How to Use Our Investment Calculator (SIP, Lump Sum & Retirement Planning)
This investment calculator is designed for real people who simply want to know one thing: “If I keep investing like this, how much money can I realistically have in the future?” You don’t need to be a finance expert. Just enter your numbers and the tool does the compound interest math in the background.
You can use it to plan mutual fund SIPs, stock or ETF portfolios, retirement savings, kids’ education funds or even long-term savings in tax-advantaged accounts like a 401(k), IRA, PPF or NPS. If you’re comparing this with borrowing, you can also check our loan calculator or student loan calculator to see how much interest you pay versus how much you could earn by investing.
1. Choose Lump Sum, SIP or Both
At the top of the calculator you’ll see three tabs:
- Lump Sum – for a one-time investment like a bonus or inheritance.
- SIP (Monthly) – for regular monthly investing from your salary or business income.
- Both – for a mix of an upfront amount plus an ongoing SIP.
Pick the option that matches how you plan to invest. You can always switch tabs later to compare different strategies.
2. Enter Your Investment Amount, Return and Time Period
Next, fill in a few simple details:
- Initial investment / SIP amount – how much you can invest now or every month.
- Expected annual return (%) – for example, 10–12% for equity funds, 6–8% for balanced funds, 4–6% for bonds.
- Investment period (years) – how long you’re willing to stay invested.
You can drag the sliders or type the exact values. The calculator automatically converts the yearly return into a monthly rate for SIP calculations and compounds it over the selected period.
3. Optional: Adjust for Inflation
If you tick “Adjust for inflation”, you can enter an average inflation rate (for example 3–6%). The calculator then shows both:
- Future value – the raw amount you may see in your account.
- Inflation-adjusted value – how much that money feels like in today’s prices.
This is very useful when you’re planning long-term goals like retirement. You can also combine this with our budget calculator to check whether your current savings rate is enough.
4. Read the Summary and Year-by-Year Growth
After you click “Calculate Returns”, the result card shows:
- Total invested – how much of your own money went in.
- Total returns – pure profit generated by compounding.
- CAGR – the annualised growth rate of your portfolio.
- Wealth multiplier – how many times your money has grown.
The donut chart splits your final amount into “Invested amount” and “Returns earned”. Scroll further down to see the year-by-year breakdown so you can understand how slowly things start and how fast they grow in the later years.
5. Example: SIP vs Lump Sum
Imagine you invest a $10,000 lump sum today at 12% for 15 years. That single investment can grow to more than $54,000 if you simply leave it alone. Now compare that with a $300 SIP at the same return for 15 years – your total investment is around $54,000 but the future value can cross $150,000 because you are adding money every month.
The message is simple: regular investing + time in the market usually beats trying to time entries and exits. If you like to test more scenarios, you can also open our percentage calculator to quickly check gains and losses.
6. Smart Tips to Get the Best Out of This Calculator
- Play with different return rates to see optimistic and conservative scenarios.
- Increase your SIP by 5–10% every year – small step-ups make a huge difference.
- Keep investment periods at 10+ years for equity-heavy portfolios.
- Use tax-advantaged accounts in your country to keep more of the gains.
- Don’t forget to review your plan once a year and rebalance if needed.
You can export your results as TXT or CSV and share them with your financial advisor, or simply keep them as a reference when you update your plan in the future.
7. A Quick Reminder
No calculator can predict the market perfectly, but it can give you a clear roadmap. Treat these numbers as a guide, not a guarantee. Stay diversified, avoid panic-selling during market drops and keep your investment horizon long. That is usually how people quietly reach their financial goals.