A PortfolioCube Reference

Glossary

205 terms explained in plain language. Every term used across the PortfolioCube tools, in A–Z order, with examples. Tap a term to read the full explanation.

Version 1.2.2 · Last updated: 31 Oct 2026

A

Profit as a percentage of the total amount invested, ignoring how long it took. Example: 58.22%.

Used in: SIP Backtest Tool

The minimum monthly amount Corridor-Cut can never cut below, no matter how large the haircut would otherwise be. Default: ₹70,000/month. Example: if repeated haircuts would otherwise push the effective spending target below ₹70,000/month, it's held at ₹70,000/month (inflation-adjusted) instead.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

The two halves of the Combined Corpus Journey chart: building the corpus while you work (green) and drawing it down in retirement (blue), marked at your retirement milestone.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

Used only in the plain Waterfall's own audit table, showing which bucket (or combination) actually funded that year's withdrawal under its drain-only rule. Example: "B1" means Safety alone covered the year; "B1+B2" means Safety ran out partway through the year and Income covered the remainder - the one year this handoff happens.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

An open-ended hybrid scheme investing predominantly in equity: 65% to 80% in equity and equity-related instruments and 20% to 35% in debt instruments.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

The yearly return a fund earned above what its market risk (beta) alone would explain. A positive alpha means the fund did better than its beta justifies; a negative alpha means it did worse.

Formula: Alpha = (Fund mean return − Risk-free rate) − Beta × (Index mean return − Risk-free rate). All figures are yearly percentages from the calendar months of the lookback window (3, 5 or 10 years). The risk-free rate is the 10-year G-Sec yield (7.44% on 28 Oct 2026).

Worked example (illustrative figures: a small cap fund against the Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI): Fund mean return 14.84%, Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI mean return 11.60%, Beta 1.06, risk-free rate 7.44% (a 3-year lookback).

  1. Fund excess return = 14.84 − 7.44 = 7.40%. This is what the fund earned over and above a risk-free investment.
  2. Index excess return = 11.60 − 7.44 = 4.16%. The index earned this much more than the risk-free rate over these 36 months.
  3. Return explained by beta = 1.06 × 4.16 = 4.41%. With a beta of 1.06, the fund was expected to earn about 4.41 points above the risk-free rate just by following the market.
  4. Alpha = 7.40 − 4.41 = 2.99%. The fund beat its beta-expected return by about 2.99 percentage points a year.

Things to keep in mind: (1) Alpha depends on the comparison index. Here a small cap fund is set against a small cap index, the better-suited choice. Against a poorly suited index (a small cap fund against the BSE Sensex, say) the expected return can be low and alpha looks large, so always compare a fund with the index that matches its category. (2) The Nifty indices here are total-return (TRI) indices, so dividends are counted; the BSE Sensex is a price index that leaves out dividends (roughly 1% a year for large caps), so against the Sensex the index mean is slightly understated and alpha slightly overstated. (3) The example figures are illustrative, and the page uses unrounded monthly figures, so working a result by hand from the rounded numbers shown may differ in the second decimal. (4) The risk-free rate is the 10-year G-Sec yield (7.44% a year on 28 Oct 2026), one current figure applied to the whole lookback window, and it is shown in the note under the Risk Metrics table. A longer lookback covers years when the yield was different.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Portfolio Health Advanced · Redemption Analysis

Your own contributions compared with the growth earned on them, shown as a doughnut chart.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

The money paid out for the redemptions, after STT or TDS where the statement shows it.

Used in: Redemption Analysis

The first year’s withdrawal as a percentage of your projected corpus at retirement; the lower it is, the longer the corpus tends to last. Example: ₹21.49 lakh a year from ₹4.23 crore is 5.09%.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

An open-ended scheme investing in arbitrage opportunities between the cash and derivatives markets: at least 65% of total assets in equity and equity-related instruments, with debt exposure limited to government securities of under one year and repo in government bonds. No investment in InvITs is permitted.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

Histograms of where the 1,000 simulated pooled corpora land, one year into retirement and at life expectancy, drawn on a log scale so both small and very large outcomes stay visible; a red bar counts trials that ended at ₹0.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab

The combined value of your multi-asset holdings at retirement, compared against the Required Retirement Corpus to show a surplus or deficit. Example: ₹2.5 crore available vs. ₹2.32 crore required – a surplus of ₹17,99,294.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Corridor Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

The pooled baseline’s projected corpus year by year on steady returns, marking the age it peaks and the age it would run out, if it does before life expectancy.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab

The average value of all the money a scheme managed during a quarter, in crore rupees (Cr), as published by AMFI. It adds up all plans of the scheme (Direct, Regular, Growth, IDCW) and is shown with the quarter it covers, so it can be a few months old. Example: ₹1,10,925 Cr.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · SIP Backtest Tool

B

An open-ended balanced scheme investing only in equity and debt: 40% to 60% in equity and equity-related instruments and 40% to 60% in debt, with no arbitrage.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme predominantly investing in debt instruments of banks, public sector undertakings, public financial institutions and municipal bonds: at least 80% of total assets.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

The monthly spending the plan aims to keep up with inflation every year, before any corridor adjustment; synced with your Monthly Expense at Retirement. Example: ₹1,00,000 a month.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

The same total corpus, return and volatility run as one undivided pot, with no buckets – the benchmark the bucket results are compared against. Example: around 56% success for the pooled corpus vs. around 69–72% for the two bucket setups.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab

The highest and the lowest return the index gave over any 1 week, 1 month, 3 months or 1 year, whichever trading day the period started on, together with its begin and end dates. It shows the best the index has done and the worst you could have lived through over each length of time. Example: if the best 1-month return is +18.46% (4 Jun 2024 to 4 Jul 2024) and the worst is −13.49% (11 Apr 2022 to 11 May 2022), then within any single month the index has gained as much as 18.46% and fallen as much as 13.49%. The returns are not annualised.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

The 1,000-trial simulation run bucket by bucket: Safety, Income and Growth each draw their own independent yearly return (no cross-bucket correlation is modelled), with the same withdrawal order as the waterfall.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

Each bucket is sized as a percentage of the corpus, with Growth (B3) taking the remainder; for reference, the page also shows the split your actual holdings imply (EPF + FD / NPS / Equity + Misc). Example: Safety 28% (₹70 lakh), Income 12% (₹30 lakh), Growth 60% (₹1.5 crore).

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab

Each bucket is sized as a number of years of inflation-adjusted annual expense, with Growth (B3) taking whatever corpus remains. Example: B1 = 3 years (₹38.20 lakh), B2 = the next 4 years (₹62.52 lakh), B3 = the remaining ₹1.49 crore.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

Splitting one retirement corpus into three pots with different jobs, time horizons and risk levels, and spending from them in a fixed order rather than from one undivided pool.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

C

One of the two Crisis Rules. When a refill checkpoint can't be fully funded by Income (B2) alone, Capitulation draws whatever's still needed directly from Growth (B3), regardless of Growth's own recent performance, so Safety's full spending target is always restored. Example: Growth is down 15% for the year, but Capitulation still draws ₹5L from it to fully refill Safety anyway - Safety's spending is treated as non-negotiable.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

A discontinued category. Children's Funds were solution-oriented schemes with a lock-in of 5 years or till the child attains majority, whichever was earlier. Under SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026 the solution-oriented category is discontinued: existing schemes must stop all subscriptions and be merged with a scheme of similar asset allocation and risk profile, with SEBI's prior approval.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended hybrid scheme investing predominantly in debt: 10% to 25% in equity and equity-related instruments and 75% to 90% in debt instruments.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended equity scheme following a contrarian investment strategy. At least 80% of total assets must be in equity and equity-related instruments (the minimum was 65% before SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026).

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme predominantly investing in the highest rated corporate bonds: at least 80% of total assets in AA+ and above rated corporate bonds.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

On the Projected Corpus Trajectory, the age at which your corpus reaches its highest value before withdrawals overtake growth, and the age at which it would run out, if it does before life expectancy. Example: peaks at about ₹7.92 crore at age 71 and depletes around age 84.8.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

The other Crisis Rule. Instead of forcing a full draw from Growth, Corridor-Cut permanently lowers Safety's own spending target - inflated forward one year, a haircut applied, then clamped so it can never fall below your Absolute Spending Floor. Example: a checkpoint can't be fully funded, so a ₹1,20,000/month target is permanently cut by 20% to ₹96,000/month (or the Spending Floor, whichever is higher) - and stays at that new, lower level going forward, not just for one year.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The percentage by which Safety's spending target is permanently reduced the moment Corridor-Cut fires. Default: 20%. Example: an inflation-adjusted target of ₹1,20,000/month becomes ₹96,000/month after a 20% haircut is applied.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

Spending that responds to how the corpus is doing – cutting in bad stretches and raising in good ones – instead of a fixed, inflation-only withdrawal that ignores the corpus entirely.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

How far the guardrails sit either side of the IWR, as a percentage of the IWR, and also the size of each spending cut or raise. Example: 20%.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

The fixed, negative return forced onto Growth for every year inside the Crash Window when Stress Test is switched on. Default: -15% per year. Example: across the default 3-year Crash Window, Growth loses roughly 39% cumulatively (1 - 0.85³), regardless of what its own average return or volatility would otherwise have produced.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The specific years during which the Stress Test's fixed crash return applies to Growth. Default: Years 2 through 4 of retirement. Example: with the default window, Growth's own return is overridden by the Crash Return for Years 2, 3, and 4, then reverts to normal from Year 5 onward.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The chance that a company or institution that issued a bond does not pay back on time. Credit risk funds deliberately take it for higher yield.

Used in: Risk Profiling

An open-ended debt scheme predominantly investing in lower rated corporate bonds: at least 65% of total assets in AA and below rated corporate bonds (excluding AA+). It carries higher credit risk than a Corporate Bond Fund.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

The toggle deciding which of the two rules above applies whenever a checkpoint can't be fully funded by Income alone. Example: switching this from Capitulation to Corridor-Cut changes what happens the next time B2 can't cover B1's full need, without changing anything else about the simulation.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

Your plan on steady returns: fix two of SIP, return and time, and the lab calculates the third, your age at the target and the split between amount invested and wealth gained. Example: ₹25,000 a month at 12% reaches ₹1 crore at about age 43 years 10 months; ₹41.5 lakh is your money and about ₹59.5 lakh is wealth gained.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

Money you have already invested that counts toward the target from day one.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

What your household spends each month today, in today’s rupees; the calculator inflates it forward to your retirement age. Example: ₹1,00,000.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

D

The smoothed, no-volatility path in each bucket chart – what happens if every bucket earns exactly its average return every year. It shows the mechanics; the Monte Carlo Success Rate shows the odds.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab

The version of the same scheme bought directly from the fund house or a direct-plan platform, with no distributor commission and so a lower TER. The portfolio is identical.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

The fund's return in each separate, non-overlapping period of the calendar: each year, quarter, month or week, shown as a pair of bars per period, one for Fund A and one for Fund B on the same scale. It answers “how did the fund do in that particular year (or month) on its own?” and so shows how uneven returns really are, including the bad periods that an average hides. The latest bar is the current period so far (for example the year to date), not a full period. This page shows the last 10 years, 12 quarters, 24 months or 26 weeks. Example: if the NAV was ₹100 on 31 December 2023, ₹120 on 31 December 2024 and ₹114 on 31 December 2025, the bar for 2024 is +20.0% and the bar for 2025 is −5.0%, even though the fund is up 14% over the two years taken together. Tip: hover over (or touch) any pair of bars to see both exact values. Value labels on the bars appear only when there is room; the hover always shows them.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

An open-ended equity scheme predominantly investing in dividend-yielding stocks. At least 80% of total assets must be in equity and equity-related instruments (the minimum was 65% before SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026).

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

The fall in the value of an investment from a peak to a later low, usually shown as a percentage. The question about the loss at which you would sell is a drawdown question.

Used in: Risk Profiling

An open-ended dynamic asset allocation scheme investing in equity and debt only, with the equity and debt mix changed dynamically by the fund manager according to the fund's own model.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended dynamic debt scheme investing across duration, so the fund manager can move between short and long maturities as interest rate views change.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

E

Equity Linked Savings Schemes lock every investment, including each SIP instalment, for three years. ELSS gives a Section 80C deduction only under the old tax regime.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

An open-ended scheme with attributes in accordance with the Equity Linked Saving Scheme, 2005 notified by the Ministry of Finance (including a 3-year lock-in and tax benefit under Section 80C, where the old tax regime is chosen). At least 80% of total assets must be in equity and equity-related instruments.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

Shares of companies, held directly or through equity mutual funds. Equity has the highest long-term growth potential and the largest short-term swings.

Used in: Risk Profiling

Equity funds plus the equity part of your hybrid funds, counted at typical proportions for each hybrid category (for example, about 50% for a balanced advantage fund and 75% for an aggressive hybrid fund). This is the figure compared with your risk profile. Example: 95.2%.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

An open-ended scheme investing in equity, arbitrage and debt: at least 65% of total assets in equity and equity-related instruments, net equity exposure of 15% to 40%, and at least 10% in debt. The maximum arbitrage exposure and the minimum hedged and unhedged exposure are stated in the scheme document.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

The Total Expense Ratio is the yearly fee a fund charges, as a percentage of your investment. It is deducted from the fund's value every day before the NAV is published, so you never see a separate bill. A fund's TER can change from month to month, so always check the latest factsheet. Example: 1.65%.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

F

The monthly amount being withdrawn in the last year of the simulated path, or in the year the corpus ran out.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

Debt-type investments such as debt mutual funds, bank deposits and bonds that aim to give steadier returns. They are not risk-free: debt funds carry interest-rate and credit risk.

Used in: Risk Profiling

An open-ended dynamic equity scheme investing across large cap, mid cap and small cap stocks, with at least 65% of total assets in equity and equity-related instruments and no fixed split between the three.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme predominantly investing in floating rate instruments (including fixed rate instruments converted to floating rate through swaps or derivatives): at least 65% of total assets.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended equity scheme investing in a maximum of 30 stocks and stating where it intends to focus (multi cap, large cap, mid cap or small cap). At least 80% of total assets must be in equity and equity-related instruments (the minimum was 65% before SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026).

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended fund of funds scheme investing at least 95% of total assets in the units of one or more underlying domestic mutual fund schemes.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended fund of funds scheme investing at least 95% of total assets in an underlying overseas fund or funds.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

G

Formula: Value if Not Redeemed − value now − amount received. Above zero means staying invested would have left you better off. Example: you redeemed 1,000 units at a NAV of ₹50 and received ₹50,000; the NAV today is ₹80, so those units would be worth ₹80,000 and the gain from staying invested is ₹30,000 (before exit load and tax).

Used in: Redemption Analysis

An open-ended debt scheme investing in government securities across maturities: at least 80% of total assets in G-secs.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme investing in government securities with a constant maturity of 10 years: at least 80% of total assets in G-secs, with the portfolio Macaulay duration equal to 10 years.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

The goal each fund is meant for, such as Retirement, a Child’s Education or an Emergency Fund. It shows how much money sits behind each goal and flags emergency money held in equity-oriented funds.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

Passive exchange traded funds that invest in gold or silver, so their value follows the price of the metal. AMFI lists them under Other Schemes.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

H

The total of the eight scored checks, out of 100: 80 and above is Healthy, 60–79 needs a tune-up, 40–59 needs attention and below 40 calls for a full review. If you choose "Not sure yet" for your risk profile, the asset-allocation check is skipped and the score is scaled to the remaining checks.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

A fund that invests in both equity and debt, in a fixed or changing mix. Conservative, Balanced Advantage and Aggressive Hybrid funds differ in how much equity they hold.

Used in: Risk Profiling

I

Open-ended schemes that replicate or track a particular index and invest at least 95% of total assets in the securities of that index. Index funds are bought from the fund house; ETFs trade on stock exchanges.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

In a worse-than-typical market (the 10th percentile), the age at which the corpus could run out. Example: around age 77–78, about 27–28 years into retirement.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

Your first year’s withdrawal as a percentage of the Pooled Corpus – the centre point the guardrails are set around. Example: ₹12,00,000 ÷ ₹2.5 crore = 4.80%.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

L

An open-ended equity scheme predominantly investing in large cap stocks: at least 80% of total assets in large caps. Large caps are the top 100 companies by full market capitalisation, as listed half-yearly by AMFI (clause 2.7 of SEBI's Master Circular).

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended equity scheme investing in both large cap and mid cap stocks: at least 35% in large caps and at least 35% in mid caps.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

A category introduced by SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026: an open-ended fund with a pre-determined maturity and a glide path for goal-based investing, across equity, debt, InvITs, exchange traded commodity derivatives (gold and silver only) and gold and silver ETFs. The equity share falls as maturity nears (for example, in a 15-year fund 65% to 80% with 10 to 15 years to go and 5% to 20% in the last year). The maturity year is part of the name (for example Life Cycle Fund 2045), and an exit load of 3% applies within one year, 2% within two years and 1% within three years.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended liquid scheme investing in debt and money market securities with a maturity of up to 91 days only.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme where the Macaulay duration of the portfolio is greater than 7 years.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

The withdrawal rate above which spending is cut: if a year’s inflation-adjusted withdrawal would be more than this share of the corpus, that year’s spending is reduced by the Corridor Width. Example: 4.80% × 1.2 = 5.76%.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

M

Whether, on any day, the value of your units was lower than the total you had invested up to then, and the largest such shortfall, shown in rupees and as a percentage of the amount invested till that day. Example: if you had put in ₹3,00,000 and on one day your units were worth ₹2,55,000, the dip is ₹45,000, or 15%.

Used in: SIP Backtest Tool

The biggest fall the fund has seen from a high point to a later low point, measured since the fund began. It is not a fall over a fixed period: it takes the highest NAV reached so far (the peak), looks for the lowest NAV that came after it (the low), and reports the fall between the two as a percentage, with both dates. It answers “if I had bought at the very worst moment, how much would I have been down at the deepest point?” and so shows how bumpy the ride can get. It says nothing about how long the fund took to recover. Example: a fund's NAV rises to ₹100 (the peak), then falls to ₹70 (the low) over the next few months, then climbs to ₹120, and later dips to ₹96. The first fall is 30% (100 to 70) and the second is 20% (120 to 96). The Max Drawdown is the larger one, −30%, with the peak date of ₹100 as Begin and the date of ₹70 as End.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · SIP Backtest Tool

The typical corpus value on your target date across all trials, in future and today’s rupees.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

The date by which half of all trials have reached the target: the “typical market” answer.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

An open-ended medium term debt scheme where the Macaulay duration of the portfolio is between 3 years and 4 years (1 year to 4 years under an anticipated adverse situation, when the fund manager may shorten duration by up to one year).

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended medium to long term debt scheme where the Macaulay duration of the portfolio is between 4 years and 7 years (1 year to 7 years under an anticipated adverse situation).

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended equity scheme predominantly investing in mid cap stocks: at least 65% of total assets in mid caps, which are the companies ranked 101st to 250th by full market capitalisation.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme investing in money market instruments with a maturity of up to 1 year.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

How far your corpus falls short of a fully secured plan, and what it would take to build a Monte Carlo-secure corpus – a later retirement age, a lower target expense or a higher SIP.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

The success rate placed on a four-band scale: Vulnerable (0–69%), Resilient (70–79%), Optimal (80–89%) and On Track (Secure) (90–100%), each with its own meaning and recommended action.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

The success rate placed on a four-band scale: Vulnerable (0–69%), Resilient (70–79%), Optimal (80–89%) and On Track (Secure) (90–100%), each with its own meaning and recommended action.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

A fixed rupee amount added to your monthly SIP every 12 months. Example: ₹25,000 with a ₹2,500 step-up becomes ₹27,500 in Year 2 and ₹30,000 in Year 3.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

An open-ended scheme investing in at least three asset classes (for example equity, debt, gold), with a minimum of 10% in each. Foreign securities are not counted as a separate asset class.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

What you already hold in Equity (stocks and mutual funds), EPF, NPS, Fixed Deposits and Miscellaneous assets, each grown separately at its own return to your retirement age. All amounts start at ₹0, so enter your own values. Example: ₹1 crore in equity grows to about ₹3.11 crore in 10 years at 12%.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Corridor Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab · Advance Retirement Planning

An open-ended equity scheme investing across large cap, mid cap and small cap stocks, with at least 75% of total assets in equity and equity-related instruments, split as at least 25% each in large cap, mid cap and small cap companies.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

N

The same starting corpus, expense and exact same sequence of returns, but with a plain fixed, inflation-only withdrawal – no cut, no raise, no floor. Because both paths share one random sequence, any difference is due to the corridor rule alone. Example: in one simulated path the corridor corpus survived to age 90 while the baseline ran out at age 88.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

A nominal target is a fixed rupee amount in the future; a today’s-value target grows with inflation so it keeps the same buying power. Example: ₹1 crore in today’s value becomes about ₹2.2 crore in 14 years at 6% inflation.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

Your portfolio with every redemption taken out of the statement, so the redeemed units stay invested to the statement date. Everything else stays as it happened.

Used in: Redemption Analysis

O

A single extra investment, such as a bonus or RSU vest, added at the end of a chosen year. Example: ₹5 lakh at the end of Year 3.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

Exchange traded funds that are not index funds and not gold or silver ETFs, as classified by AMFI.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme investing in overnight securities, which have a maturity of 1 day. It may keep up to 5% of net assets in G-secs and T-bills of up to 30 days residual maturity as margin and collateral.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

P

The Pessimistic (P10) date is the date by which 90% of all trials have reached the target – the one to plan around if you want 90% confidence. The Optimistic (P90) date is reached only by the fastest 10% of trials.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

Your whole retirement corpus treated as one undivided pot that all withdrawals come from; synced with your Available Corpus by default. Example: ₹2.5 crore.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

Six wealth marks on your Portfolio Journey: ₹5 L, ₹15 L, ₹25 L, ₹50 L, ₹75 L and ₹1 Cr. A green flag marks the first date your Market Value reached each one in the period shown, and the Milestone journey tiles show that date, the time taken from the start of the period, Invested (Total put in) and Gained (Total value created minus Total put in) on that date, and the gap from the previous milestone. Example: a portfolio that reached ₹25 L in 12 yrs 2 mths and ₹50 L 4 yrs 5 mths later shows how compounding shortens the time between later milestones.

Used in: Portfolio Health Advanced

The share of stocks two funds hold in common. This page checks overlap by category only; a personal review can measure true stock-level overlap from each fund's holdings.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

Histograms of where the 1,000 simulated corpora land, one year into retirement and at life expectancy, drawn on a log scale so both small and very large outcomes stay visible; a red bar counts trials that ended at ₹0. Example: one year into retirement (age 51), the P10 / P50 / P90 corpus is about ₹3.81 / ₹4.40 / ₹5.05 crore.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

R

The name of the portfolio style that goes with your profile, such as Balanced Portfolio or Aggressive Portfolio. It is a broad direction, not a list of funds or percentages.

Used in: Risk Profiling

Selling units of a fund for money paid to your bank, in one go or through a Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP). Switches and Systematic Transfer Plans (STPs) move money between your own funds, so they are not counted as redemptions; nor are IDCW reinvestment, transmission or merger entries.

Used in: Redemption Analysis

A “what if you had never sold” view of your portfolio. Every redemption (one-shot or SWP) is taken out of your statement, so those units stay invested to the statement date and are valued at AMFI NAVs; switches, STPs and IDCW payouts stay as they happened. Formula: Value if Not Redeemed = value now + units redeemed × NAV on the statement date; Gain from Staying Invested = Value if Not Redeemed − value now − amount received. Example: you redeemed 1,000 units at a NAV of ₹50 and received ₹50,000; the NAV today is ₹80, so those units would be worth ₹80,000 and the gain from staying invested is ₹30,000 (before exit load and tax). It has its own page: Redemption Analysis.

Used in: Portfolio Health Advanced

The year Safety is topped back up to its full target. It also fires early if Safety runs dry before its scheduled year, and Growth’s own top-up of Income is deferred and rechecked each year if Growth’s return that year does not clear the B3 Refill Threshold.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

Instead of draining each bucket in turn, Safety (B1) runs down on its own for a full cycle of its own years of expense, then a refill checkpoint tops it back up from Income (B2), and Income from Growth (B3) – so the waterfall is rebalanced on a schedule rather than never. Example: with B1 = 3 years, a checkpoint fires every 3rd year.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The minimum return Growth must post in a checkpoint year before it's allowed to top up Income at all - this is the circuit breaker that protects Growth from selling at a loss just to hit a schedule. Default: 0%, meaning any positive return clears it. Example: with the default 0% threshold, a checkpoint year where Growth returns -3% skips the Growth-to-Income refill entirely that year, even though Income needs it - the refill is deferred and rechecked the following year.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The side-by-side panel comparing the 1,000-trial Monte Carlo Success Rate with Refill against the plain waterfall on the identical starting buckets and assumptions, so you can see whether scheduled refills help or hurt your particular setup. Example: around 70% with Refill vs. around 71% for the plain waterfall at the defaults.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The lump sum you need on the day you retire to fund your inflation-rising expenses until life expectancy, while the remaining corpus keeps earning its return. It uses the Fisher real rate of return and an annuity-due present value (withdrawals at the start of each month) – the same calculation as the Retirement Corpus Required (RCR) in the Advance Retirement Calculator. Example: ₹2,32,00,706 for the default plan.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Corridor Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

The lump sum you need on the day you retire to fund your inflation-rising expenses until life expectancy, while the remaining corpus keeps earning the post-retirement return. It uses the Fisher real rate of return and an annuity-due present value (withdrawals at the start of each month) – see the worked example in the methodology section below. Example: ₹4.49 crore at age 50.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

A discontinued category. Retirement Funds were solution-oriented schemes with a lock-in of 5 years or till retirement age, whichever was earlier. SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026 discontinued the solution-oriented category with immediate effect: existing schemes must stop all subscriptions and be merged with another scheme of similar asset allocation and risk profile, with SEBI's prior approval.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

Your TFLA as a percentage of your RCR, placed on a four-band scale: Vulnerable (below 50%), Resilient (50–79%), Robust / Optimal (80–100%) and On Track (Secure) (above 100%). Example: ₹4.23 crore ÷ ₹4.49 crore = 94%, Robust / Optimal.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

How much of a fall your finances can absorb without hurting your goals. It depends on your age, income stability, expenses, savings and how soon you need the money. Your risk capacity and your risk tolerance can differ, and a sound profile respects the lower of the two.

Used in: Risk Profiling

A dot plot that puts return against risk. Each dot (Fund A, Fund B, BSE Sensex, Nifty 50, Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250) sits at its trailing return (up) and its standard deviation (across) for the period you pick: 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 years, or since launch. The higher and further to the left a dot is, the better the return for the swing taken. Example: a fund at 22% standard deviation and 18% return, next to the Nifty 50 at 14% and 12%, has earned more but also been bumpier.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

Six numbers that describe how bumpy the ride was, all worked out from the fund's calendar-month returns over the lookback window you pick: 3, 5 or 10 years (3 years to start with) (the return from one month-end NAV to the next; the running month is left out).

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

A description of how much investment risk suits you, based on your financial situation and your attitude to losses. This tool uses five: Conservative, Balanced, Growth, Aggressive and Very Aggressive.

Used in: Risk Profiling

The total of the points from your ten answers, out of 100. A higher score means a higher risk profile. Example: 52 out of 100.

Used in: Risk Profiling

The formal questionnaire that an investment firm completes with you before it advises or sells you products. This free tool does not replace it.

Used in: Risk Profiling

How much of a fall in the value of your investments you are willing to accept without panicking or selling. It is about feelings and behaviour.

Used in: Risk Profiling

The annualised return over a fixed holding period (3, 5, 7 or 10 years), calculated again for every day the index has history for, each time looking back that many years from that day. The result is a line showing what an investor would have earned whichever day they had started, so it removes the luck of the start date. Beside the line the page shows the average, the median, the best and worst outcome, and the share of days on which the return was positive. Example: for a 3-year rolling return, the point on 15 March 2024 is the yearly return from 15 March 2021 to 15 March 2024; the point on 16 March 2024 uses 16 March 2021 to 16 March 2024, and so on. If the average is +15.97% and the worst is −6.40%, then most 3-year holders earned about 16% a year, but someone who started on the worst day lost about 6.4% a year. A period is shown only if the index is old enough: 10-year rolling returns need more than 10 years of levels.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

How many times the corridor cut or raised spending over the retirement in that simulated path. Example: 30 adjustments – 30 cuts and 0 raises.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

S

The monthly amount drawn from the corpus in the first year of retirement, equal to your monthly expense at retirement and rising with post-retirement inflation after that. Example: ₹1,79,085 a month.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

The three buckets. Safety holds the nearest years of spending in low-risk assets; Income holds the next few years in steadier, income-oriented assets; Growth holds the rest, invested for the long run and not touched until the other two are used.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

The risk label that SEBI requires on every mutual fund scheme. It has six levels: Low, Low to Moderate, Moderate, Moderately High, High and Very High. This tool shows the level that matches your profile; for the two highest, it shows “High / Very High”. Example: Moderate Risk for a Growth Investor.

Used in: Risk Profiling

A category added by SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026: an open-ended debt scheme investing at least 80% of total assets in debt and debt-related instruments of one named sector, across duration, only in AA+ and above rated corporate bonds. Permitted sectors: Financial Services, Energy, Infrastructure, Housing and Real Estate.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended equity scheme investing at least 80% of total assets in equity and equity-related instruments of one sector (Sectoral Fund) or of one theme (Thematic Fund); a theme may combine two or more sectors. Since SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026 the two are separate categories. Launches must follow the sector and theme list that AMFI publishes half-yearly with SEBI, and a scheme's portfolio overlap with other sectoral/thematic schemes and other equity categories (except large cap) must stay within 50%, measured quarterly.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

Holding two or more funds within the same diversified SEBI category. SEBI categories do not overlap, but funds inside one category follow a similar mandate and usually own many of the same stocks, so extra funds add tracking effort more than diversification.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

Compares the value of what you are actually investing (existing assets plus current SIP) with the goal cost as it rises toward your retirement date, and reports the monthly shortfall, the value gap and when your current plan would actually reach the goal. Example: at this pace the goal is met in about 10.9 years instead of 10.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

An open-ended short term debt scheme investing in debt and money market instruments such that the Macaulay duration of the portfolio is between 1 year and 3 years.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

One real simulated market sequence, drawn from your average return and volatility, showing the corpus year by year with every guardrail trigger marked.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

The yearly return (CAGR) from the first closing value available for an index to the latest one, so indices with a longer history can be compared with younger ones on a per-year basis. Example: a level of 1,000 in 2005 and 24,000 today over about 21.5 years is about 15.7% a year. The start date is shown under each figure.

Used in: Index Analysis Tool

Systematic Investment Plan: a fixed amount invested at regular intervals, here every month. Example: ₹5,000 a month.

Used in: SIP Backtest Tool

How your monthly SIPs are spread, shown separately for funds serviced by CAMS and by KFintech: by asset class (Equity, Hybrid, Debt, Gold & Silver), by fund category, by fund house (AMC) or by scheme. Example: SIPs of ₹4,800 a month in CAMS funds and ₹7,700 in KFintech funds make a total of ₹12,500; if ₹3,600 of the CAMS SIPs go to equity funds, Equity is 75% of the CAMS SIPs.

Used in: Portfolio Health Advanced

What a monthly SIP of ₹1,000 would have become in each fund over a trailing duration that ends today (5 years at first; YTD, 3 months, 6 months, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years or the period both funds cover can be chosen): one instalment on the same date every month from the start of that duration (or from the fund's first NAV if the fund is younger), each buying units at that day's NAV. The chart shows the total invested against the value of the units day by day, and the cards below it show total invested, current value, profit or loss, Max Drawdown (the worst fall of the fund's NAV from a peak to a later low during the SIP, with both dates and the time between them), XIRR (the yearly return that accounts for the date of every instalment) and the Wealth Multiplier (current value divided by total invested). Both funds get the same SIP amount, duration and dates, so the cards can be read side by side. Stamp duty, exit load and taxes are not included.

Used in: Fund Comparison Tool

The starting monthly SIP, with the same step-up and lumpsums, that would make 90% of the same 1,000 market paths reach the target in time. Example: roughly ₹39,000–40,000 for the default plan.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

The monthly SIP, or the single investment made today, that would build the full RCR by retirement on its own, ignoring what you already hold – a measure of the size of the goal. Example: ₹2,00,419 a month, or ₹1.45 crore today, at 12% over 10 years.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

The extra monthly SIP needed to close the deficit, or the amount you are investing beyond what is needed. Example: ₹11,787 a month more closes the ₹26.41 lakh gap.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

An open-ended equity scheme predominantly investing in small cap stocks: at least 65% of total assets in small caps, which are the companies ranked 251st onwards by full market capitalisation.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

A year in which the withdrawal is 20% below (cut) or 20% above (raise) that year’s inflation-adjusted baseline; every other year simply keeps pace with inflation. Example: a ₹1,50,000-a-month target in a cut year is paid as ₹1,20,000.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

How widely the monthly returns swing around their average, shown per year (monthly figure × √12). The higher it is, the bumpier the ride. Example: 20.5% means the index's yearly return has typically moved about 20 percentage points either side of its average.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

The date you reach the target if the expected return arrives smoothly every year, with no volatility – the answer a typical calculator gives.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

A number that tracks how a basket of shares has moved. The BSE Sensex follows 30 large companies; the Nifty 50 follows 50 large companies; the Nifty Midcap 150, Smallcap 250, LargeMidcap 250 and Nifty 500 follow broader or smaller-company baskets. An index has no “price per unit” to pay: it is a level, and a rise from 24,000 to 24,240 is a 1% gain. This page shows the latest closing level of the index you pick, with the previous close and the 52-week low and high.

Used in: Check Index Price

An optional toggle that forces Growth through a fixed, scripted market crash for a set number of years, instead of letting it draw its usual average or randomized return during that window - used specifically to see how each Crisis Rule behaves under a genuine downturn rather than an average one.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The equity share that usually suits each risk profile on this site: Conservative up to 20%, Balanced 20–40%, Growth 40–60%, Aggressive 60–80% and Very Aggressive above 80%. These are the same ranges used in the Risk Profiling questionnaire.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

TFLA minus RCR: a positive figure means your projected corpus already exceeds what you need; a negative one is the gap still to close. Example: a deficit of ₹26.41 lakh.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

T

The amount you want to accumulate. Example: ₹1,00,00,000 (₹1 crore); you can set any amount from ₹10 lakh to ₹10 crore.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

The number of years before you need the money. The longer it is, the more time equity has to recover from a fall.

Used in: Risk Profiling

How long you give the plan, in years from today. Example: calculated as 13 years 10 months for the default plan.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

The combined value of every asset class and your ongoing SIP at your retirement age. Example: ₹3.11 crore from equity + ₹1.12 crore from the SIP = ₹4.23 crore.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

On the Portfolio Journey chart, all the money you have put into your funds up to each date. Formula: Total put in = value of the portfolio at the start of the period shown (only when the period starts after your first investment) + every purchase and SIP up to that date (stamp duty included). Switches and STPs between your own funds are left out, as they only move money inside the portfolio. Example: a ₹1,00,000 lump sum plus a ₹10,000 SIP for 12 months gives Total put in = 1,00,000 + 12 × 10,000 = ₹2,20,000.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

An index that also counts the dividends its shares pay, as if reinvested, so it grows slightly faster than the price index. It is the fair comparison for a growth-option fund, whose NAV includes reinvested dividends. Choose it in the Return basis option of the input card.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

What the money you put in has become by each date, counting money you have already taken home. Formula: Total value created = market value on that date + all redemptions + all IDCW paid out to your bank, up to that date. The gap between Total value created and Total put in is your total gain. Example: with the ₹2,20,000 above, if you redeemed ₹50,000, received ₹5,000 of IDCW and the funds are worth ₹2,10,000 today, Total value created = 2,10,000 + 50,000 + 5,000 = ₹2,65,000, so your total gain = 2,65,000 − 2,20,000 = ₹45,000.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

How much the index level has grown over a fixed period that ends today (the latest level date), such as the last 1 month, 6 months, 1 year or 3 years. It answers “what did the index give me if I had put in a lump sum exactly that long ago?” It is measured on the index's own level, so it is not your SIP return. Up to 1 year the figure is the plain (absolute) gain; beyond 1 year it is shown per year (annualised, also called CAGR) so that a 3-year and a 5-year figure can be compared. YTD means from the last 31 December to today. Example 1: the level was 100 a year ago and is 113.91 today, so the 1-year trailing return is +13.91%. Example 2: the level was 100 three years ago and is 141.1 today; the index gained 41.1% in total, which is about 12.16% a year, so the 3-year trailing return is shown as +12.16%. Limitation: every trailing return ends today, so an index that had a great or terrible last few months looks very different from the same index a quarter earlier.

Used in: Mutual Fund Analysis Tool · Fund Comparison Tool · Index Analysis Tool

U

An open-ended ultra-short term debt scheme (AMFI lists it as Ultra Short Duration) investing in debt and money market instruments such that the Macaulay duration of the portfolio is between 3 months and 6 months.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

An open-ended debt scheme investing in debt and money market instruments such that the Macaulay duration of the portfolio is between 6 months and 12 months. It takes the place of the earlier Low Duration Fund category, which AMFI's list may still show.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

What each instalment buys: the amount divided by that day's NAV. Example: ₹5,000 at a NAV of ₹25 buys 200 units.

Used in: SIP Backtest Tool

The withdrawal rate below which spending is raised: if the corpus has grown so much that the withdrawal falls under this share, that year’s spending is increased by the Corridor Width. Example: 4.80% × 0.8 = 3.84%.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

V

An open-ended equity scheme following a value investment strategy. At least 80% of total assets must be in equity and equity-related instruments (the minimum was 65% before SEBI's circular of 26 February 2026). A fund house may now offer both a Value Fund and a Contra Fund if the portfolio overlap between them is at most 50%.

Source: SEBI category · SEBI circular, 26 Feb 2026

Formula: value now + units redeemed × NAV on the statement date.

Used in: Redemption Analysis

W

The withdrawal order used here: Safety (B1) is drained fully first, then Income (B2), then Growth (B3), with no money ever moved back between buckets.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

The month-by-month line chart of Amount Invested vs. Corpus Value, with a green flag each time the corpus crosses 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the target, and the time gap between milestones. It shows how compounding accelerates: the last quarter of the target usually arrives much faster than the first.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

Twelve marks from ₹5 L to ₹10 Cr, flagged on the chart when the no-redemption portfolio first reached each one.

For a full health check of your portfolio – Health Score, allocation, findings, costs and cashflow – use the Advanced Portfolio Health Check, or the Basic Quick Check for a two-minute check-up.

Used in: Redemption Analysis

The final corpus divided by the amount you invested: how many rupees each invested rupee becomes. Example: ₹1.01 crore from ₹41.5 lakh invested is a 2.43x multiplier.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab · SIP Backtest Tool

The shaded band showing the middle 80% of outcomes year by year, with the median, the steady-return line and your target line, in both nominal and today’s rupees.

Used in: Crorepati Strategy Lab

The average TER of your portfolio, where bigger holdings count for more. Only funds with a TER entered are included. Example: 1.39% for the example portfolio.

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced

Each asset’s return and volatility weighted by its share of the corpus – the single return and volatility the corpus as a whole is modelled with. Example: 10.57% return and 8.05% volatility.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Corridor Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

A sandbox that repeats four key Monte Carlo inputs (equity value, current SIP, post-retirement return and volatility) so you can test changes side by side without altering the main plan above.

Used in: Advance Retirement Planning

Each year’s inflation-adjusted target withdrawal divided by the corpus at the start of that year – the number compared with the two guardrails. The first year is never adjusted.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

The chart of each year’s checked withdrawal rate against the lower and upper guardrails, with a dot wherever a guardrail was crossed.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

X

Your true annual return, taking the date and size of every investment into account. It needs your transaction history, so this page calculates it when you upload a detailed CAS (or your Value Research history): for the whole portfolio and for each fund. (XIRR for each period from YTD to 10 years is in the Advanced edition.)

Used in: Portfolio Health Basic · Portfolio Health Advanced · Redemption Analysis · SIP Backtest Tool

Y

The full audit of a simulated path – starting corpus, baseline expense, guardrails, the withdrawal rate checked, the zone (Normal, Cut or Raise), the amount actually withdrawn and the closing corpus for every year.

Used in: Corridor Strategy Lab

How long each bucket paid for retirement before running out on a steady, average-return path, and the age at which it was depleted. Example: with 3 + 4 years of expense, Safety lasts to about age 53.3 and Income to age 60.

Used in: Bucket Strategy Lab · Refill Strategy Lab

A summary tile counting how many years across the full simulation triggered the Crisis zone - a quick way to see how often the Crisis Rule actually had to step in, without reading every row of the audit table.

Used in: Refill Strategy Lab

The period from the previous year’s 31 December close to your statement date.

Used in: Portfolio Health Advanced

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These explanations are for general education only and are not investment advice. Figures in examples are illustrative.