How much should you invest in a SIP every month?
About ₹10,000 a month makes ₹1 crore in 20 years at 12%. See the SIP for any goal and deadline, and how a yearly step-up lowers where you start.
6 min read
₹10,009 a month for 20 years grows to about ₹1 crore at 12% a year. That's the most common SIP question answered, but "how much should I invest?" has a better answer than a round number: work back from what the money is for.
How much SIP for ₹1 crore?
Figure 1 from the SIP calculator
The monthly SIP that reaches ₹1 crore at 12% a year
How to read it
- 1Each extra five years roughly halves the SIP. Tap a column for the step-up version.
| Years | Flat SIP | Rising 10%, starting at |
|---|---|---|
| 10 years | ₹43,041 | ₹29,636 |
| 15 years | ₹19,819 | ₹11,516 |
| 20 years | ₹10,009 | ₹5,028 |
| 25 years | ₹5,270 | ₹2,339 |
| 30 years | ₹2,833 | ₹1,132 |
₹1 crore is a milestone, not a plan. In 20 years, at 6% inflation, it buys what about ₹31 lakh buys today.
Step 1: put a price and a date on each goal
List what the money is for and when you'll need it. Then grow today's cost by that goal's own inflation: education costs have risen faster than prices in general, which have run at 4–6% a year recently.[1]
Step 2: work out the SIP for each goal
Take a child's education that costs ₹25 L today and starts in 12 years. At 10% a year it will cost ₹78.46 L. With ₹2 L already set aside, it needs ₹19,103 a month, raised 5% each year.
Figure 2 from the Goal calculator
₹19,103 a month catches up with a ₹25 L education in 12 years
How to read it
- 13 years before the goal, savings start moving from equity to debt, so a market fall late on can't wreck the plan.
- 2The savings meet the price, now ₹78.46 L, exactly when it's due.
Other ways to reach the same goal:
- A flat SIP of ₹23,672 a month, if you'd rather not raise it.
- A lumpsum today of about ₹18.19 L on top of what's saved.
- 2 more years: if the date can move, the SIP drops to ₹16,476.
| Goal | Cost today | Years | Cost then | Monthly SIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A car | ₹10 L | 4 | ₹12.16 L | ₹19,859 |
| A home's down payment | ₹20 L | 7 | ₹32.12 L | ₹23,115 |
| A wedding | ₹15 L | 8 | ₹25.77 L | ₹14,873 |
| A child's education | ₹25 L | 12 | ₹78.46 L | ₹21,203 |
Short goals cost more each month even when they're cheaper, because the money has little time to grow.
Try it with your numbersGoal PlannerPick your goal, its cost and the year you need it. The planner gives the SIP and tests it against a late market fall.
Step 3: check it fits your budget
Add the SIPs for every goal, including retirement, and compare the total with what you can save each month after expenses. If it doesn't fit, push a date back, trim a goal, or plan to step up the SIP as your pay rises. How much of your salary to save helps with that side.
Before any SIP, keep an emergency fund of a few months' expenses, so a surprise bill doesn't force you to sell.
What this doesn't mean
- 12% isn't guaranteed. It's a long-run equity figure. Use 10% for a cautious plan.
- Taxes and costs reduce the result. Fund expense ratios and 12.5% LTCG on gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year come out of the final amount. See LTCG tax on SIP returns.
- Goals under three years belong in debt funds or deposits, not equity SIPs.
SIP invested at the start of each month; 12% a year in equity, 7% in debt; step-ups applied each year. For illustration only, not investment advice.
Sources
- [1]Consumer Price Index press release, June 2026 (inflation 4.38%) (opens in a new tab)Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation · Jul 2026