SIP Calculator
Project mutual fund returns with annual step-up and see what the corpus is actually worth after inflation.
| Year | Invested | Value | Returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹1.20 L | ₹1.28 L | ₹8,093 |
| 2 | ₹2.40 L | ₹2.72 L | ₹32,432 |
| 3 | ₹3.60 L | ₹4.35 L | ₹75,076 |
| 4 | ₹4.80 L | ₹6.18 L | ₹1.38 L |
| 5 | ₹6.00 L | ₹8.25 L | ₹2.25 L |
| 6 | ₹7.20 L | ₹10.58 L | ₹3.38 L |
| 7 | ₹8.40 L | ₹13.20 L | ₹4.80 L |
| 8 | ₹9.60 L | ₹16.15 L | ₹6.55 L |
| 9 | ₹10.80 L | ₹19.48 L | ₹8.68 L |
| 10 | ₹12.00 L | ₹23.23 L | ₹11.23 L |
Projections assume a constant return, which real markets never deliver. This is a planning estimate, not investment advice.
How to Use
- 1. Choose whether you are investing monthly or as a lumpsum.
- 2. Enter the amount, expected annual return and how many years you will stay invested.
- 3. Turn on step-up if you plan to raise the instalment each year.
- 4. Turn on inflation adjustment to see what the corpus is worth in today's money.
Reading a SIP Projection Honestly
A SIP works because each instalment compounds for however long remains until maturity. The instalment you pay in year one has twenty years to grow; the one you pay in the final month has none. That asymmetry is why starting earlier beats investing more later, and why the returns share of the final corpus climbs so sharply past the ten-year mark.
Step-up is the most underrated setting on this page. Raising the instalment 10% a year in line with your salary does not lift the corpus by 10% — it lifts it by much more, because every increase is both a larger amount and an amount with years left to compound. The calculator walks month by month rather than using the standard closed-form SIP formula precisely so it can model that.
The inflation toggle is where projections become honest. At 6% inflation, money halves in purchasing power roughly every twelve years. A corpus that reads as a large number two decades out may buy about a third of what that figure buys today, and the inflation-adjusted line is the only one worth comparing against a real goal like a house or an education.
One limitation worth stating plainly: this assumes a constant annual return, and no market delivers that. Real sequences of good and bad years produce outcomes that scatter widely around any single projection, so run an optimistic and a pessimistic rate rather than treating one number as a plan.
Related: EMI Calculator, Compound Interest Calculator, and Percentage Calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is SIP return calculated?
Each instalment compounds for however many months remain until maturity, so the first one grows the most and the last barely at all. This calculator walks month by month at a monthly rate of one twelfth of the annual figure, which is the convention fund houses quote against.
What is a step-up SIP?
One where you raise the instalment each year, usually in line with your salary. The effect compounds twice over — a larger amount invested, and invested earlier — so a 10% annual step-up typically lifts the final corpus by far more than 10%.
What return rate should I assume?
Historically, Indian equity funds have returned roughly 11 to 13% annualised over long periods, debt funds 6 to 8%, and hybrid funds somewhere between. Past returns are not a forecast, so it is worth running an optimistic and a pessimistic figure rather than trusting one number.
Why does inflation adjustment matter so much?
Because it is the difference between a number and its purchasing power. At 6% inflation, money halves in value roughly every twelve years, so a corpus that looks large in twenty years may buy about a third of what the same figure buys today. The inflation-adjusted value is the honest comparison.
Is this the same as XIRR?
No. This projects forward from an assumed constant return. XIRR works backwards from the actual dates and amounts of your real transactions to tell you what you genuinely earned. Use this to plan; use XIRR to measure.
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Guide
How to estimate what a SIP or lumpsum investment could grow to
A systematic investment plan puts a fixed amount into a fund every month, so each instalment has a different amount of time to grow. This calculator projects that growth for either a monthly SIP or a one-time lumpsum. You enter the amount, an expected annual return and a number of years, and it reports total invested, estimated returns, the percentage growth and the maturity value, plus a year-by-year table of invested amount, value and returns.
Two optional switches make it more realistic. Step-up raises your instalment by a fixed percentage each year, which suits a rising salary. Inflation adjustment divides the final value by the cumulative inflation so you can see what the corpus is worth in today's money. The projection assumes a steady return every year, which no real investment delivers, so use it for planning scenarios rather than as a forecast. This page is informational and is not investment advice.
Step by step
- Pick Monthly SIP or Lumpsum with the toggle at the top of the form, and choose a currency (INR, USD, EUR, GBP, AED or SGD).
- Enter the Monthly investment (starts at 10,000) or, in lumpsum mode, the One-time investment (starts at 5,00,000).
- Set Expected annual return with its slider (1% to 30% in steps of 0.5) and Duration (1 to 40 years).
- In SIP mode, tick "Step up the instalment every year" if you plan to increase contributions, then set the Annual increase from 1% to 25%. The tool shows the instalment you would be paying in the final year.
- Tick "Adjust for inflation" and set Expected inflation (1% to 15%) to see Worth in today's money.
- Read the maturity value and the invested-versus-returns bar, scan the Year by year table, and use Copy summary if you want the key numbers as plain text.
When this is useful
- Seeing how much a 5,000 versus a 10,000 monthly SIP could differ after 15 years.
- Planning a goal such as a child's education fund and testing optimistic and cautious return assumptions.
- Checking how much a yearly step-up could add compared with a flat instalment.
- Comparing a lumpsum today with spreading the same total over monthly instalments.
- Translating a large future number into today's purchasing power so a goal is sized realistically.
Worked example: 10,000 a month for ten years at 12%
In Monthly SIP mode with 10,000 invested monthly at 12% for 10 years, the tool shows total invested of 12,00,000, a maturity value of 23,23,391 and estimated returns of 11,23,391, or 93.6% growth. With inflation set to 6%, that corpus is worth about 12,97,369 in today's money, barely above what was put in. Now tick the step-up at 10% a year: invested rises to 19,12,491, maturity value to 33,74,326, and the final-year instalment is about 23,579 a month. Switch to Lumpsum with 5,00,000 at 12% for 10 years and the result is about 15,52,924.
Tips for better results
- Run at least three return rates, for example a low, a middle and a high figure, and plan around the low one.
- Turn on inflation for any goal more than five years away. The nominal number alone flatters the outcome.
- Use the step-up slider conservatively. A 10% annual raise is only sensible if your income actually grows that fast.
- Fund expenses, taxes and exit loads are not modelled, so treat the output as a gross estimate.
Common mistakes
- Treating the expected return as a promise. Market-linked returns vary year to year; a steady 12% line is only an assumption.
- Comparing the two modes at the same percentage. SIP mode compounds monthly at one twelfth of the annual figure, while the lumpsum mode compounds once a year, so 12% means slightly different things in each.
- Forgetting the step-up when comparing to a plan that includes it. A flat 10,000 and a stepped-up 10,000 are very different commitments.
- Ignoring inflation. A corpus of 33 lakh in ten years does not buy what 33 lakh buys today.
- Reading the table's Returns column as profit after tax. Taxes and charges are not deducted.
Your files and privacy
Projections are calculated in your browser, and the figures you enter are not saved or uploaded. The Copy summary button only places text on your own clipboard. The page does record an anonymous usage event (tool name and a random session identifier) when it opens, which contains none of your inputs.
Frequently asked questions
How does the calculator compute SIP returns?
It walks month by month. Each month the instalment is added at the start, then the balance grows by the annual rate divided by 12. After every twelfth month, if step-up is on, the instalment is multiplied by one plus the step-up percentage. The final balance is the maturity value.
Why is the lumpsum figure not directly comparable to SIP?
Lumpsum mode compounds once a year using (1 + rate) to the power of years, whereas SIP mode compounds monthly at rate divided by 12, which works out to a slightly higher effective annual rate. Use each mode for its own scenario rather than comparing them at the same headline number.
What return should I assume?
There is no safe single number. Different asset types behave differently, and past returns do not guarantee future ones. A common approach is to test a cautious, a moderate and an optimistic rate and check that your plan still works at the cautious one.
What does "Worth in today's money" mean?
It is the maturity value divided by (1 + inflation) raised to the number of years. It estimates the purchasing power of the future amount in current prices, assuming a constant inflation rate.
Is this the same as XIRR?
No. This tool projects forward from an assumed rate. XIRR measures the annualised return you actually earned from real dated transactions. Use a calculator like this for planning and your fund statements for measuring.
Does it include tax, expense ratio or exit load?
No. The output is a gross projection. Charges and taxes depend on the fund type and your holding period and would reduce the final amount. This is general information and not personalised investment advice.
Guide reviewed 2026-10-11 by the useToolify team.
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