Setting up a SIP?
Daily, weekly or monthly SIP: does it matter?
- What daily, weekly and monthly end with
- How long your pay waits in savings
- How often each wins across 200 markets
- Daily
- ₹43.81 L
- Weekly
- ₹43.87 L
- Monthly
- ₹44.02 L
One month's pay, three ways in
Each column is a trading day. Solid: invested. Hatched: still waiting in savings.
- Dailywaits ~14 days on average
- Weeklywaits ~11 days on average
- Monthlywaits none on average
Point at a day to read it. Hatched: pay still waiting in savings.
Your inputs
18% a year. Indian large caps have swung about 18%.
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What this means
- Monthly SIP on payday ends highest in 89% of markets, but only by 0.49% of the corpus.
Why?
All three put in the same ₹10,000 a month. Only the days within each month differ.
- A daily SIP keeps your pay waiting ~14 days in savings at 3%, while the fund earns 12%.
Why?
Pay arrives once a month. Investing it in small daily parts means most of it sits idle for part of the month.
- Buying at more prices doesn't add return. In 8 of 10 markets, daily ends between -0.63% and +0.01% against monthly.
Why?
Averaging smooths the price you pay, but markets rise more often than they fall, so money invested sooner usually wins.
- What does matter: every extra ₹1,000 a month adds about ₹4.4 L by the end, many times the frequency gap.
- Tax doesn't favour any of the three: selling the ₹44.02 L corpus in one go costs about ₹3.22 L whichever you pick.
Why?
Gains on units held a year or more pay 12.5% above ₹1.25 L a year. A daily SIP only adds more lots to list when you sell, and its last year of buys stays short-term a little longer (20%). Selling over several years uses the allowance each year.
- Paid weekly or daily, as a freelancer or trader? Then invest as the money comes in: the same logic, matched to your pay.
More details
What each ends with after 15 years
The middle of 200 markets. All three put in ₹18 L.
- Daily SIP₹43.81 L
Highest in 6% of markets · steady market ₹47.41 L
- Weekly SIP₹43.87 L
Highest in 6% of markets · steady market ₹47.45 L
- Monthly SIP on paydayMost₹44.02 L
Highest in 89% of markets · steady market ₹47.59 L
The bars look the same length because they nearly are.
Daily against monthly, market by market
How far a daily SIP ends from a monthly one in each of 200 markets, as a share of the corpus.
Each bar is a group of markets. Point at one to read it.
Beyond returns
| Measure | Daily | Weekly | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debits a year | 252 | 48 | 12 |
| Lots after 15 yrs | 3,780 | 720 | 180 |
| Pay waits | ~14 days | ~11 days | none |
Each purchase is a lot with its own date and price: more lots, longer capital gains statements when you sell.
Tax if you sell it all
- Daily ₹43.81 L corpus₹3.19 L tax · you keep ₹40.62 L
- Weekly ₹43.87 L corpus₹3.2 L tax · you keep ₹40.67 L
- Monthly ₹44.02 L corpus₹3.22 L tax · you keep ₹40.8 L
Equity fund, sold in one go after 15 years, every unit taken as long-term. The bill is nearly the same whichever way you invest.
How it's calculated
- Same money, different timing: pay lands on the first trading day of each month. Monthly invests it that day, weekly a quarter each week, daily a 21st each trading day. Until it's invested, it earns your savings rate.
- Steady market: the fund grows by your return every day, evenly.
- 200 markets: daily returns drawn at random with the same long-run return and your chosen swing (yearly volatility). All three frequencies face the same 200 markets, so only the timing differs.
Amounts are before tax and fees. A month is taken as 21 trading days.
Tax if you sell (equity funds). Units held a year or more pay 12.5% on gains above ₹1.25 L a year; units held under a year pay 20%. Both add 4% cess.
Tax = max(0, gain − ₹1.25 L) × 12.5% × 1.04
You keep = value − tax
After-tax return = (you keep ÷ put in)1/years − 1