SIP Calculator with Step-Up and Goal Planner

Updated 30 September 2026

What this SIP calculator tells you

A SIP, or systematic investment plan, puts a fixed amount into a mutual fund at regular intervals, usually on the same date every month. Each installment buys units at the NAV of the day the money reaches the fund, and the value of everything you hold then rises and falls with the fund.

The calculator answers two questions: what will my SIP grow to, and how much do I need to invest each month to reach a goal. You give it an expected yearly return, and it assumes exactly that return every single year. Real funds never move in a straight line, so read the result as one possible outcome, not a promise. Further down there's a section on choosing that return, because it has a large effect on the result.

How to use it

1. Pick What it grows to to see a future value, or SIP for a goal to work backwards from a target amount.
2. Enter the monthly amount (or the target), the yearly return you expect and the number of years. The chips fill in common values.
3. Open Step-up, inflation and return method if you plan to raise your SIP every year, or want to see the result in today's money.
4. Read the result, the chart and the year-by-year table. Tap or hover over any year in the chart to see how much of it is your money and how much is returns.

The SIP formula, worked through

Value = P × [((1 + i)^n − 1) ÷ i] × (1 + i)

P is the monthly SIP, n is the number of installments and i is the monthly return. The final (1 + i) is there because each installment goes in at the start of its month, so even the last one earns a month's return.

Take ₹10,000 a month for 10 years at 12% a year. That's 120 installments and ₹12,00,000 of your own money. A fund that grows 12% a year grows (1.12)^(1/12) − 1 = 0.9489% a month. Put those numbers into the formula and the SIP is worth ₹22,40,359, which is ₹12 lakh you invested and ₹10.4 lakh of returns.

Look at where that growth comes from. Your first installment compounds for the full ten years and grows about 3.1 times. Your last installment is invested for a single month. That's why the chart starts almost all blue and the gold part, the returns, grows fastest in the later years. A SIP is slow at the start and fast at the end.

Why SIP calculators give different answers

Put the same numbers into three websites and you can get three different results. None of them is broken. They make different assumptions, and two matter most:

• How the monthly return is worked out. Many calculators divide the yearly return by 12, so 12% becomes 1% a month. But 1% a month compounds to 12.68% a year, not 12%. The monthly rate that really gives 12% a year is 0.9489%.
• When each installment goes in. Many assume the start of the month. Some assume the end, which gives every installment one month less to grow.

The gap between the highest and lowest figure is ₹1,04,090 on ₹12 lakh invested, and it widens as the years go on. This calculator uses the exact monthly rate by default, because fund returns are reported as yearly growth. If you want to match a calculator that divides by 12, change the return method. The result board also shows the other method's figure under every result, so you can see both.

What ₹10,000 a month grows to

The table uses the exact monthly rate. Everything scales in proportion, so for ₹5,000 a month halve each figure, and for ₹25,000 multiply it by 2.5.

Time matters as much as return: 12% for 25 years (₹1.7 crore) beats 15% for 20 years (₹1.33 crore), and still wins (₹1.36 crore) with the same ₹24 lakh invested. And at 12%, the value added between year 20 and year 30 (₹2.16 crore) is more than twice the whole value after 20 years.

Step-up SIP: the setting most people skip

Incomes often rise over the years, but many SIPs stay at the amount they started with. A step-up SIP (some fund houses call it a top-up) raises the installment at set intervals, usually once a year, by a fixed amount or a percentage you choose, for example 10% after each pay rise. This calculator uses a yearly percentage.

A 10% yearly step-up turns a ₹91.99 lakh result into ₹1.86 crore. You do invest more, ₹68.73 lakh instead of ₹24 lakh, but the increases can come from future pay rises, if you get them, rather than today's budget. A 5% step-up gives ₹1.28 crore in the same example.

Starting early beats investing more

Two people invest at 12% a year until they turn 60. One starts at 25 with ₹5,000 a month. The other waits until 35 and invests twice as much, ₹10,000 a month.

• Started at 25: invests ₹21 lakh over 35 years and ends with ₹2.76 crore.
• Started at 35: invests ₹30 lakh over 25 years and ends with ₹1.7 crore.

The early starter put in less money and still ends with about ₹1.05 crore more. The extra ten years of growth made up for the smaller SIP.

Inflation: what your crore will really buy

₹1 crore sounds like a lot. In 20 years, at 6% inflation, it will buy about what ₹31.18 lakh buys today. Put the other way, keeping the buying power of ₹1 crore for 20 years at 6% inflation takes ₹3.21 crore.

India's official inflation target is 4%, with a tolerance band of 2% to 6%, and the government has kept that target for the period up to March 2031. Actual inflation has been both above and below it. The calculator uses 6% by default as a cautious assumption; change it to whatever you believe. In goal mode the result board shows your target in today's money, which is the easiest way to check that the goal is big enough.

What return should you assume?

This input has a big effect on the result, and nobody knows it in advance. A few guidelines:

• Expect bad years. Equity funds can fall hard. The Nifty 50 lost about half its value in 2008. A SIP running through a year like that shows a loss for a while, even if the long-run result turns out fine.
• Plan with more than one number. Run the calculator at a lower and a higher return and make sure the plan still works at the lower one. The note under every result shows the outcome 2% lower and 2% higher for exactly this reason.
• Think after costs. A fund's published returns are already after its expense ratio. The direct plan of a fund has a lower expense ratio than the regular plan, so the same fund returns a little more in its direct plan.
• Match the return to the fund. Debt and hybrid funds aim for lower, steadier returns than equity funds. Don't plan a debt fund SIP with an equity fund's number.

Tax on SIP returns

The calculator shows returns before tax. For equity mutual funds, each installment is a separate purchase with its own holding period, and when you redeem, the oldest units are treated as sold first. For FY 2026-27 (called tax year 2026-27 under the new Income-tax Act) the rules are:

• Units held more than 12 months: long-term capital gains, taxed at 12.5% on gains above ₹1.25 lakh in a financial year (one limit across all your listed shares and equity funds).
• Units held 12 months or less: short-term capital gains, taxed at 20%.

So if you redeem a three-year SIP in full, most units count as long-term, but the last 12 installments are short-term. Gains in debt funds bought on or after 1 April 2023 are added to your income and taxed at your slab rate, however long you hold them. Surcharge and cess apply on top, and budgets change these rules, so check the current position or ask a tax adviser before a large redemption.

Common SIP mistakes

• Stopping when markets fall. Installments during a fall buy more units at lower prices. Stop then, and you keep only the units bought at higher prices.
• Planning at 15% or more because a fund did that over the last few years.
• Never raising the amount as your income grows.
• Setting a goal in today's rupees and forgetting inflation.
• Redeeming early. Many equity funds charge an exit load, often 1%, on units redeemed within a year, on top of short-term tax.

SIP or lumpsum?

If you already have a large amount to invest, compare it with the lumpsum calculator. With a steady return a lumpsum always comes out ahead, because all the money is invested from day one. Real markets aren't steady, and a SIP spreads your buying over many different prices, which lowers the risk of putting everything in at a peak. The compounding calculator shows how much the length of time your money stays invested matters.