Put in a monthly amount, a return you expect, and a number of years. See what it grows to before tax, after LTCG tax, and in today’s rupees after inflation. The three numbers are very different.
How long you keep investing every month.
Used to convert the maturity value into today's purchasing power.
| Total invested | ₹0 |
| Wealth gained | ₹0 |
| Maturity value | ₹0 |
| Estimated LTCG tax (equity) | ₹0 |
| Post-tax maturity value | ₹0 |
| Same value, today's rupees | ₹0 |
At a 12% return and 6% inflation, using the calculator’s own formula:
| Years | Maturity | After tax | Today’s rupees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 (₹12 L in) | ₹23.23 L | ₹21.99 L | ₹12.28 L |
| 15 (₹18 L in) | ₹50.46 L | ₹46.56 L | ₹19.43 L |
| 20 (₹24 L in) | ₹99.91 L | ₹90.58 L | ₹28.24 L |
| 25 (₹30 L in) | ₹1.90 Cr | ₹1.70 Cr | ₹39.60 L |
After LTCG tax the SIP earns about 11.1% to 11.4% a year. After 6% inflation that is about 4.8% to 5.1% a year in real terms: (1 + post-tax return) ÷ 1.06 − 1. That real return, not the 12%, is what grows your buying power.
At 12% a year and 6% inflation, after LTCG tax: about ₹51,600 a month for 15 years, ₹35,450 for 20 years or ₹25,300 for 25 years. In 20 years, ₹1 crore of today’s buying power is about ₹3.21 crore in rupees of that year. Change the inputs above to test your own target, or run your SIP on real fund and index history in the Strategy Lab.
Worked answers, using the same formulas as the calculator above.
Work out the post-tax maturity value, then divide it by (1 + inflation) raised to the number of years. At 12% a year and 6% inflation, ₹10,000 a month for 20 years reaches ₹99.91 lakh, ₹90.58 lakh after LTCG tax, and ₹28.24 lakh in today’s rupees. The calculator above does all three steps.
Real return = (1 + post-tax return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. A SIP earning 12% before tax earns about 11.3% a year after LTCG tax over 20 years; with 6% inflation that is about 5% a year in real terms.
At 12% a year, 6% inflation and 12.5% LTCG tax: about ₹35,450 a month for 20 years, ₹51,600 for 15 years or ₹25,300 for 25 years. In 20 years, ₹1 crore of today’s buying power is about ₹3.21 crore in rupees of that year.
Yes. It taxes the gain above the ₹1.25 lakh yearly exemption at 12.5%, the long-term rate for equity funds. As a simplification it treats the whole gain as long-term and uses the exemption once; units held under a year would be taxed at 20%.
With the future-value formula for monthly instalments paid at the start of each month: FV = P × [((1 + r)n − 1) ÷ r] × (1 + r), where P is the monthly amount, r the monthly return (annual return ÷ 12) and n the number of months. The calculator above runs exactly this, then takes off tax and inflation.
At 12% a year it grows to about ₹1.26 crore, of which ₹45 lakh is your own money. Long-term capital-gains tax takes roughly ₹10 lakh, leaving ₹1.16 crore, and at 6% inflation that is worth about ₹48 lakh in today’s rupees. Three very different numbers for the same SIP.
At 12% a year, about ₹11.6 lakh on ₹6 lakh invested, or ₹11.1 lakh after LTCG tax. Stretch the same SIP to 20 years and it reaches about ₹50 lakh: the second decade adds far more than the first, which is why starting early matters more than starting big.
Each instalment has its own holding period. Equity fund units held over 12 months are long-term: gains above ₹1.25 lakh in a financial year are taxed at 12.5%. Units held 12 months or less are short-term and taxed at 20%. The calculator applies the long-term rate to the whole gain as a simplification.
Use a figure you would be comfortable being wrong about, and try a lower one too. 12% is the common planning default for diversified equity. Real outcomes vary a lot by index and period: a plain SIP in Nifty Midcap 150 Momentum 50 returned 20.97% a year from 2005 to 2026, which is unusually high and not a safe planning number.
History says no. A SIP started in January 2008, a month before the index fell 69%, still compounded at 22.07% a year, because the falling months bought cheaply. We tested 12,060 timing rules against a plain SIP; read what we found.