, 20%. Debt funds bought after April 2023 are taxed at your slab. Cess of 4% is added. Selling across several years uses the exemption more than once.
- What return should I assume?
- Long-run Indian equity has delivered 11% to 13% after costs with large swings; government bonds and good deposits 6% to 7.5%; PPF 7.1% tax-free. Use a figure you would still be comfortable with if the next decade is worse than the last.
Want the whole picture?
A free Eazyretire plan puts this number next to your income, savings and spending and tells you whether your money lasts to the age you plan for, and what to change if it will not.