SIP of ₹25,000 per month for 20 years

What ₹25,000 a month for 20 years can grow to

You invest ₹60 lakh in total (₹25,000 × 240 months). The final value depends almost entirely on the return, so the table shows four scenarios rather than one answer.

Year-by-year growth at 12%

Returns overtake the money you put in during year 11.

The corpus reaches half its final value only in year 15 of 20: compounding does most of its work at the end, which is why stopping a SIP early costs more than the missed instalments.

With an annual step-up

Raising the SIP by 10% every year (₹25,000 a month in year 1, ₹27,500 in year 2 and so on) means investing ₹1.72 crore and could grow to ₹4.97 crore at 12%, ₹2.47 crore more than a flat SIP.

What it is worth in today's money

At 6% inflation a year, ₹2.5 crore in 20 years buys roughly what ₹77.88 lakh buys today. The 6% is an assumption, not a forecast; change it in the inflation calculator.

Tax if you redeem everything (equity funds)

Selling the whole holding at the end of year 20 at 12% would realise ₹1.9 crore of long-term gains and ₹20,233 of short-term gains, because the last 12 instalments are held 12 months or less.

Long-term gains above ₹1.25 lakh in a financial year are taxed at 12.5% and short-term gains at 20%, plus 4% cess: about ₹24,52,559 in total here. Splitting redemptions across financial years uses the ₹1.25 lakh exemption more than once.

This applies to equity-oriented funds (STT paid) under the rules for transfers from 23 July 2024. Surcharge, losses and the basic-exemption set-off are not included, and debt funds are taxed differently.