Give your parents the gap between what their household costs each month and what their own savings, rent or pension bring in, as long as it still leaves room for your own emergency fund and investing. A habit or a fixed percentage of your salary measures neither of these. For Kamala, on ₹34 lakh CTC, ₹30,000 a month to parents with no pension moves her own year of financial independence, her FI year, two to five years later, and their health cover comes before any increase in the amount.
Where does the monthly amount come from?
List your parents' monthly household costs: food, utilities, help at home, medicines and doctor visits, plus yearly bills such as property tax and repairs divided by 12. Then list what comes in without you: a pension, rent, interest on their savings, a sibling's share. The difference is the gap to cover. If their savings are also their only money for a hospital bill, count only the interest as income.
On your side, a fixed monthly sum for parents is a need, not a want, in the 50/30/20 split, so it ranks with your rent and EMIs in your family budget.
How much should Kamala send her parents in Madurai?
Kamala is 32 and earns ₹34 lakh CTC, about ₹2,00,500 a month in hand for FY 2026-27 under the new regime, with PF on her full wages rather than the ₹25,000 ceiling; the CTC to take home table shows the method. She sends ₹30,000 a month to her parents in Madurai, who are 66 and 61, have no pension and hold ₹12 lakh in savings. That is ₹3,60,000 a year, about 15% of her in hand.
Their household costs ₹37,000 a month, including ₹8,000 of medicines and doctor visits. Their ₹12 lakh, in deposits at an assumed 7% a year before tax (large banks paid senior citizens about 6.5% to 7.1% in October 2026), earns ₹84,000 a year, or ₹7,000 a month. The gap is ₹37,000 minus ₹7,000: ₹30,000. Her habit happens to match it.
The gap leaves out a hospital stay: with no health cover, the ₹12 lakh is also their only medical money. If a ₹5 lakh bill came out of it, the ₹7 lakh left would earn ₹49,000 a year, about ₹4,100 a month, and the gap would rise to about ₹32,900 for good, on top of whatever part of the bill Kamala had to find that week.
So the first rupees of any increase go to health insurance for parents, not to the monthly transfer. Her quote for ₹10 lakh of cover for both is ₹90,000 a year, ₹7,500 a month; for a couple of these ages, quotes run from about ₹60,000 to ₹1,20,000 a year in 2026, by insurer, city and health.
Since April 2024, IRDAI's rules set no upper age for buying a health policy, so her father can still apply at 66, though an insurer can ask for tests, load the premium or decline; the wait for pre-existing illnesses is at most 36 months. Health insurance for parents over 60 covers co-pay and waits. With the premium, her support comes to ₹37,500 a month.
What does ₹30,000 a month do to Kamala's FI year?
Kamala spends ₹90,000 a month on herself and has ₹20 lakh invested. Without the support she could invest ₹1,10,000 a month; with it, ₹80,000. In the FI calculator at age 32, at its default assumptions as of October 2026 (a 12% yearly return before FI, 6% inflation and monthly investing raised 5% a year):
| Monthly to parents | Spending entered | Invested a month | FI year (age) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing | ₹90,000 | ₹1,10,000 | 2039 (45) |
| ₹30,000, ending before her FI | ₹90,000 | ₹80,000 | 2041 (47) |
| ₹30,000, counted to her age 85 | ₹1,20,000 | ₹80,000 | 2044 (50) |
| ₹37,500 with cover, to her age 85 | ₹1,27,500 | ₹72,500 | 2045 (51) |
The calculator counts spending until age 85, so the rows bracket the answer. Support that stops before her FI costs about two years; support counted to her age 85, an upper bound with parents now 66 and 61, costs five. Her real year sits in between. The premium adds about one more year at the upper bound.
At ₹20 lakh CTC the same ₹30,000 is about 23% of ₹1,29,800 in hand and leaves ₹99,800 for everything else; at ₹40 lakh it is 13% of ₹2,29,100. Put your own spending, support included, into the FI calculator to see the year you could be financially independent.
When should the amount change?
Review the cost of supporting parents once a year, from their side rather than yours. Their costs rise with prices: at an assumed 6% a year, ₹37,000 becomes about ₹49,500 in five years, and since medicines usually rise faster, that is a floor.
It also changes when their income does: a deposit renewed at a lower rate, a sibling who starts sharing, or savings drawn down after a bill. If the gap grows past what fits after your own investing, the next question is how large a corpus your parents have and how long it lasts, which parents' retirement corpus works out. The tax side is in money sent to parents.
Dhi looks at your cash flow, net worth, protection and goals together, so support for parents sits in the same picture as your own investments and FI year. Dhi answers questions like this from your own numbers and nudges when something needs attention.
Frequently asked questions
This is general information for salaried individuals in India, not personalised financial advice.
