Corpus

Corpus is the total accumulated wealth or capital that you have built over time through savings and investments.

It is the pool of money from which you will fund your financial goals — retirement, children's education, buying a home, or generating passive income. The size of your corpus, combined with its growth rate and withdrawal rate, determines how long your money will last and whether you can achieve financial independence. What is a Corpus? If you have ₹50 lakhs in your PPF, ₹30 lakhs in mutual funds, ₹20 lakhs in EPF, ₹10 lakhs in FDs, and ₹5 lakhs in gold, your total financial corpus is ₹1.15 crores. This is the pool of money that is working for you and growing over time. Your corpus grows through regular contributions (monthly SIPs, annual PPF contributions) and investment returns (interest, dividends, capital gains), and it shrinks through withdrawals and inflation. The size of your required corpus depends on your financial goals. For retirement, a common rule of thumb is the "25x rule" — you need a corpus of 25 times your annual expenses at retirement. If your annual expenses at retirement are ₹6 lakhs (₹50,000 per month), you need ₹1.5 crores. The 4% safe withdrawal rate suggests that a ₹1.5 crore corpus can sustain ₹6 lakhs per year for 30+ years with a moderate investment return. Corpus building is a long-term game. At an average return of 12% per annum, ₹10,000 invested monthly becomes ₹1 crore in approximately 15 years. The same ₹10,000 per month becomes ₹4.4 crores in 25 years and ₹17 crores in 35 years. This exponential growth in later years is the power of compound growth on a consistent savings habit. Starting early — even with smaller amounts — matters more than starting later with larger amounts. Inflation is the biggest enemy of your corpus. At 6% annual inflation, something that costs ₹50,000 today will cost ₹1.07 lakhs in 10 years and ₹2.29 lakhs in 20 years. This means your corpus must grow faster than inflation to maintain its purchasing power. An equity-heavy portfolio (70% equity, 30% debt) has historically grown at 12-14% per annum in India, comfortably ahead of 6-8% inflation, while a purely debt portfolio (FDs at 7%) barely keeps pace with inflation over 20+ years. Protecting your corpus from inflation is as important as growing it. A ₹1 crore corpus in 2034 will buy only what ₹55 lakhs buys today (at 6% inflation). This is why pure conservative investing (all FDs, all debt) is not truly "safe" for long-term goals — it merely preserves the nominal value while eroding the real value. A blend of equity (for growth) and debt (for stability) is the optimal approach for most long-term financial goals.