INVESTING
How do I start a SIP with ₹500 a month?
When Shailee started earning, investing was the last thing on her mind. Rent, groceries, small indulgences and the quiet adjustment of living on her own money came first.
THE SHORT ANSWER
You can start a SIP with ₹500 a month in most mutual funds. You need a PAN, a bank account and a completed KYC, which can be done online in about twenty minutes. The amount matters far less at the start than whether the instruction survives the first year, so begin at a level you will not cancel.
The real obstacle is not the money
When Shailee started earning, investing was the last thing on her mind. She was working out rent, groceries, small indulgences and the quiet adjustment of living on her own money for the first time. Investing was a thing to get to later, once there was more of it.
Later is the trap. The amount you start with is almost irrelevant compared with when you start, because the whole mechanism runs on time rather than size.
What ₹500 a month actually does
At a 12% annual return, ₹500 a month for ten years becomes roughly ₹1.16 lakh, of which ₹60,000 is what you put in. Over twenty years it becomes about ₹5 lakh against ₹1.2 lakh contributed. Over thirty years, roughly ₹17.6 lakh against ₹1.8 lakh contributed.
Look at the shape of that. Doubling the time from ten to twenty years does not double the outcome, it more than quadruples it. The last decade contributes more than the first two combined, which is why starting late is expensive in a way that is hard to feel at the time.
The mechanics, in order
Complete your KYC once. PAN, Aadhaar, a bank account in your name and a short video verification, done online through any registered platform. It carries across every fund house afterwards.
Pick a broad, low-cost, diversified fund rather than whatever performed best last year. Past performance is the least reliable indicator available and it is the one every platform puts in front of you.
Set the SIP date for one or two days after your salary credit, so the money leaves before the month has a chance to absorb it.
Then leave it alone. The single largest destroyer of returns is stopping a SIP when markets fall, which is precisely when the instruction is buying most effectively.
You are not early, and you are not alone
Women made up 26.4% of India's mutual fund investor base by March 2026, roughly 16.1 million people, and held 34.5% of individual investor assets. The share of women's assets held for more than five years rose from 5% in March 2021 to 24% in March 2026, which suggests women who start tend to stay.
Mutual fund investments are subject to market risk. This is general educational information and not a recommendation of any specific scheme.
ONE MOVE THIS WEEK
Complete your KYC this week, even if you do not start the SIP yet. It is the step that stops people, and it only has to be done once.
