Autobiography of an SIP

This is the story of Mr Stoic and his quiet 10k-a-month SIP that survived crashes, rallies, and 3 decades of market madness—eventually funding his early retirement. My name is SIP (systematic investment plan). I was born 30 years ago when my owner, Mr Stoic, started a monthly investment of Rs 10,000 in the HDFC Flexi Cap Fund. Since then, he has invested Rs 36.6 lakh in me. As of June 9, 2025, I’m worth Rs 21.6 crore. Equity has delivered outsized returns, but only in hindsight. Through my life’s highs and lows, Mr Stoic held firm. While bull runs gave him a high, crashes made him question my existence. Over three decades, I’ve lived through bull and bear markets, and yet, this single SIP remained uninterrupted, ultimately becoming the single source of retirement income for Mr Stoic. Humble beginnings When I began on January 1, 1995, the fund NAV (net asset value) was Rs 10. It soon dropped to Rs 5.3 in 1996 and didn’t cross Rs 10 again until February 1999. Naturally, Mr Stoic grew anxious. But he stuck with me. Thanks to rupee cost averaging, he bought more units when NAVs were low. By the time we were back at Rs 10, the average price of the systematically accumulated mutual fund units had lowered. Four years of patience had laid the foundation. Then came March 2000. NAV shot to Rs 27.7. But the joy didn’t last. Markets fell, and by October 2001, th

This article was originally published on July 20, 2025.