SIP calculator

What does a monthly SIP actually grow to?

Enter the amount you invest each month, the return you want to assume and how long you will keep going. The calculator shows the maturity value, how much of it you contributed and how much is growth — year by year.

Your numbers

Change anything; the result updates as you type.

Result

A calculator assumes a return. Picking one is the hard part.

MindForge publishes the backtest behind each of its three rules-based strategies, and the two paid ones trade in their own broker-verified Zerodha accounts — so the number you assume here has something to be checked against.

How a month works — about ten minutes on the 1st
Already investing every month? How a monthly amount goes into a book

See the strategies

How a SIP is calculated

A SIP is a series of equal instalments, each of which compounds for the time it stays invested. The first instalment compounds for the whole period, the last for a single month — which is why the total is much larger than the sum of the instalments over a long horizon.

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

where P is the monthly instalment, i is the monthly return (the annual rate divided by 12) and n is the number of instalments. The trailing (1 + i) is there because each instalment is assumed to be invested at the start of the month — the convention every SIP calculator in India uses.

What the numbers mean

You invest — your instalment multiplied by the number of months. This is the only figure here that is certain.
Estimated returns — everything above what you put in, at the return you assumed.
Growth multiple — the maturity value divided by what you invested. At 12% a year, a 15-year SIP ends at about 2.8 times the money you put in; at 25 years, about 6.3 times. That difference is time, not skill.

Assumptions this makes

Instalments are paid at the start of each month, and every instalment is the same size. If yours rises each year, use the step-up SIP calculator instead.
The return compounds monthly at a constant rate. Real returns arrive in an uneven sequence, and the sequence matters for withdrawals — see the SWP calculator.
No costs are deducted. Expense ratios, advisory fees and taxes all come out of the figure above; a percentage-based fee compounds against you exactly as the return compounds for you, which is what the fee calculator measures.

Questions

Is the SIP amount invested at the start or the end of the month?

At the start, which is the standard convention and the one this calculator uses. Investing at the end of each month instead gives a slightly smaller figure — the difference is one month of compounding on every instalment.

What return should I assume?

That is your judgement, not the calculator's. Indian equity indices have historically compounded in the low teens over long periods, with deep drawdowns along the way, and no calculator can promise that the next fifteen years look like the last. Try a range — 10%, 12%, 14% — and see how much the answer moves.

Does this account for inflation?

No. The figure is in future rupees. To see what it is worth in today's money, use the step-up SIP calculator, which reports an inflation-adjusted value, or the goal SIP calculator, which inflates a target instead.

Does it include taxes or fund costs?

No. It is gross arithmetic. Equity fund gains are taxed on redemption and every fund charges an expense ratio; both reduce what you actually keep.

Is a SIP safer than investing a lump sum?

It is not safer, it is different: a SIP buys at many prices instead of one, which reduces the impact of entry timing and suits money that arrives monthly anyway. If you already hold the money, compare with the lumpsum calculator.

Other calculators

Fee Calculator What a percentage-of-AUM fee costs against a flat subscription. Step-Up SIP Calculator A SIP that rises with your income — and what it is worth after inflation. Goal SIP Calculator The monthly SIP a target needs, with the goal inflated to its future cost. Lumpsum Calculator What a one-time investment grows to, and how much of it is growth. Retirement Calculator The corpus your expenses need, and the monthly SIP that builds it. CAGR Calculator The steady yearly rate between a starting and an ending value. RD Calculator A recurring deposit’s maturity, interest and post-tax return. All 17 calculators Grouped by the question each one answers.