Systematic investment plans (SIP) remain the primary route for retail investors building long-term wealth, with monthly inflows at Rs 31,002 crore in January 2026 and the number of contributing accounts touching 9.92 crore, according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
SIP assets under management have risen to Rs. 16.36 lakh crore, accounting for more than 20% of the mutual fund industry’s total AUM and 28.2% of equity AUM.
As participation deepens, the amount required to build a Rs. 1 crore retirement corpus through SIP continues to depend largely on the age at which an investor starts.
An investor who starts investing at 25 years old will require monthly payments of approximately Rs. 1,000 until he reaches 60 to achieve an investment total of Rs. 1.14 crore with his 15% annual return investment. The required monthly payment increases to approximately Rs. 2,000 when an investor starts three decades later and invests for 30 years.
An investor who begins at 40 needs to commit close to Rs. 7,500 a month to reach the same target over 20 years. The higher monthly outgo for late starters reflects the shorter compounding window rather than any change in the return assumption.
Investors who start their investments early will acquire most of their final investment value through market returns. Financial planners use this observation because equity investments become more profitable when investors hold their assets for extended periods. The market becomes less volatile during extended holding periods, which leads to higher total investment returns.
People who start investing during their 40s can achieve the Rs 1 crore target through annual SIP increases that match their income growth. The investor will reach a corpus of Rs 1.02 crore by age 60 through a monthly investment of Rs 10,000, which starts at age 45 and increases by 10 percent each year under the same return assumption.
Investors should continue their investment activities during market fluctuations, while they should increase their investments because of salary increases, and they need to transition to safer investments during their retirement period.
The calculations demonstrate an unchanging principle to investors because starting SIP investments earlier results in needing less monthly work to achieve the same financial objectives.