NPS, Simply: The E-C-G Ratio That Fits Your Age

When you open an NPS account, you split your money between three letters: E, C and G. This one choice affects your pension more than anything else on the form.

What is NPS?

A government-regulated retirement account. You invest while you work and get the money at 60.
You choose a pension fund (SBI, HDFC, ICICI and others) and how much goes into E, C and G.
At 60 you can take out up to 80%. On bigger accounts (above ₹12 lakh), at least 20% buys a monthly pension.
It costs about 0.3% a year — cheap.

For tax and exit rules, read my full NPS review. This post is only about the mix.

E, C and G in simple words

E – Equity: shares of big Indian companies. Grows the most, but can fall in a bad year.
C – Corporate bonds: loans to companies. Steady, small ups and downs.
G – Government bonds: loans to the government. Very safe, but returns are lower.

Here is what each one actually earned. Tap a period.

What each bucket earned

Tier 1, yearly return, as on 18 Sep 2026

Two things stand out:

Over 10 years, equity won — about 12% a year, against 7–7.5% for bonds.
Over the last year, equity lost. That is normal. It is why young people should hold more equity, and older people less.

The simple rule

Equity = 100 minus your age. At 30, that is 70% in E.

If a big market fall would make you invest more, add 10.
If it would make you want to stop, take off 15.
Put the rest in C and G, about 60:40. Corporate bonds beat government bonds at all six of the oldest pension funds over 1, 3 and 5 years.

The law caps equity at 75% until age 50, then 2.5 points less each year, down to 50% at 60.

Find your ratio

Move the sliders and pick your answer. The tool gives you the three numbers to enter.

Your NPS ratio

Your age You put in, per month

If your NPS fell 30% in one year, you would…

Type this into Active Choice today

Your account at 60, if you follow the rule every year

Pick the answer that is honestly you. A plan you stop after one bad year does worse than all three bars.

Don't want to do this yourself? Choose Auto Choice — it lowers your equity every year for you. BLC (Balanced) is the one I prefer, because it cuts equity slowly.

How much should you put in NPS?

Your employer offers NPS: take it, up to 14% of Basic + DA. It is not taxed as salary in either tax regime — the best part of NPS.
Old tax regime: ₹50,000 a year saves you up to ₹15,600 in tax.
New tax regime, no employer NPS: there is no tax benefit. Put in only what you are happy to lock away until 60.
Always: keep your emergency fund and goals before 60 outside NPS.

Don't cut equity after a bad year, and don't spend time chasing the best fund manager. The best and worst equity funds were only 1.4 points apart over 10 years. Your mix matters far more. Check it once a year and adjust it to the rule.

Sources

All figures above come from these, checked on 20 October 2026:

Pension fund-wise Tier 1 returns for Scheme E, C and G with benchmark returns, as on 18 September 2026 — compiled from NPS Trust data by HDFC Securities
Cross-checked against official NAVs: NPS Trust NAV file dated 16 October 2026 (npstrust.org.in) and the NPS Trust Tier 1 scheme return sheets as on 30 September 2025 for Scheme E, Scheme C and Scheme G
Active Choice equity cap of 75% until 50, reducing by 2.5 points a year to 50% at 60 — HDFC Pension, Kotak
Exit rules, costs, tax and the Auto Choice tables — see the sources in the NPS review

The projection uses the 10-year average of the six oldest pension funds (E 11.56%, C 7.52%, G 7.07%), minus the new 0.20% yearly charge. It ignores tax and is an illustration, not a forecast.