How much difference does a step-up really make?

At ten per cent a year over fifteen years it typically lifts the final figure by roughly two-thirds against a flat instalment, because every raise compounds for all the years that follow it. The tool prints both, so you can read the exact gap for your own numbers.

Should the increase match my appraisal?

Matching it exactly is tidy but optimistic. Appraisals are lumpy and some years bring none. Pick a rate you could sustain through a flat year, and raise it manually in the years you do better.

Does the fund house have to support this?

Most Indian fund houses offer a top-up option on the mandate itself, which automates the increase. Where they do not, the same effect comes from starting a second plan each year and leaving the first alone.

What happens if I stop escalating halfway?

The projection stops matching your account from that point on. Re-run it with the instalment you have actually reached and a step-up of zero to see where you now land.

Step-Up SIP Calculator

Raise the instalment every year and see what the increases are worth.

Everything runs inside your browser. Your files never leave your device.

Result

The result appears here as you type.

Ask about Step-Up SIP Calculator

Questions about what this tool does, which option to pick, or what it can and cannot handle.

The question you type here is sent to an AI provider to be answered — your files and whatever you put in the tool above are not, and the assistant cannot see them. Answers are generated and can be wrong. The tool itself is not guessing: it runs deterministic code on your device.

About the Step-Up SIP Calculator

A step-up plan raises the instalment by a fixed percentage every year, on the theory that your income rises too. This works out where that lands after a decade or two, and shows the flat-instalment version beside it so the increases can be priced rather than assumed.

The gap between the two is larger than most people expect, and for a reason worth understanding. A ten per cent annual increase does not add ten per cent to the outcome. Each year's higher instalment compounds for every remaining year, so an increase made in year three is worth far more than the same increase made in year twelve. The first few raises carry most of the benefit, which is an argument for starting the escalation early rather than promising yourself a bigger one later.

The table shows the instalment for each year alongside the running total and the projected value. Look at the last row of the middle column before you commit to a percentage: a ten per cent yearly rise turns ten thousand into roughly forty-seven thousand a month by year seventeen. That is the figure to sanity-check against a realistic view of your salary, not the pleasant number at the bottom of the projection.

There is one failure mode this does not model. If a year is tight and you skip the increase, or drop back to the previous amount, the whole projection quietly stops describing what you paid. Treat the plan as a commitment you have checked against your own budget, and re-run it whenever reality diverges.

How to use it

1Put in the amount you can commit to this month, not the amount you hope to manage next year.
2Set the yearly increase to something your salary can actually absorb — five to ten per cent is the usual honest range.
3Read the last row of the monthly column and ask whether you would really be paying that.
4Compare the projection against the flat-instalment figure to see what the escalation is buying you.

Questions

How much difference does a step-up really make?: At ten per cent a year over fifteen years it typically lifts the final figure by roughly two-thirds against a flat instalment, because every raise compounds for all the years that follow it. The tool prints both, so you can read the exact gap for your own numbers.
Should the increase match my appraisal?: Matching it exactly is tidy but optimistic. Appraisals are lumpy and some years bring none. Pick a rate you could sustain through a flat year, and raise it manually in the years you do better.
Does the fund house have to support this?: Most Indian fund houses offer a top-up option on the mandate itself, which automates the increase. Where they do not, the same effect comes from starting a second plan each year and leaving the first alone.
What happens if I stop escalating halfway?: The projection stops matching your account from that point on. Re-run it with the instalment you have actually reached and a step-up of zero to see where you now land.