SIP Calculator 2026
Calculate how your monthly SIP grows over time. Enter monthly investment, expected annual return, and tenure. Understand the power of compounding and rupee cost averaging in mutual fund investing.
💡The power of starting early
₹5,000/month SIP from age 25 to 60 at 12% = ₹3.2 crore. The same ₹5,000/month from age 35 to 60 = ₹95 lakh. Starting 10 years earlier with the SAME monthly amount gives you 3.4× more wealth. The extra decade isn't 40% more time — it's 240% more money.
📖How SIP works — the basics
SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) is not a product — it's a method. You instruct your mutual fund to debit a fixed amount from your bank account every month and invest it in a chosen mutual fund scheme. Each month, you buy units at whatever the current NAV (Net Asset Value) is. When NAV is high, you get fewer units. When NAV is low, you get more units.
This automatic buy-low-buy-high mechanism is called rupee cost averaging. Over time, your average cost per unit tends to be lower than the average NAV — giving you a built-in advantage. This is why SIP outperforms most investors who try to time the market. You don't need to predict markets — the SIP structure does the work.
SIPs work best over long periods (7+ years) in equity mutual funds. Over short periods (1-3 years), equity SIPs can give negative returns due to market volatility. The longer you stay invested, the more likely you are to earn positive, market-beating returns. Historical data shows that no 10-year equity SIP in India has ever given negative returns.
📊SIP growth over time — real numbers
₹10,000/month at 12% return: After 5 years: ₹8.2 lakh (invested ₹6L). After 10 years: ₹23.2 lakh (invested ₹12L). After 15 years: ₹50 lakh (invested ₹18L). After 20 years: ₹1 crore (invested ₹24L). After 25 years: ₹1.89 crore (invested ₹30L). Notice how the last 5 years added ₹89 lakh — almost as much as the first 20 years.
Step-up SIP (₹10K start, 10% annual increase): After 15 years: ₹79.5 lakh (vs ₹50L flat). After 20 years: ₹1.73 crore (vs ₹1 crore flat). Step-up SIP gives 73% more corpus at year 20 — simply by increasing your SIP by 10% each year along with your salary growth. Most apps (Groww, Zerodha Coin) support automatic step-up.
No 10-year SIP in Indian equity mutual funds has ever given negative returns. Not during 2008 crash, not during COVID. Time in the market beats timing the market — every time.
🎯How to choose mutual funds for SIP
For beginners: Start with one large-cap index fund (Nifty 50 or Sensex). Expense ratio below 0.5%. No need to pick active funds — most fail to beat the index over 10 years. UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct, HDFC Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct are popular choices.
For intermediate investors: Two-fund portfolio: 70% large-cap index fund + 30% mid-cap index fund (Nifty Midcap 150). This gives broad market exposure with mid-cap growth kicker. Total monthly SIP split across both in 70:30 ratio.
For aggressive investors: Three-fund portfolio: 50% Nifty 50 + 25% Nifty Midcap 150 + 25% Nifty Smallcap 250. Higher risk, higher potential returns. Only for investors who can stomach 30-40% drops without panicking. Minimum 10-year horizon.
Always choose Direct plans (not Regular). Direct plans have 0.5-1.5% lower expense ratio — no distributor commission. Over 20 years, this fee difference adds 15-25% more to your corpus. If your advisor put you in Regular plans, switch to Direct via the AMC website or platforms like Kuvera, Zerodha Coin.
⚠️SIP common mistakes
1. Stopping SIP during market crashes (worst time to stop — best time to continue). 2. Too many funds — 5+ funds creates overlap and complexity with no diversification benefit. 3. Choosing funds by recent 1-year return (recency bias). 4. Ignoring expense ratio — 2% expense = 40% less wealth over 25 years. 5. Not using Direct plans — paying commissions that compound against you for decades.
💰SIP taxation explained
Each SIP installment is treated as a separate purchase for tax purposes. When you redeem units, the FIFO (First In, First Out) method applies — oldest units are sold first.
Equity funds (held over 12 months): LTCG taxed at 12.5% on gains above ₹1.25 lakh/year. Below ₹1.25L: tax-free. Strategy: redeem ₹1.25L gains every year to harvest the exemption.
Equity funds (held under 12 months): STCG taxed at 20%. Avoid selling equity fund SIPs within 12 months of each installment to avoid STCG.
Debt funds: All gains (short and long term) are taxed at your slab rate — no special treatment. This changed in April 2023, making debt funds less tax-efficient than before. For debt allocation, consider PPF or EPF instead.
🎯The ideal SIP strategy
Step 1: Start with ₹500-5,000/month in a Nifty 50 index fund (Direct plan). Step 2: Set up annual step-up of 10%. Step 3: Add mid-cap index fund when SIP exceeds ₹10K/month. Step 4: Never stop during crashes. Step 5: Harvest ₹1.25L LTCG exemption every March. Step 6: Switch to SWP at retirement for monthly income.
📚Official source
AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India): amfiindia.com. NAV lookup and fund comparison: Value Research. SEBI mutual fund regulations: sebi.gov.in.
Last reviewed: April 2026 • Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Past performance doesn't guarantee future returns. This is for informational purposes only.
📈SIP vs lumpsum — which is better?
Mathematically, lumpsum investing beats SIP about 65-70% of the time — because markets trend upward over long periods, and putting all money in early gives it more time to compound. However, most people don't have a lumpsum to invest. SIP works with your monthly salary, requires no market timing, and reduces the psychological stress of seeing a large sum fluctuate.
When SIP is better: Regular salary income, volatile or overvalued markets, emotional investors who panic during drops, building the investing habit. When lumpsum is better: Received a bonus/inheritance, markets have just crashed 20%+, you have idle cash in a savings account earning 3%. Optimal: Do both — regular monthly SIP plus lumpsum top-ups during market dips.
If you receive a large sum (bonus, property sale, inheritance) and want to invest in equity, consider an STP (Systematic Transfer Plan). Park the lumpsum in a liquid fund and set up automatic monthly transfers to an equity fund over 6-12 months. This gives rupee cost averaging on the lumpsum while earning ~6% in the liquid fund during the transfer period.
🔄SIP for different life goals
Emergency fund (0-1 year horizon): Don't use equity SIP. Keep 6 months' expenses in a liquid fund or sweep-in FD. Zero market risk needed here.
Car/vacation (2-3 years): Short-duration debt fund SIP or recurring deposit. Too short for equity risk. Expected return: 6-7%.
Home down payment (5-7 years): Balanced allocation — 60% equity index fund + 40% debt fund. SIP into both. Gradually shift to 100% debt as you approach the target date. Expected return: 8-10%.
Children's education (10-15 years): Aggressive equity SIP — 80% equity (index or flexi-cap) + 20% debt. Start shifting to debt 3 years before the goal. Expected return: 11-13%. ₹10,000/month SIP for 15 years at 12% = ₹50 lakh — enough for most engineering/medical college fees.
Retirement (20-30 years): Maximum equity exposure — 80-100% equity index funds. Time horizon is long enough to ride out any market cycle. Step-up SIP by 10% annually. Target: 25-30× annual expenses as retirement corpus. Use our NPS Calculator alongside to plan pension component.
🏦Best SIP platforms in India 2026
Zerodha Coin: Direct plans only, ₹0 commission, seamless Demat integration, good research tools. Best for existing Zerodha users. Limitation: mutual fund units held in Demat form (some people prefer non-Demat for flexibility).
Groww: User-friendly interface, great for beginners, direct plans, ₹0 commission. Non-Demat mode available. Good mobile app with goal-based SIP planning. Largest mutual fund platform by user count in India.
Kuvera: Free direct plan platform with excellent goal planning tools, family portfolio tracking, and tax harvesting features. No commissions. Fewer users than Groww/Zerodha but superior planning features for serious investors. Also offers US stock investing.
AMC websites (direct): You can set up SIP directly on AMC websites (SBI MF, HDFC MF, Axis MF) for the cheapest direct plans with zero platform dependency. Downside: managing SIPs across multiple AMC websites is inconvenient. Best if you invest in only 1-2 AMC's funds.
⚡SIP red flags — when to exit a fund
Stop SIP and consider switching fund in these situations: (1) Fund consistently underperforms its benchmark index for 2+ years — if Nifty 50 gave 12% and your large-cap fund gave 8%, the fund manager is destroying value. (2) Fund manager change — the star manager who built the track record has left. Give the new manager 1-2 quarters, then evaluate. (3) Fund category change — your flexi-cap fund is now behaving like a mid-cap fund, changing your risk profile.
When NOT to stop SIP: Market has dropped 20% (this is SIP's best friend — you're buying cheap units). Your fund dropped but so did the entire market/benchmark (that's market risk, not fund risk). You heard a scary news headline about the economy — noise is not a reason to exit. You saw a YouTube video saying "this fund is bad" — do your own analysis using 3-5 year rolling returns vs benchmark.
How to evaluate SIP fund performance: Compare 3-year and 5-year rolling returns against the fund's benchmark index. If the fund beats the benchmark in 60%+ of 3-year rolling periods, it's a good actively managed fund. If it doesn't, switch to the benchmark index fund instead — you'll get market returns at a fraction of the fee (0.1% vs 1.5%). Index funds don't have fund manager risk.
🎓SIP myths debunked
Myth: "SIP guarantees returns." Reality: SIP guarantees discipline, not returns. Equity SIPs can give negative returns over 1-3 year periods. What SIP does guarantee: you invest regularly regardless of market conditions, and rupee cost averaging reduces your average purchase price over time. Over 7+ years, equity SIPs have historically given positive returns — but this is historical, not a guarantee.
Myth: "More funds = more diversification." Reality: 5 large-cap funds invest in the same Nifty 50 stocks. Having 5 funds means you own the same 50 companies through 5 different vehicles — zero additional diversification, but 5× the complexity. Two-three funds (large-cap index + mid-cap index + maybe international) gives you true diversification across company sizes and geographies.
Myth: "Stop SIP when markets are high." Reality: Nobody can consistently identify market tops. The Nifty has hit "all-time high" over 200 times since 2014 — and it's still gone up. Stopping SIP at perceived highs means missing out on further upside. The cost of being wrong (missing a rally) far exceeds the benefit of being right (avoiding a dip). Continue SIP regardless of market level.
Myth: "1-year top returns = best fund." Reality: Last year's winner is often this year's underperformer. Choosing funds by 1-year return is like driving by looking in the rearview mirror. Look at 5-year and 10-year rolling returns vs benchmark instead. Consistency matters more than peaks. A fund that beats its benchmark in 7 out of 10 years is better than one that tops the charts once and underperforms for 4 years.