How equity and gold SIPs can turn Rs 24,000 into Rs 6 crore in nearly 2 decades

wealth creation is less about chasing returns and more about following a disciplined investment approach. Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) in mutual funds have emerged as a preferred route for investors planning long-term goals such as Consistent SIPs, a 10% annual step-up and diversified equity-gold allocation can turn modest monthly investments into a sizeable retirement corpus over two decades. retirement . By combining equity investments with allocations to gold and staying invested over extended periods, even modest monthly contributions can compound into a sizable corpus over time. In a recent query on ET Now’s The Money Show, a 34 year old investor Rohit Rao said he wants to stay invested for at least 22 years and has been investing since last one year through SIPs. Also Read | Silver ETFs deliver over 160% return in 2025. Is more shine left? Current portfolio holdings Currently, he invests Rs 24,000 every month, split almost equally across six equity mutual funds : Parag Parikh Flexicap, Kotak Multicap, ICICI Prudential Retirement Pure Equity Fund, Invesco India Large & Midcap, Motilal Oswal Midcap, and Bandhan Smallcap. Each fund receives a SIP of Rs 4,001, giving him exposure across market caps and investment styles. According to Pankaj Mathpal, MD, Optima Money Managers, with a 22-year time horizon, equity is well suited for Rohit’s goal. However, a closer look at the portfolio mix and investment strategy reveals a few areas where small tweaks could make a big difference. Does one really need a retirement-specific fund? One common question investors face is whether a “retirement fund” is necessary to plan for retirement. The expert says that in Rohit’s case, the ICICI Prudential Retirement Pure Equity Fund is a solution-oriented fund with a five-year lock-in. While it is labelled as a retirement fund, it is essentially a diversified equity fund, similar in structure to flexi-cap offerings. As long as the lock-in aligns with the investor’s long-term goal-and in this case, it does-there is no harm in holding it. However, investors should be clear that retirement planning depends more on asset allocation and discipline than on fund labels alone. “As far as solution oriented fund is concerned, this ICICI Prudential Retirement Fund, see it is named as retirement fund but there is nothing different, it is a diversified fund as well as a flexicap fund, so he can stay invested, only thing is that there is a lock-in of five years, so he has to keep in mind that if he is investing in this fund, it has to be aligned with his goal that is simple. But as he has mentioned that he wants to invest for retirement, so it is okay that he keeps this fund in his portfolio,” Matphal said. Assuming a long-term return of 12% per annum, Rohit’s current Rs 24,000 monthly SIP could potentially grow into a corpus of around Rs 3 crore over 22 years. While that sounds substantial, inflation will significantly erode purchasing power over such a long period. This is where step-up SIPs...

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