SIP example
₹20,000 SIP for 15 years
Invested every month at a 12% average annual return, ₹20,000 for 15 years grows to about ₹1.01 crore. You put in ₹36 lakh; the other ₹64.92 lakh is returns.
Result
₹1.01 Cr
Maturity value after 15 years
- Total invested
- ₹36 L
- Returns earned
- ₹64.92 L
- In today's money (6% inflation)
- ₹42.11 L
- With a 10% yearly step-up
- ₹1.74 Cr
Your money grows 2.8 times. From year 11, the returns are larger than everything you have put in.
Starting five years later and stopping at the same time leaves about ₹46.47 lakh, ₹54.45 lakh less.
₹20,000 a month for 15 years at different returns
| Annual return | Invested | Returns | Maturity value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8% | ₹36 L | ₹33.67 L | ₹69.67 L |
| 10% | ₹36 L | ₹47.58 L | ₹83.58 L |
| 12% | ₹36 L | ₹64.92 L | ₹1.01 Cr |
| 14% | ₹36 L | ₹86.57 L | ₹1.23 Cr |
Long-run returns from diversified equity funds have often fallen in this range, but no return is guaranteed and a single year can be far outside it.
Year by year at 12%
| Year | Invested so far | Value | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹2.40 L | ₹2.56 L | ₹16,187 |
| 2 | ₹4.80 L | ₹5.45 L | ₹64,864 |
| 3 | ₹7.20 L | ₹8.70 L | ₹1.50 L |
| 4 | ₹9.60 L | ₹12.37 L | ₹2.77 L |
| 5 | ₹12 L | ₹16.50 L | ₹4.50 L |
| 6 | ₹14.40 L | ₹21.15 L | ₹6.75 L |
| 7 | ₹16.80 L | ₹26.40 L | ₹9.60 L |
| 8 | ₹19.20 L | ₹32.31 L | ₹13.11 L |
| 9 | ₹21.60 L | ₹38.96 L | ₹17.36 L |
| 10 | ₹24 L | ₹46.47 L | ₹22.47 L |
| 11 | ₹26.40 L | ₹54.92 L | ₹28.52 L |
| 12 | ₹28.80 L | ₹64.45 L | ₹35.65 L |
| 13 | ₹31.20 L | ₹75.19 L | ₹43.99 L |
| 14 | ₹33.60 L | ₹87.28 L | ₹53.68 L |
| 15 | ₹36 L | ₹1.01 Cr | ₹64.92 L |
How this is worked out
A SIP is a series of equal monthly instalments, each compounding for the time it stays invested. The first ₹20,000 compounds for 180 months, the last for one. The maturity value is the sum of all 180 instalments with their growth, which is the future value of an annuity: M = P × ((1 + i)^n − 1) / i × (1 + i).
Here P is ₹20,000, i is the monthly rate (12% ÷ 12 = 1% a month) and n is 180 months. Each instalment is assumed to go in at the start of the month, as most SIP dates do, which is what the (1 + i) at the end accounts for.
The 12% is an assumption, not a promise. Equity fund returns arrive unevenly, so the real path will zigzag even if the average lands here. The table above shows how much the answer moves with the rate: at 10% the same SIP ends near ₹83.58 lakh, at 14% near ₹1.23 crore.
Inflation matters as much as return over 15 years. At 6% a year, ₹1.01 crore then buys roughly what ₹42.11 lakh buys today. Raising the SIP by 10% each year, in step with your salary, lifts the final figure to about ₹1.74 crore for a total outlay of ₹76.25 lakh.
Frequently asked questions
Results are estimates for education and planning, not financial advice.
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