Step-up SIP calculator
This step-up SIP calculator shows what raising your monthly instalment by a set percentage each year — a top-up or incremental SIP — could be worth next to a flat SIP. Enter your own figures; the result is an illustration, not a projection.
Illustrative only — this is not a projection or a promise of returns. Every figure below is arithmetic applied to the rate of return you typed in. H2 Investment is not suggesting that rate, forecasting it, or promising it. Returns are market-linked, vary from year to year, and can be negative.
The figure is what the rising instalments could add up to at the rate you chose, next to a flat SIP for comparison — an illustration, not a projection.
What this is, and what it isn’t
This is arithmetic on the numbers you typed. It compounds them at the rate you chose and shows you the result. That is all it does.
It is an illustration, not a projection. It is not a forecast, not a recommendation, and not an offer. Nobody knows what any investment will return, so the rate you enter is an assumption you are making, not a rate anyone is offering you. Real returns arrive unevenly — good years, flat years and falling years, in an order nobody can predict — and that order matters as much as the average.
Use the output the way you’d use a rough estimate on the back of an envelope: to see whether the shape of a plan is roughly right, not to decide what a specific rupee amount will be worth on a specific date.
The one thing this cannot tell you is the rate, and the whole result hangs on it. Run it at three different rates and look at the spread rather than at any single figure.
What this calculation assumes
The instalment holds for twelve months, then rises by the step-up percentage for the next year, and so on. Each instalment compounds for the months it stays invested. Four assumptions sit behind that:
- One rate, every month. The calculator applies the same return to every month of every year. Markets do not work that way. Two plans that both average 12% can end up far apart depending on which years were the bad ones.
- The step-up is affordable, every year. A step-up assumes your income rises enough to fund the higher instalment each year. Nothing obliges you to increase it, and a year you cannot fund the higher amount changes the result.
- No costs, no tax. Exit load, stamp duty and capital gains tax are not deducted. A scheme’s expense ratio is already reflected in its NAV — its per-unit value — so quoted returns are after that, but the tax you pay on redemption is not.
- Nothing comes out. The money stays invested for the whole period. One withdrawal partway through changes the result significantly.
New to the idea behind this? Step-up SIP: raising your instalment over time walks through it in plain language.
About these calculators
What is a step-up SIP?
A step-up SIP raises your monthly instalment by a set amount or percentage each year, usually to track a rising income. It is also called a top-up SIP or an incremental SIP — the same mechanism under different names. This tool illustrates the difference a chosen step-up makes versus a flat SIP, from the figures you enter; it does not suggest a rate is likely.
Is a step-up SIP the same as a top-up SIP?
Yes. “Step-up SIP”, “top-up SIP” and “incremental SIP” all describe the same thing: an SIP whose instalment rises by a set amount or percentage each year. The names differ, the mechanism is one, and this calculator handles all of them.
Is this figure a projection of what I will earn?
No. Every figure here is an illustration produced from the numbers you type in, at a rate of return you choose yourself. It is arithmetic, not a forecast: mutual fund returns are market-linked and not assured, and the actual outcome will differ.
What rate of return should I assume?
That assumption is yours to make — the tool leaves it in your hands on purpose. A rate you enter is an illustration, not a rate we are promising or suggesting is likely. If you want to understand what drives returns in different kinds of funds, the explainers do that without putting a number on the future.
Does this account for tax, expense ratio or exit load?
Unless a field asks for it, no — the core calculators show how compounding works on the inputs you give. Real outcomes are reduced by the scheme’s expense ratio, by any exit load, and by tax on your gains.
Why do your figures differ from another site’s calculator?
Almost always because of the assumptions, not the maths — the return rate, whether tax and costs are included, and how compounding frequency is handled. Change those to match and the numbers converge. Every one of these is an illustration of arithmetic, not a claim about a real scheme.
Is an SIP better than investing a lump sum?
Neither is universally better — they suit different situations. An SIP spreads your investment across many dates, which fits money that arrives monthly and takes the timing decision off your plate; a lump sum puts money to work at once, which fits money you already hold. Which applies to you depends on your cash flow and goal, so it is a conversation rather than a rule. SIP or lump sum, compared goes deeper.
Talk to us
If you’d rather go through your own numbers with a person than a form, that’s what we’re for. You’ll speak to Himani, who runs H2 — the same person every time.
Other calculators
See all calculators. None of these ask for your name, your phone number or your PAN. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. Use them as often as you like without hearing from us.