Plan SIPs, EMIs, FDs and taxes with India-context numbers. Move the sliders to see results update live.
SIP Calculator
Project the future value of a Systematic Investment Plan with monthly contributions.
What is a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)?
A SIP is a way to invest a fixed amount in a mutual fund on a fixed date every month. SEBI-registered Asset Management Companies in India offer SIPs across equity, debt, and hybrid mutual fund categories. The biggest reason salaried Indians use SIPs is that they remove timing decisions: you keep buying through highs and lows, and over a 10-15 year horizon the average cost of your units lands somewhere around the long-term mean of the fund.
How this SIP calculator works
The calculator treats each monthly installment as a cash flow that grows for the remaining months until the end of the SIP period, then sums them up. Because installments earlier in the period compound for longer, the formula collapses to a closed-form geometric series:
FV = P x ((1 + r)^n - 1) / r x (1 + r)
- P = monthly investment
- r = monthly rate of return (annual rate divided by 12, then divided by 100)
- n = total number of months (years times 12)
- FV = future value at maturity
Step-by-step
- Convert annual return to monthly: 12 % per year becomes 0.01 per month.
- Convert tenure to months: 10 years becomes 120 months.
- Compute the growth factor ((1 + r)^n - 1) / r and multiply by P.
- Multiply by (1 + r) once more to account for end-of-month compounding.
Things this calculator does not capture
SIP returns are not guaranteed. Equity mutual fund 10-year CAGR sits in a 10 to 14 % band historically in India, but a single bad sequence (a crash in your last two years) can pull realised returns 2 to 3 percentage points below the average. The calculator also assumes constant monthly returns; in reality, returns are uneven. Use this as a planning floor, not a promise.
Lumpsum Calculator
Project the future value of a one-time investment compounded annually.
What is a lumpsum investment?
A lumpsum is a one-time deposit into a mutual fund, fixed deposit, or equity portfolio - as opposed to a SIP, which spreads the same amount across months. Lumpsums make sense when a windfall arrives (bonus, inheritance, property-sale proceeds, ESOP vest) and there is no strategic reason to phase it in. The trade-off is timing risk: if you invest a large amount the day before a 20 % market correction, your realised return takes a hit that a SIP would have averaged out.
How the lumpsum calculator works
The formula is the standard compound interest equation applied once, with annual compounding:
FV = P x (1 + r)^n
- P = initial one-time investment
- r = annual rate of return as a decimal (12 % becomes 0.12)
- n = number of years
Step-by-step
- Add 1 to the annual decimal rate.
- Raise the sum to the power of the number of years.
- Multiply by the initial investment.
Lumpsum vs SIP for the same total amount
Putting Rs 12 lakh as a lumpsum at the start of a 10-year period at 12 % returns roughly Rs 37.3 lakh, while a Rs 10,000 monthly SIP totalling the same Rs 12 lakh returns Rs 23.2 lakh. The lumpsum wins on paper because the full amount compounds for the entire period. The catch: most people do not have Rs 12 lakh to deploy on day one, and even if they do, lumpsum at the wrong moment can underperform a SIP by a wide margin. Use lumpsum for genuine windfalls; use SIP for monthly cash flow from salary.
EMI Calculator
Home loan, car loan or personal loan EMI with total interest payable.
What is an EMI?
EMI stands for Equated Monthly Installment. It is a fixed amount you pay every month to repay a loan over a chosen tenure. Each EMI contains two parts - principal repayment and interest - but the split changes month by month. In the early years, most of your EMI is interest; in the last few years, almost all of it is principal. This front-loading of interest is why prepaying a home loan in years 1 to 5 saves dramatically more than prepaying in years 15 to 20.
How the EMI calculator works
The reducing-balance EMI formula amortises principal and interest over the tenure such that every EMI is identical in rupee terms:
EMI = P x r x (1 + r)^n / ((1 + r)^n - 1)
- P = loan principal
- r = monthly interest rate (annual rate divided by 12, then divided by 100)
- n = total number of months
Step-by-step
- Convert annual rate to monthly: 8.5 % per year becomes 0.708333 % per month or 0.00708333 as a decimal.
- Convert tenure to months: 20 years is 240 months.
- Compute (1 + r)^n, then plug into the EMI formula.
- Total interest payable = (EMI x n) - P.
Why the EMI on the same loan differs across banks
EMIs use the rate the lender quotes you, which is the repo rate (RBI sets this; currently 5.25 %) plus the bank spread plus your individual risk premium. A salaried borrower with a 750+ CIBIL score typically gets repo plus 2.5 to 3 percentage points; a self-employed borrower or someone with a 650 score gets repo plus 4 to 5 points. Over a 20-year home loan, a 1-percentage-point higher rate adds roughly Rs 7 lakh of interest on a Rs 50 lakh loan.
FD Calculator
Fixed deposit maturity with quarterly compounding (Indian bank convention).
What is a Fixed Deposit (FD)?
An FD locks a lump sum with a bank for a chosen tenure at a guaranteed interest rate. Interest accrues over the tenure and is paid at maturity (cumulative FD) or quarterly (non-cumulative FD). FD deposits up to Rs 5 lakh per bank per depositor are insured by DICGC (Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, a subsidiary of RBI). FDs are the workhorse of the conservative Indian saver because the principal and the interest rate are both contractually fixed.
How the FD calculator works
Indian banks use quarterly compounding by RBI convention. Interest accrued in each quarter is added to the principal, and the next quarter's interest is computed on the new balance:
M = P x (1 + r/4)^(4n)
- P = principal deposit
- r = annual interest rate as a decimal
- n = number of years
- M = maturity value (principal plus total interest)
Step-by-step
- Divide annual rate by 4 to get the quarterly rate.
- Multiply years by 4 to get total quarters.
- Raise (1 + quarterly rate) to the power of total quarters.
- Multiply by the principal. Subtract the principal to get total interest.
Tax treatment to keep in mind
FD interest is taxed at your slab rate. Banks deduct 10 % TDS once your annual interest across all FDs at the same bank crosses Rs 40,000 (Rs 50,000 for senior citizens). If your total taxable income is below the basic exemption limit, submit Form 15G (or 15H for senior citizens) to stop the TDS. Tax-saving FDs under Section 80C have a five-year lock-in and qualify for deduction in the old regime only.
RD Calculator
Recurring deposit maturity with quarterly compounding.
What is a Recurring Deposit (RD)?
An RD is a deposit where you commit to paying a fixed amount every month for a fixed tenure (typically 6 months to 10 years) at a guaranteed interest rate. Each monthly installment earns interest from the date it is deposited until maturity, and interest is compounded quarterly like a regular FD. RDs are useful for forced monthly saving when you do not yet have a lump sum to lock into an FD - think of it as an FD with a SIP-style entry.
How the RD calculator works
Each installment compounds quarterly for the remaining months until maturity. The closed-form expression for total maturity value is:
M = sum over t of P x (1 + r/4)^(4 x (n - t)/12)
- P = monthly installment
- r = annual rate as a decimal
- n = total months
- t = installment number, from 0 to n-1
Step-by-step
- For each monthly installment, calculate how many quarters it will remain in the account before maturity.
- Compound that installment at the quarterly rate for that many quarters.
- Add up all the compounded installments.
- Subtract total deposits (P x n) to get total interest.
RD vs FD vs SIP - which fits when?
If your goal is capital preservation and you already have the lump sum, FD wins on simplicity. If you have monthly cash flow and want a guaranteed return, RD beats keeping money in a savings account. If your horizon is 7 years or more and you can tolerate volatility, an equity SIP historically delivers a return premium of 4 to 7 percentage points over RD/FD - large enough that the difference between RD and equity SIP over 20 years is typically 3x the final corpus.
PPF Calculator
Public Provident Fund maturity. Current interest 7.1% (Q1 FY26). Cap Rs 1.5 lakh per year.
What is the Public Provident Fund (PPF)?
The PPF is a 15-year savings scheme run by the Government of India through post offices and authorised banks. It carries an EEE tax status - your contribution is deductible under Section 80C (old regime), the interest earned during the tenure is tax-free, and the maturity amount is also tax-free. The interest rate is reset every quarter by the Ministry of Finance. For Q1 FY26, the rate is 7.1 %. You can deposit anywhere between Rs 500 and Rs 1,50,000 per financial year.
How the PPF calculator works
PPF uses annual compounding, with the deposit made by the 5th of each month earning interest for that month. The calculator assumes the deposit is made early in the financial year for the full lakh-fifty contribution and grows year on year:
A = P x ((1 + r)^n - 1) / r x (1 + r)
- P = annual contribution (maximum Rs 1.5 lakh per FY)
- r = annual interest rate as a decimal
- n = number of years
Step-by-step
- Compute (1 + r)^n.
- Subtract 1, divide by r, multiply by the annual contribution.
- Multiply by (1 + r) once for end-of-year compounding to match the official PPF schedule.
Practical notes
Partial withdrawals are allowed from the 7th year onward (up to 50 % of the balance two years ago). A loan is available from the 3rd year, up to 25 % of the balance two years ago, at 1 percentage point over the PPF rate. PPF can be extended after the 15-year maturity in blocks of 5 years, with or without further contributions. For most salaried savers the PPF is the cheapest way to lock in EEE tax treatment without market risk.
NPS Calculator
National Pension System corpus at retirement, lump sum (60%), annuity (40%) and indicative monthly pension.
What is the National Pension System (NPS)?
NPS is a defined-contribution retirement scheme regulated by PFRDA. You contribute monthly until age 60, the corpus is invested in a mix of equity (max 75 %), corporate bonds, government bonds, and alternative assets that you select (Active Choice) or that auto-adjusts by age (Auto Choice). At age 60, you take 60 % of the corpus as a tax-free lump sum and use the remaining 40 % to buy an annuity from an IRDAI-approved insurer that pays you a lifetime monthly pension.
How the NPS calculator works
The calculator runs two stages. Stage one is a monthly compounding accumulation to age 60 (same formula as SIP). Stage two splits the corpus into lump sum (60 %) and annuity (40 %) and converts the annuity into a monthly pension at the chosen annuity rate.
Corpus = P x ((1 + r)^n - 1) / r x (1 + r) Lump sum = Corpus x 0.6 Annuity = Corpus x 0.4 Monthly pension = Annuity x annuity_rate / 12
- P = monthly contribution
- r = monthly investment rate of return
- n = months from current age to 60
- annuity_rate = current annuity payout (typically 5 to 7 % p.a.)
Step-by-step
- Calculate months remaining = (60 - current age) x 12.
- Compute the corpus the same way as a SIP at the expected NPS return.
- Split the corpus 60 / 40 at retirement.
- Annuity x payout rate / 12 = first-year monthly pension. The actual pension rises if you choose an annuity with annual escalation.
Tax angle
NPS Tier 1 gives you an extra Rs 50,000 deduction under Section 80CCD(1B) over and above the Rs 1.5 lakh 80C limit - the only deduction that survives independent of 80C. Employer NPS contribution under 80CCD(2) (10 % of basic plus DA, or 14 % for central government employees) is also deductible and survives even under the new tax regime. NPS is one of the few schemes that still works as a tax saver after the regime switch.
CAGR Calculator
Compound annual growth rate of an investment from initial to final value.
What is CAGR?
CAGR is the compound annual growth rate - the smoothed annual return that takes an investment from its starting value to its final value over the chosen period. It is not the same as the arithmetic average of yearly returns. If a fund returned 30 % one year and -10 % the next, the arithmetic average is 10 %, but the actual CAGR over those two years is roughly 8.2 % because of how losses compound differently than gains. CAGR is the standard metric used by AMFI fact sheets, brokerage performance reports, and Morningstar / Value Research to compare funds.
How the CAGR calculator works
Given the initial value, final value, and duration, CAGR comes from the standard compound interest equation solved for the rate:
CAGR = (FV / PV)^(1/n) - 1
- FV = final value
- PV = initial (present) value
- n = duration in years
Step-by-step
- Divide the final value by the initial value to get the total growth factor.
- Raise it to the power of 1 / n to annualise it.
- Subtract 1 to convert the growth factor into a percentage.
When CAGR misleads
CAGR hides volatility. A fund that did 24.57 % CAGR over 5 years could have done it smoothly, or with two 50 % crashes and three 100 % rebounds. For risk-aware comparison, always pair CAGR with the standard deviation or maximum drawdown of the returns. CAGR also assumes the start and end values were marked at the same point in the market cycle - measuring from a market peak to a market trough gives misleadingly low CAGR.
Inflation Calculator
Future cost of today's expenses under a given inflation rate.
What is inflation?
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices rises over time. In India the headline measure is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), published monthly by the Ministry of Statistics. The RBI has a statutory mandate to keep CPI inflation at 4 % plus or minus 2 % over the medium term. Realised CPI has averaged around 5 to 6 % over the last decade, with sub-categories like education and healthcare running materially higher (8 to 10 %) than the overall headline.
How the inflation calculator works
Future cost of something that costs Rs X today, given an annual inflation rate, is the same as a compound interest calculation:
Future cost = Current cost x (1 + r)^n
- Current cost = today's price of the expense
- r = expected annual inflation rate
- n = years into the future
Step-by-step
- Express the inflation rate as a decimal (6 % becomes 0.06).
- Add 1 and raise to the power of the years.
- Multiply by today's cost.
Why this matters for goal planning
If you are building a corpus for a future goal (kid's college, house down payment, retirement), always work backwards from the inflation-adjusted future cost - not today's price. A 15-year retirement corpus built against today's monthly expenses underfunds you by about 2.4x at 6 % inflation. The fix is to set the goal in future-rupees and then run a SIP calculator backwards to find the monthly contribution that hits that future number at your expected return.