Investing, without the projections nobody honours
Every calculator on the internet will show you what ₹5,000 a month becomes in twenty years. Almost none of them make clear that the answer is driven almost entirely by a return number somebody assumed. We show the formula, label the assumption as an assumption, and let you change it.
Start with the question you actually have
“I have a lump sum and I want it safe.” A fixed deposit is the default, and the advertised rate is not what you earn. How FD returns actually work covers compounding frequency, effective yield and the tax slab that decides what reaches your account — then run your own figures through the FD calculator.
“I want to put aside a fixed amount every month.” That is a recurring deposit, and the maturity math is not the same as an FD on the same rate, because each instalment compounds for a different length of time. The RD calculator does it properly.
“Should that monthly amount go into an RD or a SIP instead?” This is the question most people actually have, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a sales pitch. Recurring deposit vs SIP runs both formulas side by side on the same ₹5,000 a month — and shows that almost the entire gap between them comes down to one number nobody can guarantee.
“How is a SIP return even calculated?” The compounding math behind every SIP calculator, why the assumed return does almost all the work, and what step-up SIPs and starting early genuinely change. Then use the SIP calculator — and change the assumed return to something pessimistic before you trust any number it gives you.
Guaranteed returns — deposits
FD Calculator
Maturity value on a lump sum, with compounding frequency handled properly.
Calculate maturity → LiveRD Calculator
A fixed amount every month, where each instalment compounds for a different term.
Calculate maturity → LiveFixed Deposit Returns Explained
The quoted rate is not the return you earn. Effective yield, and what tax leaves you.
Read the guide →Market-linked — SIPs
The comparison most people need
Not investment advice
Educational content only. We are not registered investment advisers, we do not recommend specific funds or schemes, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything.
What we will never do
Guarantee a return, or present a hypothetical projection as an expected outcome. Deposit returns are contractual; market returns are not, and we will not blur the two.
Every assumption is labelled
Where a calculator needs a number nobody can know in advance, it is shown as an input you can change — never buried as a default you are meant to accept.