Which Investment method to choose? Lumpsum vs SIP vs Step-up SIP

There are multiple ways to accumulate wealth through investing in a mutual fund. Here’s all you need about the Lumpsum vs SIP vs Step-up SIP, to make the right investing decisions discuss some conventional and modern methods of financing.

1. Lumpsum 

One of the most popular and oldest ways of investing in mutual funds is making a lump sum investment. It is a one-time bulk investment in a mutual fund. The time of entering the market is crucial in lumpsum investment.

It can give you good returns when the market is in a bull run but may not provide returns in a bear run. No one knows exactly when a bull market is ending, and a bear market is starting. The investments’ entry and exit are crucial, depending on market conditions.

2. SIP

A SIP or a Systematic Investment Plan, involves a fixed amount going towards a mutual fund; on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or annual basis.

A SIP is the most common way of investing in a mutual fund.

There are multiple benefits of investing through a SIP. The minimum amount required can be as low as ₹100/month, and the rupee averaging cost and the power of compounding helps to develop financial discipline. You don’t need to track the market daily.

3. Step-up SIP

Step-up SIP is the lesser-known way of investing in a mutual fund. With this way of investing, SIP can be increased on a half-yearly and yearly basis. As in percentage or numbers of the current SIP.

This option of funding can be chosen for multiple reasons you’re starting early in your career, have a low budget, cannot save much in the initial phase, or want to check how SIP works.

Let’s understand all three ways with the help of an example

Let’s say you want to save for your child’s higher education, who is just born. So, ideally, you have 16 years to invest until your child reaches that age; by then, the cost of graduation would be around ₹10,00,000.

You will make an investment in the BSE Sensex Index to take advantage of the growth of the entire index. Now, let’s understand which could be the ideal way to save for your child’s future as per your budget.

Particulars	Lumpsum	SIP	Step-Up SIP
No. of Years	16	16	16
Target Amount	₹ 10,00,000	₹ 10,00,000	₹ 10,00,000
Initial Investment	₹ 1,70,000	₹ 1,900	₹ 1,000
Total Invested Amount	₹ 1,70,000	₹ 3,64,800	₹ 4,31,397
Accumulated Amount	₹ 10,16,330	₹ 10,19,286	₹ 10,07,229

Which is better?

In all the scenarios, an investor has made the wealth or the corpus needed for his child’s higher education. The amount invested is different for different modes of financing. You can figure out which could suit you the best from the above table.

Suppose you don’t have a sufficient bulk amount to achieve the target corpus. Then, you can consider investing through the SIP route, which requires a monthly SIP of ₹1,900 over the period. But even if you cannot afford to invest ₹1900/ month.

The last option that you can consider is Step-up SIP which requires less amount at the initial phase of the investment, but by the end of the journey, the amount of SIP can go up to ₹4,200/month. Choosing multiple options can help you to maximize your returns.

Income, investing objectives, financial stability, and risk are some factors to consider when choosing the option of investment.

One should consider the risk involved when choosing any way of investing. Over time, wealth accumulates with the power of compounding acting upon the increasing investment base.

It’s not a one or two-year play. The best way of investing in a mutual fund is SIP which will not hurt your pocket, minimize the risk, reduce the volatility, and create wealth.