Step-up SIP Calculator

A regular SIP keeps the monthly amount fixed for the entire period. A Step-up SIP increases your monthly contribution every year by a percentage you choose (typically matched to your salary hike). The same starting amount can grow to nearly 2x with a 10% annual top-up over 20 years.

Use the average raise you expect. 5% is conservative, 10% matches a typical Indian salaried hike, and 15% is aggressive (suitable for early-career professionals). Pick a number you can actually sustain — overshooting and stopping is worse than a steady, smaller increase.

Most leading AMCs and platforms (Zerodha Coin, Groww, Kuvera, ICICI, HDFC, Axis, etc.) support automated step-up at registration. If not available, you can simulate it by registering a new SIP for the additional amount each year.

A higher fixed SIP is mathematically more powerful (more money invested earlier). But Step-up is more realistic for most people: you start with what you can afford today, then grow contributions as income grows. The behavioural advantage is huge.

Each year your monthly amount increases by your chosen percentage. Each year's 12 contributions compound at your expected return for the remaining period. The sum of all year-cohorts gives the final corpus.

Percentage step-ups scale with your earnings and beat inflation automatically. Fixed-amount step-ups are simpler to plan but lose relative weight as you earn more. This calculator uses percentage step-ups — the more common option.

Yes. ELSS funds support step-up SIP and each new contribution carries its own 3-year lock-in. Just remember that the higher contributions in later years also lock-in for 3 years from their respective dates.

A missed SIP instalment is simply skipped — there is no penalty. But it does break compounding for that month's contribution. Most platforms continue with the next instalment at the new (stepped-up) amount automatically.

Bi-annual step-ups give marginally better results (about 1–2% extra corpus over 20 years) but are operationally messier. An annual step-up tied to your appraisal is the practical sweet spot.

A consistent step-up generally beats sporadic lumpsums for the same money invested, because lumpsums depend on market timing. The ideal: step-up SIP as the base, lumpsums on market crashes only.

Yes — a higher monthly contribution during a downturn means you buy more units at lower NAVs. This rupee-cost-averaging effect is amplified, which is why disciplined step-up investors often outperform after a recovery.

Absolutely. Step-up works with any open-ended mutual fund — equity, debt, hybrid, index, ETF. Index funds get extra benefit because lower expense ratios mean a larger share of your higher contributions actually compound.