Recurring Deposit (RD) Calculator
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How to Use the RD Calculator
Enter your monthly deposit amount
Drag the slider or type the fixed amount you deposit into your recurring deposit every month, such as Rs.5,000.
Set the annual interest rate
Enter the interest rate your bank or the Post Office offers on the RD, or tap one of the preset chips (5.5%, 6%, 6.5%, 7%, 8%).
Choose the deposit tenure
Select how many years you plan to keep depositing, or use the preset chips (1y, 2y, 3y, 5y, 10y).
Turn on inflation adjustment if needed
Switch on the Adjust for Inflation toggle to see the real purchasing power of your maturity amount. The default inflation rate is 6% but you can change it.
Review your summary and chart
See your total deposits, estimated returns, maturity value, investment split donut, smart insights and a corpus growth chart instantly.
Open the year-wise breakdown
Tap View Year-wise Breakdown to see exactly what you deposit and how your value grows each year, or reset to defaults anytime with the Reset button.
Try the step-up RD comparison
Set an annual step-up rate to see how much larger your corpus grows if you increase your monthly deposit every year, compared with a fixed RD.
RD Calculator - Calculate Recurring Deposit Maturity With Inflation and Step-Up Comparison
A Recurring Deposit is one of the simplest and most accessible savings tools available to Indian investors. You commit to depositing a fixed amount every month for a set tenure, and at maturity you receive your total deposits plus compound interest. The structure is low-risk, predictable, and demands no market knowledge. But there are two things most RD calculators do not show you: what that maturity amount is actually worth after inflation, and how much more you could earn by increasing your deposit each year. This RD Calculator fills both gaps.
Enter your monthly deposit amount, the annual interest rate offered by your bank or post office, your chosen tenure, and optionally your expected inflation rate. The calculator instantly shows total deposited, interest earned, maturity value, an inflation-adjusted real value, a year-by-year breakdown, and a step-up RD comparison so you can see the impact of raising your monthly deposit over time.
How a Recurring Deposit Works
An RD is a term deposit product where you make monthly instalments instead of one lump sum (which is how an FD works). Each instalment earns interest from the date it is deposited until maturity. The interest is compounded quarterly by Indian banks - matching the standard FD compounding convention - and the full maturity amount (principal + interest) is paid at the end of the tenure.
The Post Office Recurring Deposit (PORD), offered through India Post, works similarly and is an excellent benchmark for a risk-free, government-backed return. Post Office RDs are backed by the Government of India and carry a sovereign guarantee - making them extremely safe for risk-averse savers.
Bank RDs are covered by DICGC insurance up to Rs.5 lakh per depositor per bank (principal + interest combined). Interest rates on bank RDs vary by bank and tenure - typically 6 to 7.5% for most scheduled banks, with Small Finance Banks offering 7.5 to 9% for certain tenures.
The RD Maturity Formula
This calculator works out the maturity value instalment by instalment using quarterly compounding, which is how Indian banks actually pay interest on RDs. Each monthly deposit earns interest for the number of quarters left until maturity, and the value of every deposit is added together. This is more accurate than a single formula because it matches how every instalment is treated separately.
For a monthly deposit amount P, an annual interest rate r and a tenure of n years, the quarterly rate is i = r / 4. For the deposit made in month m, the remaining months are totalMonths - (m - 1) and the quarters are that number divided by 3. The value of each deposit is P x (1 + i) raised to the number of quarters remaining, and the maturity value is the sum of all deposits.
Example: Rs.5,000 per month for 3 years at 6.5% p.a. compounded quarterly. Total deposited = Rs.1,80,000. The maturity value is approximately Rs.1,99,100 and the interest earned is about Rs.19,100.
The inflation-adjusted real value = Maturity Value divided by (1 + inflation rate) to the power of n. At 6% inflation over 3 years: Rs.1,99,100 divided by (1.06) cubed, which is approximately Rs.1,68,100 in today's purchasing power. Your real return is slightly negative - meaning the RD barely keeps pace with inflation at this rate. This insight is what makes the inflation toggle valuable.
Understanding the Smart Insights in This Calculator
Beyond the headline numbers, this RD calculator shows you a few quick-read insights that translate raw figures into decisions:
- Total Growth: The percentage your deposit has grown by over the full tenure, comparing your final maturity value with what you actually put in. It shows you how much of the result is interest rather than your own deposits.
- Time to Double (Rule of 72): A handy rule that estimates how many years your money takes to double at a given interest rate. Simply divide 72 by your annual rate - at 6.5%, your money doubles roughly every 11 years (72 / 6.5).
- Corpus Multiplier: How many times your deposited amount your final maturity value represents. A multiplier of 1.1, for example, means your deposits grow by about 10% over the full tenure.
- Real Annual Return (net of inflation): Appears when you switch on inflation adjustment. It is the true return that grows your purchasing power, roughly your nominal interest rate minus the inflation rate. A 6.5% RD at 6% inflation leaves you with a real gain of only about 0.5% per year.
These insights help you answer three practical questions faster: how long your money takes to grow, how much it multiplies by, and whether you are truly beating inflation.
Step-Up RD - Increasing Your Deposit Every Year
A fixed RD keeps your monthly deposit the same for the whole tenure. A Step-Up RD (also called an increasing RD) lets you raise your monthly deposit by a fixed percentage each year - usually in line with your salary growth. Because the larger deposits in later years still earn interest right up to maturity, an increasing RD can grow your final corpus noticeably without demanding a huge deposit from day one.
This calculator's step-up comparison shows you the difference. For example, with Rs.5,000 per month at 6.5% for 5 years, a fixed RD matures at roughly Rs.3,54,000 on deposits of Rs.3,00,000. If you raised your deposit by 10% every year, your deposits would total about Rs.3,67,000 and the maturity value would climb to roughly Rs.4,29,000 - about Rs.75,000 more, entirely from stepping up gradually.
Use the step-up rate slider and preset chips (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%) to see how different growth rates change your final corpus. A small, sustained increase each year is often more comfortable than committing a large fixed amount from month one - and it keeps your savings aligned with your rising income.
RD vs FD vs SIP - Which Is Right for You?
RD vs FD: Both offer fixed, guaranteed returns and are safe. The key difference is cash flow: FDs require a lump sum upfront; RDs require small monthly deposits. If you have a lump sum available, an FD at the same interest rate will yield more because the entire principal starts compounding immediately. If you are saving from monthly income, an RD is the natural fit.
RD vs SIP: A SIP invests monthly instalments into mutual funds and is market-linked - expected returns are higher (10 to 14% for equity funds) but not guaranteed. An RD offers guaranteed returns at a fixed rate with no market risk. For risk-averse savers or those with a short savings horizon (1 to 3 years), RDs are more appropriate. For long-term wealth creation (5+ years) where you can tolerate market volatility, equity SIPs have delivered significantly better inflation-adjusted returns historically.
When to use an RD: RDs are ideal for specific, time-bound savings goals - a holiday next year, a car down payment in 2 years, a child's school fee in 3 years. The fixed maturity date and guaranteed maturity amount make planning straightforward. They are also useful as a disciplined savings mechanism for individuals who tend to spend surplus monthly income instead of saving it. Pair the fixed RD with a modest step-up to keep pace with your growing income.
How Inflation Erodes RD Returns
An RD at 6.5% sounds attractive - but if inflation is running at 6%, your real return is only about 0.47% per year (using the precise formula: Real Return = (1 + nominal rate) divided by (1 + inflation rate), minus 1). This near-zero real return means your money is barely maintaining purchasing power, not growing it.
This is why long-term financial planning should not rely on RDs alone. They are excellent for short-term goals and capital preservation, but for goals 5 to 10 years away, a combination of RD (for stability) and equity SIP (for growth) tends to produce better inflation-adjusted outcomes.
Use this calculator's inflation adjustment to stress-test your RD plan. If the real value falls short of your goal amount in today's money, you know to either increase your monthly deposit, extend tenure, add a step-up, or supplement with a higher-return instrument.
Tax on RD Interest
RD interest is fully taxable as income from other sources and is taxed at your applicable income slab rate. Banks deduct TDS at 10% if the total interest from that bank's deposits (FD + RD combined) exceeds Rs.40,000 per financial year (Rs.50,000 for senior citizens). If your income is below the taxable limit, file Form 15G (or 15H for senior citizens) annually to avoid TDS deduction.
Post Office RDs are also taxable, but Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) is not applicable on Post Office interest - the onus of declaration falls on the investor's annual income tax return filing.
RD Laddering - Building Multiple RDs for Better Returns
Most people open a single RD and wait for it to mature. But a more effective strategy - borrowed from the FD laddering concept - is to open multiple RDs with staggered maturities. Instead of putting Rs.10,000 per month into one 3-year RD, open three RDs: one for 1 year, one for 2 years, and one for 3 years, each receiving Rs.3,333 per month. When the 1-year RD matures, reinvest it as a new 3-year RD. When the 2-year matures, do the same. Within 3 years, you have three RDs maturing one after another each year - giving you annual liquidity while maintaining the higher interest rate of longer tenures.
This approach solves the core RD problem: if you need money before maturity, you either lose interest (premature withdrawal penalty) or take a loan against the RD at a higher rate. With laddering, one of your RDs matures every year, providing a natural liquidity event without any penalty. For a household saving Rs.15,000 to 20,000 per month in RDs, laddering across 1, 2, and 3-year tenures is a practical way to build both returns and flexibility.
Some banks also offer higher interest rates on longer-tenure RDs - for example, a 3-year RD at 7.2% versus a 1-year RD at 6.5%. The laddering strategy lets you capture these higher rates while still maintaining annual access to a portion of your savings. You can use the step-up comparison alongside laddering to raise each RD's deposit as your income grows.