SIP Calculator with Inflation Adjustment
A SIP calculator with inflation adjustment that shows two numbers side by side: the nominal future value your SIP will actually show, and the real, inflation-adjusted future value — what that money will be worth in today's purchasing power. This is often the more honest number for judging a long-term goal.
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The calculators on this site are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. TradeCalc is not a SEBI-registered investment advisor. Please consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.
6% is a commonly-cited long-run assumption for India's retail inflation — adjust it to match your own view, especially for very long tenures.
Also modelling a step-up SIP? (optional)
Left at 0 by default. If your SIP increases every year, set this to see the nominal vs. real future value with that increase factored in — or use the dedicated step-up SIP calculator for a flat-vs-step-up comparison.
Nominal future value
₹50,45,760.00
What your account statement will show
Real (inflation-adjusted) future value
₹21,05,419.35
What that money will actually buy, in today's purchasing power
Total invested
₹18,00,000.00
Nominal gain
₹32,45,760.00
Real gain
₹3,05,419.35
Nominal vs. real (inflation-adjusted) future value
Same ₹10,000.00/month, same tenure, same return — before and after adjusting for 6% annual inflation.
| Metric | Nominal | Real (inflation-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| Total invested | ₹18,00,000.00 | ₹18,00,000.00 |
| Future value | ₹50,45,760.00 | ₹21,05,419.35 |
| Gain | ₹32,45,760.00 | ₹3,05,419.35 |
At 6% annual inflation over 15 years, ₹29,40,340.64 (90.6% of your nominal gain) is effectively eaten by inflation — leaving a real gain of ₹3,05,419.35in today's purchasing power.
All calculations run entirely in your browser — nothing you enter here is sent to a server or stored anywhere.
Why a big nominal number can be misleading
Nominal returns ignore rising prices
Most SIP calculators show only the nominal future value — the rupee figure your account will literally display at the end of the tenure. That number is correct, but it says nothing about what those rupees will actually be able to buy by then, because prices for everything from groceries to education keep rising every year in the meantime.
Real returns tell you what the money is actually worth
The real, inflation-adjusted future value discounts the nominal figure back by your assumed inflation rate, compounded over the same tenure — giving you an estimate in today's purchasing power. It's a smaller number than the nominal one, but it's the more useful one for judging whether a corpus will actually be enough for a goal that's decades away.
The gap grows with tenure and with the inflation assumption
Over a short tenure the difference between nominal and real value is modest, but over 15-20+ years — the kind of horizon most SIP goals like retirement are built on — the gap compounds into a large share of the nominal gain. The comparison table above is built specifically to make that gap concrete for your own numbers, so you can plan around the real figure rather than be reassured by the nominal one.
Frequently asked questions
What is real rate of return?
The real rate of return is your investment's growth after stripping out the effect of inflation — it tells you how much your money's actual purchasing power increased, not just how much the rupee figure grew. A SIP that grows at 12% a year during a period of 6% inflation has a real return closer to 6%, not 12%, because prices are rising at the same time your corpus is.
How does inflation affect my SIP returns?
Inflation doesn't change the rupee amount your SIP shows on a statement — that nominal future value is unaffected. What it changes is what that rupee amount can actually buy by the time you withdraw it: the same ₹1 crore that sounds large today will buy noticeably less in 15-20 years if prices keep rising, so the calculator above converts your nominal future value into today's purchasing power (the "real" future value) so you can judge it more realistically, especially for long-term goals like retirement.
What inflation rate should I use?
6% is a commonly-cited long-run assumption for India's retail inflation and is a reasonable starting default, but there's no single correct number — you can adjust it upward if you're planning for a goal (like education or healthcare) where costs have historically risen faster than general inflation, or test a couple of values (4%, 6%, 8%) to see how sensitive your plan is to the assumption.
Why is the real future value always lower than the nominal future value?
As long as your assumed inflation rate is above 0%, the real future value will always be lower than the nominal one — it's simply the nominal figure discounted back by inflation over your tenure (Real FV = Nominal FV ÷ (1 + inflation)^years). The longer the tenure and the higher the inflation rate, the bigger that gap becomes, which is why long-term SIP goals should be judged on real value, not the nominal number alone.
Is this inflation-adjusted SIP calculator free?
Yes — it's free, runs entirely in your browser, and requires no signup. Nothing you enter is sent to a server or stored anywhere.
Combine this with a step-up SIP to grow your investment faster than inflation instead of merely keeping pace with it.
Have a specific goal amount in mind? The target-amount SIP calculator can solve for the required monthly SIP directly, with an option to inflate the target first.
Prefer to start from a specific life goal? The goal-based SIP calculator has illustrative presets for education, retirement, a wedding, and more.
Learn more: How to Calculate SIP Returns.
Ready to start a SIP? Compare brokers to open an investment account.