SIP Calculator

How a SIP grows your money

A systematic investment plan (SIP) is simply investing a fixed amount at regular intervals — almost always monthly — into a mutual fund or similar vehicle, instead of handing over one large lump sum. Each deposit buys units at whatever price the fund happens to be trading at that month, which averages your purchase cost over time and removes the pressure of trying to time the market. Individually, each contribution looks small. Stacked month after month and left to compound at a market-linked return, though, the combined pile of deposits and growth can become substantial — that snowballing effect is the entire premise behind long-horizon SIP investing.

The future-value-of-an-annuity formula explained

This calculator treats your recurring deposits as a monthly annuity-due — an annuity where each payment lands at the start of its period rather than the end — and projects its future value using:

FV = P × [((1 + i)ⁿ − 1) / i] × (1 + i)

Here P is your monthly investment, i is the monthly return rate (your expected annual return divided by 100 and by 12), and n is the total number of monthly deposits (years × 12). The bracketed term sums the future value of an ordinary annuity, and multiplying by (1 + i) shifts every deposit forward by one month to reflect that SIP installments are typically debited at the start of the month. Total invested is simply P × n, and estimated wealth gained is the maturity value minus that total. When you turn on the annual step-up, the calculator instead sums the future value of each year's escalated deposit block, compounding each block for whatever months remain until the end of your term.

Worked example — investing 5,000 per month at 12% for 10 years

Suppose you invest 5,000 every month, expect a 12% annual return, and stay invested for 10 years (120 monthly deposits) with no step-up. The monthly rate works out to i = 0.12 ÷ 12 = 0.01, and n = 120. Plugging those into the formula gives a projected maturity value of roughly 1,161,695 — built from 600,000 of your own contributions (5,000 × 120) and an estimated 561,695 of market-driven growth on top. That means the wealth-gained portion is actually slightly larger than everything you put in — a useful illustration of how monthly compounding rewards patience over a full decade. Try the same numbers in the calculator above to see the year-by-year build-up for yourself, and then experiment with a longer horizon or a small step-up to see how much further it can stretch.

SIP vs lump sum

A SIP and a lump-sum deposit both ultimately rely on compounding, but they get there differently. A lump sum puts all of your money to work on day one, so — assuming a positive return — it has the longest possible runway to grow. A SIP instead spreads the same total commitment across many months, which means later deposits compound for less time, but it also means you are not betting everything on a single entry price. That spreading-out is exactly what makes SIPs popular for investors who would rather invest steadily out of monthly income than save up one large sum and try to pick a good moment to deploy it. If you already have a single amount to invest today and want to project its lump-sum growth instead, our compound interest calculator models exactly that scenario.

Step-up SIP and why it matters

A step-up (or "top-up") SIP increases your monthly contribution by a fixed percentage every year — typically timed to match a salary increment. Because each escalated block of deposits still gets to compound for the years remaining in your term, even a modest annual step-up can meaningfully lift your final maturity value compared with keeping the same monthly amount flat for the entire horizon. Toggle the step-up field in the calculator above to see how your own raises could translate into a larger projected corpus over time.

How to read your results

• Maturity value — the total amount your SIP is projected to be worth at the end of your chosen period, including every contribution you made along the way plus all the estimated growth on top of them.
• Total invested — the sum of every monthly deposit you made (adjusted for any step-up), before any growth is added. This is "money you put in," not "money the projection created."
• Estimated wealth gained — the maturity value minus your total invested. This is the slice of your ending balance that compounding at your assumed return is projected to generate for you.
• Return on investment — your estimated wealth gained expressed as a percentage of your total invested, over the whole period (not an annualized figure), which makes it easy to compare scenarios at a glance.
• Year-by-year schedule — open it to see exactly how much you had invested, how much you had gained, and what your SIP was worth at the end of each year, which makes it easy to see when growth starts pulling its own weight.

Disclaimer

This calculator provides an estimate only and is not financial or investment advice. It models a constant monthly deposit (or a fixed annual step-up) compounding at a single assumed rate of return — market-linked investments such as mutual funds do not offer guaranteed returns, and actual performance will vary, often significantly, from any figure shown here. The projection also excludes fund expense ratios, exit loads, brokerage or transaction costs, capital gains tax, and inflation, all of which will reduce your real take-home value. For decisions that affect your finances, consult a qualified financial professional and review your fund's official documents before investing.