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Is Early Retirement At 50 Possible? Here’s The Savings Math
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Early retirement at 50 needs discipline, smart investing and a clear estimate of your future expenses. Compounding and diversification help build a strong long-term corpus.
To retire at 50, experts suggest multiplying annual expenses by 25–30 to find the ideal corpus.
Many people have a dream to stop 9-to-6 grind once and for all and take early retirement, typically after 50, when the body isn’t as fresh as in youth. But the task seems uphill, especially for the middle class, who are solely dependent on their monthly salary rather than a business.
Building a corpus isn’t rocket science. What it requires is financial discipline and self-control, while keeping focus on regular investment with a diversified portfolio, including equities, debt and gold and silver.
Compouding will work as magic wand to multiply your money, so you can build a substantial corpus that will be helpful in retirement.
Retiring at 50 means your money must last for the next 30–35 years, so estimating the right corpus is the first step, according to Ajay Kumar Yadav CFPCM, Group CEO & CIO , Wise Finserv.
So, How Can You Estimate A Right Corpus For You?
Yadav said that a practical way to do this to multiply one’s annual expenses by 25-30, based on the sustainable withdrawal rate of 3-4 per cent.
Giving an illustration, Yadav stated that if your current annual expense is 12 lakh, your ideal corpus should be 3 crore to 3.6 crore.
Inflation is the biggest money-eater and roadblocker in the pathway to building a good corpus. In simple terms, it reduces the purchasing power of the same amount over the time. For instance, what you can purchase with a note of Rs 100, you can’t do the same 5 year later.
Yadav explained that a monthly expense of 1 lakh grows to 1.34 lakh in five years at 6% inflation, raising annual expenses to 16.1 lakh. That lifts the required corpus to around 4 crore to 4.8 crore.
Other Assets As Important As Equities
Yadav underlined that equity is the main factor for compounding in the long term. However, he suggested, to still have a part of your investment in high-quality fixed-income allocations.
“They provide the investor with comfort, predictable cash flows and also help to maintain the discipline during the volatile phases,” he added.
Consider scenarios where equity returns stay flat, or markets go through multi-year volatility, Yadav underlined the importance of stress-testing for retirement plan. “. This exercise shows whether your corpus can truly last and whether you need to adjust spending, asset allocation, or risk levels.”
He recommended to add a contingency buffer of 10–15 %, setting up systematic withdrawals, and reviewing your plan annually can extend the life of your retirement money.
December 07, 2025, 12:47 IST
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