Goal-based SIP that doesn't lie with one flat number
Most SIP calculators assume 12% returns forever and forget inflation. Ours uses an age-based equity glide-path (100−age% equity, rest debt), inflates your goal correctly, and supports step-up SIP. The required monthly SIP comes out 30-50% higher than naive tools — i.e., realistic.
Plan your goal
Tell us the goal corpus in today's rupees, your age (drives equity allocation) and inflation. We solve for the SIP needed.
To reach inflation-adjusted target of ₹3.21 Cr in 20 years.
Year-by-year corpus growth
How the calculator actually solves for SIP
Step 1 — Inflate the target
A ₹1 Cr corpus today is not ₹1 Cr in 20 years. At 6% inflation, you actually need ₹3.21 Cr.
Step 2 — Pick equity-debt mix from age
The classic rule: % equity = 100 − age. A 32-year-old gets 68% equity, 32% debt. Caps at 80% equity even for very young investors (avoid extreme concentration) and at 30% equity for 70+ (capital preservation).
Step 3 — Blended return
Equity 12% pre-tax (Nifty 50 + diversified MF historic). Debt 7% pre-tax (corporate bond fund + PPF blend).
Step 4 — Solve for SIP
Without step-up (closed form):
With step-up (no closed form — binary search):
Converges in ~25 iterations to ₹1 precision. Runs in milliseconds in your browser.
What separates this from a generic SIP calc
1. Inflation is non-negotiable
If your goal is "₹1 Cr for retirement at 60", you don't actually want ₹1 Cr — you want the purchasing power of ₹1 Cr today. At 6% inflation over 28 years, that's ₹5.1 Cr in nominal terms. Naive SIP calculators that ignore inflation underestimate the required SIP by 3-5x.
2. Goal-specific inflation
General CPI is ~5%, but for specific goals:
- Education (engineering / medical): 8-10% per year. Use 9% on the slider.
- Healthcare (mediclaim premium escalation, hospital costs): 9-12%. Use 10%.
- Real estate (down payment for a future house): 4-6%. Use 5%.
- Retirement lifestyle: 6-7% (general inflation + lifestyle creep).
3. Age-based glide-path matters more than people think
A 30-year-old planning for 60 has 30 years to absorb equity drawdowns; the 2008-style 50%+ crash recovers in 3-5 years and they end up better off. A 55-year-old with 5 years to retirement cannot absorb that drawdown — a crash 1 year before retirement permanently impairs the corpus. The 100−age rule isn't optimal but is reasonable for retail. SEBI's RIA framework allows model portfolios within these bands.
4. Step-up changes everything
Salaries grow ~10% per year for the first 15 years of a career. A flat SIP of ₹30,000/mo means in year 10 you're still saving ₹30,000 from a ₹2L/mo salary — silly. Step-up SIP (₹30K → ₹33K → ₹36K…) is what real households actually do. Toggle it on and watch the required initial SIP drop 35-40%.
Insider tip: link your step-up to your appraisal cycle — instruct your AMC (or Coin / Groww) to bump SIP every April by 10%. Most platforms support this natively. Forgetting to step up is the #1 reason people miss long-term goals despite "doing SIP".
5. Re-allocate as you age
Don't run an 80%-equity SIP for 30 years. Every 5 years (or when age crosses a 5-year band: 30, 35, 40…), shift 5-10% from equity to debt funds via a SWP or rebalance. Locks in equity gains at the ₹1L LTCG exemption and protects against late-cycle crashes.
Pre-tax vs after-tax — read this before SIPing
The 12% equity / 7% debt assumptions are pre-tax. After-tax effective returns:
- Equity (held >12 mo): LTCG 10% on gains above ₹1L. For long horizons, the ₹1L exemption used annually means effective tax is 5-7% of gains, not the full 10%. Net return drops from 12% to ~11%.
- Debt fund (post-1-Apr-2023): Slab rate. For a 30%-bracket investor, 7% pre-tax becomes 4.9% post-tax. Big haircut.
- PPF / EPF: tax-free at maturity. Effective return = stated rate. Use these for the debt portion when possible.
If you're in the 30% slab and using debt MFs (not PPF/EPF) for the debt sleeve, lower the debt return assumption from 7% to 5% to stay realistic. The required SIP will jump ~10%.
Common questions about goal-based investing
Why use age-based equity allocation?
Equity returns higher (~12%) but with 30%+ drawdowns. Younger you are, longer your earning horizon, more drawdown you can absorb. The 100−age rule starts a 30-year-old at 70% equity and shifts toward debt as retirement nears.
What returns do you assume for equity and debt?
Equity: 12% pre-tax. Debt: 7% pre-tax. Blended return = (equity_pct × 0.12) + (debt_pct × 0.07).
How is step-up SIP solved?
Step-up has no closed-form FV. We binary-search for the initial SIP that hits target when grown 10% annually with monthly compounding. Converges in ~25 iterations to ₹1 precision.
Difference vs a regular SIP calculator?
Regular ones use flat 12% return, ignore inflation, give optimistic numbers. Ours: inflates target, age-aware blend (lower for older), step-up support. Required SIP comes out 30-50% higher — i.e. realistic.
Which goals does this work for?
Single-goal future expenses: retirement, child education, house down-payment. For multi-goal planning, run separately per goal and sum the SIPs.
Should I really put 70% in equity at age 30?
For long horizons (>10 years), yes. For short (<5 years), 70% equity is risky — a crash could derail. Override the slider for short-horizon goals.
Is 6% inflation right?
India CPI averages ~5% but goal-specific differs: education 8-10%, healthcare 9-12%, real estate 4-6%. 6% is general-purpose; adjust per goal.
Does this account for tax?
Returns shown are pre-tax. For 15+ year horizons tax shaves ~1% off effective return — bake it in by lowering equity to 11%.