What is goal planning?
Goal planning is the process of determining the monthly investment required to accumulate a specified corpus by a target date. Whether for a child’s higher education, a home purchase, or retirement, the core question is always the same: given an expected rate of return and a time horizon, how much must be saved each month?
The answer depends on the compounding effect. A goal of ’1 Cr in 10 years at 12% requires a monthly SIP of approximately ’43,000. At 8%, the same goal needs about ’54,000 per month. The difference illustrates why the assumed return rate is the most consequential input in any goal plan.
The goal planning formula
This calculator solves for the monthly SIP using the standard annuity formula with monthly compounding:
Key inputs explained
Target amount is the corpus you need at the end of the horizon. This should be in today’s rupees — if your goal is 10 years away, consider adjusting for inflation. At 6% inflation, a ’10 Lakh goal today will require about ’17.9 Lakh in 10 years.
Expected return should reflect the asset class you plan to invest in. Equity-oriented portfolios typically assume 10–12% annually, debt-oriented portfolios 6–8%, and balanced portfolios 8–10%. Using a conservative estimate reduces the risk of falling short.
Time horizon is the single most powerful lever — extending it by even a few years dramatically reduces the monthly SIP needed, because compounding has more time to work.