You spent 25 years filling the tank. Now the happier question: how much can you draw every month and still feel safe? Draw too much and it runs low, draw too little and you skimp while quietly wealthy. Let's find the line that lets you enjoy it.
Each month, your portfolio pays you a fixed amount, like a self-issued salary. The rest stays invested and keeps growing. If returns out-pace withdrawals, the corpus survives. If they don't, the tank slowly drains. It's the same maths as your EMI, just running in reverse.
Each row: this year's annual withdrawal · growth on the remaining balance · corpus at end of year. Red row = depleted.
| Yr | Withdrawn (yr) | Growth on balance | Corpus end |
|---|
We all spend 25 years learning how to invest, and almost no one teaches the other half: how to withdraw. It's not a failing, just a gap nobody filled. So most retirees fall back on one of two shaky habits, dipping into FDs every month (the corpus stops growing), or selling equity whenever the market seems convenient (it rarely is).
An SWP turns your corpus into a steady paycheck. The rest stays invested and keeps compounding. A fixed monthly outflow is a kindness to your future self: it takes the hard call off your plate on the scary days.
You've already done the hard part and built the wealth. This is simply about setting it up so it can hold the life you've built, comfortably.
