SIP Calculator — Calculate Your Investment Returns

A SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) is an investment method where you invest a fixed amount — say ₹5,000 — in a mutual fund every month on a specific date. The calculator uses the compound interest formula to estimate how your money will grow over time at an assumed rate of return.

The SIP calculator uses this formula: FV = P × [{(1 + r)^n – 1} / r] × (1 + r), where FV = Future Value (total corpus), P = Monthly SIP amount, r = Monthly rate of return (annual rate ÷ 12), n = Total number of monthly investments. So for ₹5,000/month for 20 years at 12% annual return: FV = ₹5,000 × [{(1.01)^240 – 1} / 0.01] × 1.01 ≈ ₹49.96 lakhs.

Important: The calculator shows projected returns based on an assumed rate. Actual returns from equity mutual funds vary year to year. Use 10-12% as a conservative assumption for equity funds over 10+ years, and 6-7% for debt funds. For retirement planning, always use a lower (conservative) assumption to avoid undersaving.

Important: The calculator shows projected returns based on an assumed rate. Actual returns from equity mutual funds vary year to year. Use 10-12% as a conservative assumption for equity funds over 10+ years, and 6-7% for debt funds. For retirement planning, always use a lower (conservative) assumption to avoid undersaving. This ensures you make the most informed decision possible when evaluating your options in the Indian financial market in 2026.

This is the most important concept in personal finance. Suppose Rahul starts investing ₹5,000/month at age 25, while Priya starts at 35. Both invest until age 60 at 12% expected returns. Rahul invests for 35 years: total invested = ₹21 lakhs, final corpus ≈ ₹3.24 crore. Priya invests for 25 years: total invested = ₹15 lakhs, final corpus ≈ ₹94.9 lakhs. Rahul invested only ₹6 lakhs more but ended up with ₹2.29 crore MORE — purely because of 10 extra years of compounding.

The later years of a long-term SIP are disproportionately valuable. In Rahul's 35-year SIP at 12%: the last 5 years contribute approximately ₹1.6 crore to the final corpus (nearly 50% of the total). This is why financial planners say the best time to start investing was yesterday, and the second best time is today.

This calculator can help you answer the critical question: 'How much do I need to invest monthly to reach ₹1 crore in 15 years?' — try ₹12,000/month at 12% returns in the calculator and see the projection.

This calculator can help you answer the critical question: 'How much do I need to invest monthly to reach ₹1 crore in 15 years?' — try ₹12,000/month at 12% returns in the calculator and see the projection. This ensures you make the most informed decision possible when evaluating your options in the Indian financial market in 2026.

Step 1 — Enter your monthly SIP amount: This is how much you plan to invest each month. Start with what you can afford comfortably — even ₹500/month in an index fund is meaningful. You can increase the amount when income grows (many platforms offer 'SIP Step-Up' to automatically increase monthly amount by 10% each year).

Step 2 — Set expected annual return rate: For equity mutual funds (large cap, index funds): use 10-12%. For mid/small cap funds: use 12-15% (higher expected returns, higher risk). For debt mutual funds: use 6-7%. For hybrid funds: use 8-10%. Be conservative in estimates — better to be pleasantly surprised than to undersave.

Step 3 — Enter investment duration: How many years will you continue the SIP? For retirement: use the number of years until you plan to retire. For child's education: use the number of years until your child turns 18. Don't underestimate — 'I'll invest for 10 years' often turns into 7 years of actual investing due to life events.

Step 4 — Interpret the results: The calculator shows total invested amount vs projected corpus. The difference is your estimated investment growth (not guaranteed). Use this to decide if you need to invest more, extend duration, or adjust your financial goal amount.

₹1,000/month for 20 years at 12%: Total invested ₹2.4 lakhs. Estimated corpus: ₹9.9 lakhs. Even ₹1,000/month becomes ₹10 lakhs with 20-year discipline.

₹5,000/month for 15 years at 12%: Total invested ₹9 lakhs. Estimated corpus: ₹25.2 lakhs.

₹10,000/month for 20 years at 12%: Total invested ₹24 lakhs. Estimated corpus: ₹99.9 lakhs — nearly ₹1 crore.

₹25,000/month for 25 years at 12%: Total invested ₹75 lakhs. Estimated corpus: ₹4.76 crore. This is approximately how much a ₹1 lakh salary earner saving 25% of income can accumulate for retirement.

Key insight: Doubling the SIP amount doubles the corpus. But doubling the time period increases the corpus by 4-6x due to compounding. Time is your greatest asset in SIP investing — more valuable than increasing the monthly amount.

Child's higher education in 15 years: Assuming current cost of a quality engineering/medical degree is ₹15-20 lakhs, with 8% education inflation it becomes ₹47-63 lakhs in 15 years. To accumulate ₹50 lakhs in 15 years at 12% expected returns, SIP needed: ₹10,200/month. Start early — the same ₹50L goal requires ₹24,000/month if you start 8 years from now.

Home down payment in 5 years: Planning to buy a ₹60L apartment with 20% down payment = ₹12L needed. Plus registration and stamp duty (~7% in most states) = ₹4.2L. Total needed: ₹16.2L. For 5-year accumulation at a moderate 10% return (use hybrid fund, not pure equity): SIP needed = ₹20,500/month. Important: for 5-year goals, don't invest in pure equity — use balanced or hybrid funds to reduce volatility risk.

Retirement corpus at 60 (current age 30): Assuming ₹60,000/month current expenses, inflation at 6%, you'll need ₹3.45 lakhs/month at 60. For 25 years of retirement (living to 85), total corpus needed at retirement: approximately ₹3-4 crore (varies with post-retirement investment returns). To accumulate ₹3.5 crore in 30 years at 12% equity returns, SIP needed: ₹8,500/month. Starting at 30 is ideal — each 5-year delay roughly doubles the required SIP amount.

Marriage fund in 8 years: Average Indian wedding costs ₹15-25 lakhs for middle-class families, with costs growing 10% annually. Plan for ₹25L in 8 years. At 10% balanced fund returns, SIP needed: ₹20,800/month. At 12% equity returns: ₹17,500/month. Switch to debt 24 months before the wedding date to protect accumulated corpus from market volatility.

A SIP Step-Up (also called SIP Top-Up) automatically increases your SIP amount by a fixed percentage each year — typically 10-15%, aligned with expected salary increments. This dramatically improves long-term wealth creation without requiring manual intervention. Most major fund platforms (Zerodha Coin, Groww, Paytm Money) support automated step-up SIP.

The mathematics of step-up SIP is compelling: A flat ₹10,000/month SIP for 25 years at 12% returns creates ₹1.89 crore. The same ₹10,000 starting SIP with 10% annual step-up creates ₹4.13 crore — more than double — while the average monthly investment over 25 years is ₹37,500 (vs ₹10,000 flat). The first 5 years feel similar (₹10,000 growing to ₹16,100 by year 5), but the compounding of both larger amounts AND time in later years is exponential.

How to implement: On Zerodha Coin, when setting up a new SIP, there's a 'Step Up SIP' toggle — select 'Percentage' and enter 10%. On Groww, go to SIP details > Edit > Enable Step-up. The step-up happens automatically on the SIP anniversary date each year. You'll receive a notification when the SIP amount increases — verify your bank auto-debit mandate allows the higher amount (most auto-pay mandates have a 'maximum amount' field — set it to 3-4x your starting SIP to allow for years of step-up).

Even if you can only start with ₹1,000/month, a 15% annual step-up over 20 years means your SIP reaches ₹16,350/month by year 20. The total invested is ₹6.4 lakhs, but the corpus at 12% returns is approximately ₹29.8 lakhs — nearly 4.7x your total investment. The key insight: don't delay starting because the amount feels 'too small' — time in market + step-up strategy compensates for a modest starting amount.