SIP of ₹5,000 per month for 10 years

What ₹5,000 a month for 10 years can grow to

You invest ₹6 lakh in total (₹5,000 × 120 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%

Over 10 years the returns stay below the amount invested; they make up 48% of the final value.

The corpus reaches half its final value only in year 7 of 10: 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 (₹5,000 a month in year 1, ₹5,500 in year 2 and so on) means investing ₹9.56 lakh and could grow to ₹16.87 lakh at 12%, ₹5.25 lakh more than a flat SIP.

What it is worth in today's money

At 6% inflation a year, ₹11.62 lakh in 10 years buys roughly what ₹6.49 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 10 at 12% would realise ₹5.58 lakh of long-term gains and ₹4,047 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 ₹57,086 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.