Find out what waiting a few years to start a SIP really costs. Compare the corpus if you start today with starting later, and see how much higher the SIP must be to catch up.
With compounding, the money you invest first has the longest time to grow, so the early years matter more than the late ones. Delaying a SIP does not just cut a few instalments; it cuts the most valuable ones. That is why the loss is usually many times the amount you did not invest.
A ₹10,000 monthly SIP for 25 years at an assumed 12% grows to about ₹1.90 crore. Start 5 years later and run it for 20 years, and it grows to about ₹1.00 crore. You invested only ₹6 lakh less, but your corpus is about ₹90 lakh smaller, nearly half. To end up with the same ₹1.90 crore after a 5-year delay, you would need to invest about ₹19,000 a month, almost double.
If you are waiting for the "right" market level, a bonus, or a bigger salary, start with a smaller SIP now and increase it later with a step-up SIP. Starting small still helps: ₹2,000 a month for 25 years at an assumed 12% grows to about ₹38 lakh, and adding a larger SIP later on top of it narrows the gap considerably. Use a lower return, such as 8% to 10%, to see a cautious picture: the cost of delay stays large even at lower returns.
Returns are assumptions, not guarantees. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risk.
Last reviewed: 6 November 2026 by the YogiCalc team · How we calculate and verify · Spotted an error? Tell us
For ₹10,000 a month over a 25-year goal at an assumed 12%, starting 5 years late shrinks the corpus from about ₹1.90 crore to about ₹1.00 crore, a loss of roughly ₹90 lakh for ₹6 lakh less invested.
In the same example you need about ₹19,000 a month instead of ₹10,000 to reach the same goal after a 5-year delay. The calculator shows the exact figure for your inputs.
Usually a small SIP now, increased every year, beats a bigger SIP started years later, because the early instalments compound the longest.
Use a range. Equity funds have delivered around 10% to 12% over long periods in India, but past returns are not guaranteed, so also check 8%.