SIP Returns Calculator

This SIP returns calculator estimates future value from monthly contributions, an assumed annual return, a period and an optional annual increase. SIP means systematic investment plan, a way to invest regularly. Actual investments can lose value, but this tool replaces a zero return with a positive preset. Its XIRR card repeats your assumed rate; its CAGR card does not measure the yearly return on payments made at different times.

Four inputs, with one important rate convention

Expected return is your growth assumption. It is neither a promised payment rate nor a verified historical average. The help text calls it CAGR, compounded annual growth rate: the yearly rate that would connect a starting balance to an ending balance. This calculation divides the entered rate by 12, which differs from converting an annually compounded rate into an equivalent monthly rate.

There is no fund selector, actual payment-date list, starting lump sum, inflation input or withdrawal schedule. Changing the rate creates another smooth-growth scenario; it does not recreate a historical market path. Read the SIP explanation if you are comparing the payment method with an investment product.

How the monthly model treats each payment

The contribution is added before growth for that month. In plain terms: new balance = (previous balance + monthly contribution) × monthly growth factor. At an illustrative 12% entered annual rate, the monthly rate is 12 ÷ 12 = 1%. The first payment therefore receives more growth periods than the last.

This timing explains why another calculator can show a different answer for the same headline inputs. Payments at the end of each month receive less time to grow. Converting an effective annual return to a monthly rate also differs from simply dividing by the number of months.

Under this tool's convention, the assumed 12% divided into monthly rates compounds to about 12.68% across a full year for money invested throughout. That does not mean all monthly contributions earn that full-year amount, because most arrive later.

A reproducible fixed-SIP example

For this fictional example, enter Monthly SIP Amount ₹5,000, Expected Annual Return 12%, Investment Period 1 year and Annual Step-Up 0%. No actual fund or market period is represented.

The model adds each payment at the beginning of its month, then applies that month's growth to the whole balance. Repeating that calculation for every instalment produces the example final value. The displayed gain and final balance are rounded from the underlying values.

An annual increase changes contributions as well as growth

For another invented scenario, keep ₹5,000 and 12%, use 2 years and a 10% Annual Step-Up. The monthly amount stays ₹5,000 for the first year and becomes ₹5,000 × 1.10 = ₹5,500 for the second. It does not rise every month.

Total contributions are (₹5,000 × 12) + (₹5,500 × 12) = ₹1,26,000. The same monthly model produces ₹1,42,621 Future Value and ₹16,621 Total Gain after rounding. Part of the larger final value comes from adding more money; comparing final balances alone would conceal that difference.

Fixed SIP and step-up SIP side by side

The table below runs the same made-up inputs through the calculator's monthly model: Rs 5,000 a month, an assumed 12% a year, and either no step-up or a 10% step-up at each year boundary. You can reproduce every row by typing the inputs in. The figures are outputs of an assumption and say nothing about what any fund will earn.

The step-up column ends higher mainly because you pay in more. After 10 years the step-up plan has put in Rs 3,56,245 more than the fixed plan, and its final value is Rs 5,25,468 higher. Compare the gain per rupee invested, and not only the final balance, before you decide a step-up is better.

How the assumed return changes the answer

The expected annual return is the input you control least, because nobody knows it in advance. Changing it is a quick way to see how sensitive a plan is. With Rs 5,000 a month for 10 years and no step-up, the invested amount stays Rs 6,00,000 in every row.

A four-point change in the assumption moves the end value by about Rs 2,40,867. Because the tool replaces a zero rate with a positive preset, you cannot use it to see the flat or falling case. Use a spreadsheet for that.

Planning a goal after inflation

Inflation is the rise in prices over time, so a future rupee buys less than today's rupee. The calculator has no inflation field and no goal-solving field. It runs forward only, from a monthly amount to a future value. You can still do the inflation step by hand.

• Pick a target in today's money. For this made-up example, Rs 50,00,000 in 10 years.
• Assume an inflation rate. At an illustrative 6% a year, prices rise by a factor of 1.06 multiplied by itself 10 times, which is about 1.7908.
• Rs 50,00,000 received in 10 years would then buy what about Rs 27,91,974 buys today (50,00,000 divided by 1.7908).
• To keep the buying power of Rs 50,00,000, the target in 10 years would be about Rs 89,54,238 (50,00,000 multiplied by 1.7908).
• Try monthly amounts in the calculator until the Future Value card reaches the target you chose.

A rough real return, the growth after inflation, is (1 + nominal rate) divided by (1 + inflation) minus 1. At an assumed 12% and 6% inflation that is about 5.66%. The numbers are assumptions and not a forecast of either rate.

SIP versus lump sum: what this tool can and cannot compare

A lump sum is one payment made at the start. This calculator has no lump sum input, so it cannot compare the two methods. Published comparisons disagree about which wins, because the answer depends on the market path you pick: a lump sum has more time invested in a steadily rising market, while a SIP buys more units after falls. Neither result is guaranteed.

A fair comparison needs the same total money, the same dates and the same measure, usually XIRR for staggered payments. Our guide on SIP versus lump sum explains the method. For a single start and end value, the CAGR calculator is the right tool. For how interest builds on interest, see the compound interest calculator.

SIP is also a different activity from trading. If you want a plain definition, the SIP glossary entry covers it.

Minimum amounts and frequencies are set by each scheme

The calculator assumes one payment a month. Real schemes set their own rules. One scheme document hosted on AMFI's portal lists daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly and quarterly SIPs with a minimum of Rs 1,000 per instalment, while a document for a specialised investment fund on the same portal lists Rs 1,000 for daily, weekly and monthly SIPs and Rs 3,000 for quarterly ones. Read the scheme's own document before you start.

Which result cards are useful, and which need caution

• Future Value is the model's final balance, including your contributions.
• Total Invested is the sum of contributions; Total Gain is the model balance above that sum.
• Absolute Return compares gain with the total paid in, without measuring how long each payment was invested.
• Wealth Multiplier compares final balance with total contributions.

Effective CAGR % treats the sum of all contributions as though it were invested from the beginning. That does not measure the yearly return on SIP payments made at different times. XIRR is a yearly return calculated from each payment amount and its date; the card here does not perform that calculation.

XIRR % here simply repeats Expected Annual Return. It does not solve a return from cash flows and dates. Investment Type is a label selected from the assumed rate, not an assessment of a fund or your risk tolerance. The CAGR calculator is relevant to a separate starting-value and ending-value comparison.

Zero returns, inflation and costs

A zero annual rate is silently replaced with a positive preset, and negative entries cannot create a reliable falling-market projection. This materially limits downside comparisons. Do not interpret a positive result after entering zero as growth that can be expected.

The outputs are rupee amounts without an adjustment for inflation, meaning a change in purchasing power. They also omit taxes and transaction-specific exit costs. If the assumed return already reflects fund expenses, deducting those expenses again would count them twice. This page provides no tax bill or fund recommendation.

AMFI explains that fixed contributions buy more units at lower prices and fewer at higher prices; this averaging does not prevent losses. SEBI's own calculator warns that illustrations do not represent actual returns. Compare the investment method in SIP versus lump sum and the separate mechanics of compound growth.

Sources

• AMFI on regular investing and averaging risk; checked 16 October 2026.
• SEBI's illustrative SIP calculation; checked 16 October 2026.
• Microsoft's dated-cash-flow XIRR definition; checked 16 October 2026.