See the power of increasing your SIP annually. Compare flat vs step-up SIP over time.
Flat SIP Corpus
₹98.9 L
₹24.0 L invested · ₹74.9 L growth
Step-Up SIP (10%/yr)
₹1.97 Cr
2.0x more · ₹98.0 L extra
99/100
| Year | Flat SIP | Step-Up SIP | Monthly SIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | ₹8.2 L | ₹9.7 L | ₹14,641 |
| 10 | ₹23.0 L | ₹33.4 L | ₹23,581 |
| 15 | ₹50.0 L | ₹86.0 L | ₹37,978 |
| 20 | ₹98.9 L | ₹1.97 Cr | ₹61,164 |
Richify AI helps you decide the right step-up percentage based on your income growth trajectory.
Download Richify — It's FreeA step-up SIP — also known as incremental SIP or top-up SIP — is a Systematic Investment Plan where you increase your monthly contribution by a fixed percentage every year. For example, starting at ₹10,000/month and increasing by 10% yearly means ₹11,000 in year 2, ₹12,100 in year 3, and so on. This mirrors salary growth and dramatically accelerates wealth building vs a flat SIP.
Significant. A ₹10,000/month flat SIP at 12% for 20 years gives ~₹1 crore. The same SIP with 10% annual step-up gives ~₹2.4 crore — nearly 2.4x more. The earlier years establish the compounding base, and increased contributions in later years add fuel.
A common rule: match your expected salary growth. If you expect 8-12% annual salary increases, use 8-10% step-up. Conservative: 5%. Aggressive: 15%. Even a 5% step-up makes a meaningful difference over 15-20 years.
Most mutual fund platforms in India (Groww, Zerodha Coin, Kuvera, MFCentral, Paytm Money) allow you to set up automatic step-up SIPs. You specify the annual increase percentage (and optionally a cap amount) when creating the SIP. Some legacy AMC portals still require you to create a new SIP each year with the updated amount.
At 12% returns: ₹10,000 starting SIP with 10% annual step-up grows to ~₹46 lakh in 10 years, ~₹1.45 crore in 20 years, and ~₹3.9 crore in 25 years. Compare with flat ₹10,000 SIP: ~₹23 lakh / ~₹1 crore / ~₹1.9 crore. Step-up roughly doubles the 25-year corpus for the same starting commitment — because it scales contributions alongside both income growth and compounding.
Step-up SIP wins for most salaried investors because (1) it doesn't require a large idle corpus, (2) it rupee-cost-averages through volatility, and (3) contributions scale with income, so the burden stays proportional. Lump sum can mathematically beat SIP in 60-70% of long-term backtests because markets trend up, but only if you have the cash today AND can stomach a 30-50% drawdown in year 1. The realistic comparison for most salaried Indians: step-up SIP vs flat SIP — step-up wins decisively.