Pitch Decoder India: Find the Real Yearly Return Behind a Money Pitch

Start test →

Someone has handed you a brochure that says you will get Rs 11 lakh back. The number sounds large, but you paid in for years, and the page does not say what that works out to each year. By the end of this guide you will be able to fill in Pitch Decoder, read the yearly return it computes, understand the comparison and the haircut cases, and use the red-flag questions.

One thing first. This guide describes what the page computes from the numbers you type. It does not say whether any kind of product is good or bad, and it names no company or product.

What does Pitch Decoder do?

Pitch Decoder asks the question printed at the top of the page: "They say I will get Rs X: what is it really worth per year?" It takes your payments and the amounts you are promised, with their dates, and finds the single yearly rate at which they balance. The page calls this an annualised return. It then compares what you paid with what the same payments would have grown to at a benchmark rate you type, and it adds a red-flag check based on questions you answer.

Everything is worked from your numbers. The tool does not look up products, insurers or rates. Your numbers stay in your browser. It is a planning aid, not advice. Not reviewed by a Chartered Accountant.

For a different kind of comparison, where two ways of paying are set side by side, see Cash vs Loan: Pay Upfront or Take EMI. The other tools in this family sit in the investing tools hub.

How is the form laid out?

The page has three steps, shown as a progress strip: 1. The pitch, 2. The return and 3. Red flags (this one is optional). Press Next step to move on, or Edit on a closed step to go back. Decode pitch at the bottom becomes Recalculate once there is an answer. The button Use example numbers fills in an endowment case so you can see the answer first, and Reset empties the boxes.

Step 1: What was the pitch?

Start with Pitch or product template. The six choices are:

• Endowment policy (a fixed amount plus a bonus part)
• Money-back policy (survival benefits)
• ULIP (a market-linked illustration)
• Chit fund (bids and dividends)
• Fixed-term scheme (deposit and lump sum)
• Custom cash flows

The rest of step 1 depends on the choice.

Endowment, money-back and ULIP ask for:

• Start date.
• Premium frequency: yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly.
• Premium amount per installment, in rupees. The page writes the amount in words under the box so you can catch a missing digit.
• Payment years, how long you pay.
• Total term (years), how long until the end.

Chit fund asks for the start date, the Chit fund total value and the Number of months (members).

Fixed-term scheme asks for the start date, the Payment amount per month and the Payment duration (months).

Custom cash flows shows rows with a date, an amount and a choice between a fixed amount and an Illustrated one. The page says: "Enter negative amounts for payments made by you, positive for amounts received." Press + Add Row for more. You need at least two rows.

Step 2: What do you receive?

Again it depends on the template.

• Endowment: two boxes. One is the maturity amount fixed in the illustration. The other is Total maturity amount in the illustration including the bonus part. Type the total there, not the bonus on its own. If the total is below the fixed amount, the tool refuses the entries and shows no answer.
• Money-back: the maturity amount fixed in the illustration, and the box for the addition shown on top (not the total).
• ULIP: one or more Illustration lines. Each has an Assumed gross rate (for example 0.08) and a Fund value at maturity. Press + Add illustration line for more.
• Chit fund: the Foreman commission rate (0.05 for 5%), a tick box Members who already won pay the full installment with the note "Your installment is reduced by your share of the dividend.", and the Selected winning month to inspect. The page applies one fixed bid share to every month, and there is no box to change it.
• Fixed-term scheme: the Promised lump sum return and the Maturity month.
• Custom cash flows: nothing more, because the rows were set in step 1.

Step 3: Benchmark, inflation and red flags

Step 3 is optional, but the comparison and the flags live here.

• Benchmark name and Annual rate. Type the rate as a decimal, for example 0.07 for 7%. The tool has no default rates, so the comparison exists only when you type one.
• Inflation assumption, optional, for example 0.06. The page keeps it with the numbers you entered. This guide does not show an inflation-adjusted result because the page does not show one.
• Red flags checklist. A set of Yes, No or Not sure questions that depends on the template. An example is "Were you pressed to decide quickly or told the offer ends soon?" Others ask whether you got a signed benefit illustration, whether a yearly rate was given, whether you were asked to pay a person or an account not in the company's or chit's registered name, and, for chit funds, whether the chit is registered with the state Registrar of Chits.

A flag is raised only for the answer that signals a problem. "Not sure" never raises a flag.

Type this: an endowment pitch

Click Use example numbers, or type the same by hand. Template Endowment policy, start 2025-01-01, premium frequency Yearly, premium Rs 50,000, payment years 12, total term 20. Fixed maturity amount Rs 7,00,000 and total maturity amount Rs 11,00,000. Benchmark: "7.00% fixed deposit", annual rate 0.07. Answer Yes to "Did the seller give you a yearly rate of return?" and Yes to the question about an amount that depends on bonuses being described as assured or sure.

The numbers below come from running the tool's own engine on these entries.

• Headline: "The yearly return on these payments is 4.19%". Under it: "Annualised internal rate of return (XIRR) based on typed cash flows."
• Comparison: "Compared to 7% fixed deposit: a bank deposit would have grown to Rs 16,45,633.48 (gap of Rs 5,45,633.48)."
• Total paid Rs 6,00,000. Total received Rs 11,00,000. Net gain Rs 5,00,000. Years to double 16.87 years, "At the computed yearly rate".
• Red flags detected (2): "The yearly return is below every comparison rate you entered." and "A figure that depends on bonuses was described as sure." The second carries a question to ask: which part of the amount is fixed and which part is not.
• What would change this answer: "If Bonus part (illustrated amounts) moves to 50% lower instead of As typed, the yearly return changes by -1.39%." and "If Every amount you receive moves to 10% lower instead of As typed, the yearly return changes by -0.73%."

The comparison table shows the figures behind the sentence: at 7%, the payments grow to Rs 16,45,633.48, the received side at the same date is Rs 11,00,000.00 and the gap is -Rs 5,45,633.48. The working note reads: "Under these numbers, what you receive ends Rs 5,45,633.48 lower than the same payments put at 7%, at the last date."

The Haircut scenarios table takes away part of the bonus part, row by row:

Scenario	Received	Yearly return
0% haircut	Rs 11,00,000.00	4.19%
25% haircut	Rs 10,00,000.00	3.53%
50% haircut	Rs 9,00,000.00	2.80%
Full haircut	Rs 7,00,000.00	1.06%

In the last row the whole bonus part is gone, so only the fixed amount is received. Seeing the return fall as the bonus part shrinks tells you how much of the pitch depends on the part that is not fixed.

Type this: a fixed-term scheme

Choose Fixed-term scheme. Start 2025-01-01, payment amount Rs 1,00,000 a month for 12 months, promised lump sum Rs 15,00,000 at month 36. Benchmark "7.00% fixed deposit" at 0.07, inflation 0.06. Answer Yes to "Do the returns depend on bringing in new members or deposits?" and No to the pressure question.

The engine gives:

• Headline: "The yearly return on these payments is 9.15%".
• Comparison: "Compared to 7% fixed deposit: a bank deposit would have grown to Rs 14,25,643.76 (gap of Rs 74,356.24)." The working note says this time that what you receive "ends Rs 74,356.24 higher than the same payments put at 7%, at the last date".
• Total paid Rs 12,00,000. Total received Rs 15,00,000. Net gain Rs 3,00,000. Years to double 7.91 years.
• One red flag: "Returns that depend on new members are a known risky pattern." with the question "Where do the payouts come from if no new person joins?"
• One "what would change" line: "If Every amount you receive moves to 10% lower instead of As typed, the yearly return changes by -4.42%."

Read this one carefully. A return above the benchmark does not clear the flag, because the flag comes from your answer to the question and not from the number. For this template the tool has another flag: "The promised yearly return is far above the comparison rates." It is raised when the return is more than 5 percentage points above your highest comparison rate, or above 17% if you typed none. That is a rule of thumb HeyArtha chose, not a legal finding. At 9.15% against 7% it was not raised here.

How do I read the answer?

• The headline is the yearly return. For a ULIP it reads "Under the first illustration line you typed, the net yearly return is" followed by the rate, so only the first line is in the headline. The other lines appear in the tables.
• The comparison sentence says what the same payments would have grown to at your benchmark, and the gap between that and the pitch.
• The tiles show total paid, total received, net gain (or net shortfall) and years to double at the computed rate.
• Red flags detected lists each raised flag, with an "Ask:" line where there is one. The Questions to ask in writing list gathers those questions so you can send them to the seller.
• What would change this answer shows single changes run on their own.

Some results are not a rate. If your payments only go one way, the page says: "These payments only go one way, so there is no yearly return to compute." If no yearly return between -99% and +1000% fits, it says so. If payments change direction more than once, it explains "Why there is no single rate": more than one rate can fit, so use the value at your benchmark rate instead.

What is in the tables and the working notes?

Two closed sections hold the detail. Comparison tables has the comparison table, the haircut scenarios and, for a chit fund, the Chit fund monthly table with month, net payout, yearly return and perspective. For a chit, the headline reads "Chit fund dividend and borrowing analysis". Working notes lists the steps in order: what you entered, the dated payments and receipts, the days from the first date, the equation, how the rate is found, the yearly return, a check and the comparison.

Under Assumptions the page prints four sentences. In short: the comparison is before tax, and some policy payouts are not taxed while bank interest is, so the policy can look worse here than it is; bonus-based amounts are not fixed; the policy also gives life cover and this return does not value it; and the comparison rates are the ones you entered. A fifth line says a maturity sum is outside tax only if the policy meets Schedule II, Table Sl. 2: for a policy issued on or after 1 April 2023 that is not unit-linked, the premium must be under 10 percent of the sum assured (15 percent for a special policy) and the total premium on all such policies under Rs 5,00,000; a sum received on death is outside these conditions.

How do I save or share the result?

Copy link puts your numbers after the "#" in the link. Save as image makes a share card, and Amounts hidden or Show amounts switches the figures on it. Download PDF opens once you have typed numbers. Reset clears the page.

What does Pitch Decoder not do?

• It does not say whether a product is right for you.
• It does not value life cover. The page says so.
• It compares before tax.
• It has no built-in rates. Every benchmark and inflation figure is yours.
• It cannot read a brochure. If the illustration is unclear, ask for the signed one.
• A chit fund result depends on the commission, the months and the bid share the page applies.
• If a number looks wrong, use the "Report something wrong" button in the page footer.

Last reviewed: October 2026. For other tools, see the HeyArtha guides and the calculators hub. How HeyArtha's tools are built is on the Methodology page.

When you read the number the brochure never printed, what is the first question you would put to the seller in writing?

Next in series: In-Hand Salary Calculator India: Every Field and Result.

Regulatory & Educational Disclaimer: The content on HeyArtha is published strictly for educational, career awareness, and personal reflection purposes. Nothing contained in this article constitutes financial, investment, legal, or taxation advice. We are not a SEBI-registered investment advisor or research analyst. Trading and investments in financial markets involve risk of capital loss. Always consult a certified professional before making financial commitments.