Sometimes we learn the importance of investment too late. Many of us hardly realise the importance of a retirement corpus at a young age. Some might not have started due to lack of knowledge or lack of income. But if you are 40, is it too late to start? Do you think that after missing the early investment bus, it is impossible to start the journey from here? It's not too late! 'Too late' can be a myth if you never start.

Here we will tell how, with focused planning and consistent monthly investment, you may still create an Rs 2.30 crore retirement and make your post-retirement life easy. 

Most financial experts believe that people should invest at least 10 per cent of their monthly income.

The 50:30:20 rule suggests that one should invest at least 20 per cent of their income.

The rule applies to both the salaried class and the non-salaried class. 

In the table below, you can see that if your monthly income is in the range of Rs 20,000 and Rs 100,000, what should be your monthly investment if you save 10 per cent and 20 per cent monthly? 

Salary/month	Savings (at 10%)	Savings (at 20%)
₹ 20,000	₹ 2,000	₹ 4,000
₹ 25,000	₹ 2,500	₹ 5,000
₹ 30,000	₹ 3,000	₹ 6,000
₹ 35,000	₹ 3,500	₹ 7,000
₹ 40,000	₹ 4,000	₹ 8,000
₹ 45,000	₹ 4,500	₹ 9,000
₹ 50,000	₹ 5,000	₹ 10,000
₹ 55,000	₹ 5,500	₹ 11,000
₹ 60,000	₹ 6,000	₹ 12,000
₹ 65,000	₹ 6,500	₹ 13,000
₹ 70,000	₹ 7,000	₹ 14,000
₹ 75,000	₹ 7,500	₹ 15,000
₹ 80,000	₹ 8,000	₹ 16,000
₹ 85,000	₹ 8,500	₹ 17,000
₹ 90,000	₹ 9,000	₹ 18,000
₹ 95,000	₹ 9,500	₹ 19,000
₹ 1,00,000	₹ 10,000	₹ 20,000

From the table above, you must have got an idea of the savings one should do as per these two rules.

Now see how large an estimated corpus you may generate if you invest these monthly savings through a systematic investment plan (SIP) in a mutual fund and get a 12 per cent annualised return from there? See estimates- 

Salary	Savings (at 10%)	Corpus value in 10 years	Corpus value in 20 years	Corpus value in 30 years
₹ 20,000	₹ 2,000	₹ 4,48,071.78	₹ 18,39,714.71	₹ 61,61,946.42
₹ 25,000	₹ 2,500	₹ 5,60,089.72	₹ 22,99,643.39	₹ 77,02,433.02
₹ 30,000	₹ 3,000	₹ 6,72,107.67	₹ 27,59,572.07	₹ 92,42,919.63
₹ 35,000	₹ 3,500	₹ 7,84,125.61	₹ 32,19,500.75	₹ 1,07,83,406.23
₹ 40,000	₹ 4,000	₹ 8,96,143.56	₹ 36,79,429.42	₹ 1,23,23,892.84
₹ 45,000	₹ 4,500	₹ 10,08,161.50	₹ 41,39,358.10	₹ 1,38,64,379.44
₹ 50,000	₹ 5,000	₹ 11,20,179.45	₹ 45,99,286.78	₹ 1,54,04,866.05
₹ 55,000	₹ 5,500	₹ 12,32,197.39	₹ 50,59,215.46	₹ 1,69,45,352.65
₹ 60,000	₹ 6,000	₹ 13,44,215.34	₹ 55,19,144.13	₹ 1,84,85,839.26
₹ 65,000	₹ 6,500	₹ 14,56,233.28	₹ 59,79,072.81	₹ 2,00,26,325.86
₹ 70,000	₹ 7,000	₹ 15,68,251.23	₹ 64,39,001.49	₹ 2,15,66,812.47
₹ 75,000	₹ 7,500	₹ 16,80,269.17	₹ 68,98,930.17	₹ 2,31,07,299.07
₹ 80,000	₹ 8,000	₹ 17,92,287.12	₹ 73,58,858.85	₹ 2,46,47,785.68
₹ 85,000	₹ 8,500	₹ 19,04,305.06	₹ 78,18,787.52	₹ 2,61,88,272.28
₹ 90,000	₹ 9,000	₹ 20,16,323.01	₹ 82,78,716.20	₹ 2,77,28,758.89
₹ 95,000	₹ 9,500	₹ 21,28,340.95	₹ 87,38,644.88	₹ 2,92,69,245.49
₹ 1,00,000	₹ 10,000	₹ 22,40,358.90	₹ 91,98,573.56	₹ 3,08,09,732.10

Salary	Savings (at 10%)	Corpus value in 10 years	Corpus value in 20 years	Corpus value in 30 years
₹ 20,000	₹ 4,000	₹ 8,96,143.56	₹ 36,79,429.42	₹ 1,23,23,892.84
₹ 25,000	₹ 5,000	₹ 11,20,179.45	₹ 45,99,286.78	₹ 1,54,04,866.05
₹ 30,000	₹ 6,000	₹ 13,44,215.34	₹ 55,19,144.13	₹ 1,84,85,839.26
₹ 35,000	₹ 7,000	₹ 15,68,251.23	₹ 64,39,001.49	₹ 2,15,66,812.47
₹ 40,000	₹ 8,000	₹ 17,92,287.12	₹ 73,58,858.85	₹ 2,46,47,785.68
₹ 45,000	₹ 9,000	₹ 20,16,323.01	₹ 82,78,716.20	₹ 2,77,28,758.89
₹ 50,000	₹ 10,000	₹ 22,40,358.90	₹ 91,98,573.56	₹ 3,08,09,732.10
₹ 55,000	₹ 11,000	₹ 24,64,394.79	₹ 1,01,18,430.91	₹ 3,38,90,705.31
₹ 60,000	₹ 12,000	₹ 26,88,430.67	₹ 1,10,38,288.27	₹ 3,69,71,678.52
₹ 65,000	₹ 13,000	₹ 29,12,466.56	₹ 1,19,58,145.62	₹ 4,00,52,651.73
₹ 70,000	₹ 14,000	₹ 31,36,502.45	₹ 1,28,78,002.98	₹ 4,31,33,624.94
₹ 75,000	₹ 15,000	₹ 33,60,538.34	₹ 1,37,97,860.34	₹ 4,62,14,598.15
₹ 80,000	₹ 16,000	₹ 35,84,574.23	₹ 1,47,17,717.69	₹ 4,92,95,571.36
₹ 85,000	₹ 17,000	₹ 38,08,610.12	₹ 1,56,37,575.05	₹ 5,23,76,544.57
₹ 90,000	₹ 18,000	₹ 40,32,646.01	₹ 1,65,57,432.40	₹ 5,54,57,517.78
₹ 95,000	₹ 19,000	₹ 42,56,681.90	₹ 1,74,77,289.76	₹ 5,85,38,490.99
₹ 1,00,000	₹ 20,000	₹ 44,80,717.79	₹ 1,83,97,147.12	₹ 6,16,19,464.20

In the table you can see the corpus you may build in 20 years if you are in the Rs 20,000 to Rs 100,000 income range. So, if a person is 40 years old and they want to create a corpus by 60 years of age, they may still generate a sizable amount.

If a 40-year-old person starts a Rs 25,000 monthly SIP at 40 years of age and gets a 12 per cent annualised return on their investment, they can build an estimated Rs 2.30 crore corpus by 60 years of age. 

In 20 years, the total investment will be Rs 60,00,000, estimated capital gains will be Rs 1,69,96,434, and the estimated corpus will be Rs 2,29,96,434.

Age	Retirement corpus
40	0
41	₹ 3,19,162.45
42	₹ 6,76,624.39
43	₹ 10,76,981.76
44	₹ 15,25,382.02
45	₹ 20,27,590.31
46	₹ 25,90,063.60
47	₹ 32,20,033.68
48	₹ 39,25,600.17
49	₹ 47,15,834.64
50	₹ 56,00,897.24
51	₹ 65,92,167.36
52	₹ 77,02,389.89
53	₹ 89,45,839.12
54	₹ 1,03,38,502.26
55	₹ 1,18,98,284.98
56	₹ 1,36,45,241.63
57	₹ 1,56,01,833.07
58	₹ 1,77,93,215.49
59	₹ 2,02,47,563.79
60	₹ 2,29,96,433.89

At the same investment, if you get a 14 per cent return, the estimated corpus can be Rs 2,93,36,853, which also includes estimated capital gains of Rs 2,33,36,853. 

Age	Retirement corpus
40	0
41	₹ 3,22,294.72
42	₹ 6,89,710.69
43	₹ 11,08,564.91
44	₹ 15,86,058.71
45	₹ 21,30,401.65
46	₹ 27,50,952.60
47	₹ 34,58,380.68
48	₹ 42,64,848.69
49	₹ 51,84,222.22
50	₹ 62,32,308.05
51	₹ 74,27,125.90
52	₹ 87,89,218.24
53	₹ 1,03,42,003.51
54	₹ 1,21,12,178.72
55	₹ 1,41,30,178.45
56	₹ 1,64,30,698.15
57	₹ 1,90,53,290.61
58	₹ 2,20,43,046.01
59	₹ 2,54,51,367.17
60	₹ 2,93,36,853.30

In the calculations above, you can see that it is never too late to start. As a 40-year-old, you have a fair chance of building a large corpus.