Archive · 8 Sep 2026
Why a ₹10,000 SIP May Overstate Long-Term Wealth
A SIP is a plan where you invest the same amount every month.
A calculator may show that investing ₹10,000 each month for 20 years could grow to ₹87.3 lakh.
But people may not have been able to afford ₹10,000 every month 20 years ago.
DSP Mutual Fund compared this fixed plan with one that increased as incomes rose.
That more affordable plan started at ₹1,536 and eventually reached ₹10,000.
It involved investing ₹12.2 lakh and ended at ₹31.9 lakh in the report’s example.
The report also showed that stopping investments during difficult market periods could reduce the final amount.
Its figures are illustrations based on the Nifty 50 TRI, not promises about future returns.
A flat ₹10,000 monthly SIP over 20 years produced a projected ₹87.3 lakh corpus on the Nifty 50 TRI, according to DSP Mutual Fund.
An affordability-adjusted SIP rising from ₹1,536 to ₹10,000 generated ₹31.9 lakh after total investments of ₹12.2 lakh.
The flat SIP required ₹24 lakh in total contributions between September 2006 and August 2026.
DSP said ₹10,000 represented about 55% of current monthly per-capita net national income, but over 350% two decades earlier.
Stopping SIPs or withdrawing during market downturns reduced the reported final corpus to ₹75.7 lakh, ₹61.8 lakh or ₹49 lakh, depending on timing.
- Who
- DSP Mutual Fund analyzed how affordability, SIP stoppages and withdrawals affect long-term investors.
- What
- The report compared a fixed ₹10,000 SIP with an income-adjusted SIP over 20 years and examined the effect of stopping or withdrawing during market downturns.
- When
- The comparison covered September 2006 to August 2026; the income-adjusted contributions were shown for FY2006-07, FY2010-11, FY2015-16, FY2020-21 and FY2025-26.
- Where
- The analysis concerned an average Indian investor and used the Nifty 50 TRI.
- Why
- It aimed to show that fixed-SIP illustrations may not reflect changing affordability and that interruptions during downturns can reduce the eventual corpus.
Fixed-SIP Illustration
Affordability-Adjusted Approach
Monthly contribution
Fixed-SIP Illustration
Assumes an investor can contribute ₹10,000 every month for the entire 20-year period.
Affordability-Adjusted Approach
Raises contributions with income, beginning at ₹1,536 in FY2006-07 and reaching ₹10,000 in FY2025-26.
Projected corpus
Fixed-SIP Illustration
Produces a much larger projected corpus of ₹87.3 lakh, but requires ₹24 lakh in total contributions.
Affordability-Adjusted Approach
Produces ₹31.9 lakh from ₹12.2 lakh in contributions and is intended to represent a contribution pattern tied to affordability.
Staying invested
Fixed-SIP Illustration
The no-stoppage example shows the highest reported final corpus.
Affordability-Adjusted Approach
The report emphasizes that job uncertainty, layoffs, pay cuts or cash needs can lead investors to stop SIPs or withdraw, reducing the eventual corpus.
- Flat monthly SIP
- ₹10,000 throughout the 20-year period
- Income-adjusted SIP
- Rose from ₹1,536 to ₹10,000
- Flat SIP total invested
- ₹24 lakh
- Income-adjusted total invested
- ₹12.2 lakh
- Flat SIP final corpus
- ₹87.3 lakh
- Income-adjusted final corpus
- ₹31.9 lakh
- Benchmark and return treatment
- Nifty 50 TRI; returns were pre-tax and pre-exit-load
- Affordability measure
- The SIP was calculated as 54.7% of monthly per-capita net national income