The market is bleeding. Here's why I am not pausing my SIPs

Summary: As the US-Iran war rattles markets, the temptation to pause your SIP can feel hard to resist. But stopping your SIP during turbulent times may harm your wealth far more than the crisis itself.

February 28, 2026, began like any ordinary Saturday. By afternoon, however, the news cycle had taken an unsettling turn. Reports began emerging that a war had broken out in West Asia, and within hours the conflict had escalated enough to dominate headlines across the world.

While many people were understandably worried about the safety of their loved ones in the Middle East, a region home to over 9 million Indians, I found another question creeping into my mind: What would happen to the markets?

The answer arrived soon enough.

When the markets opened on Monday (March 2), everything was deep in the red. Oil prices were rising, the rupee had weakened further, indices slipped sharply in early trade and selling pressure quickly spread across sectors.

My portfolio wasn’t spared either.

Normally, I would have simply watched the markets with mild concern and moved on with my day. But this time there was an added complication.

Pausing my SIPs: A wise decision?

My salary had just been credited, and it was time for my monthly SIPs (systematic investment plans).

Usually, SIP day is uneventful. The money is auto-debited from my bank account, and I barely notice it. But seeing the markets tumble made me pause and ask: Does it make sense to continue investing?

The logic seemed straightforward. If markets were falling because of a major geopolitical conflict, maybe it was better to wait. Perhaps I could skip this month’s SIP and invest once the dust settles. After all, why invest when the markets are clearly going down?

But before acting on it, I decided to get a second opinion. I asked my friend if pausing my SIPs was the right thing to do.

He listened patiently and then asked a simple question: “You’re thinking of pausing your SIPs just because the markets are falling?”

“Yes,” I said. “Isn’t that the right thing to do?”

He shook his head, “That’s exactly when you shouldn’t stop.”

Initially, I was confused. However, once I understood the rationale, my friend’s reasoning made sense.

SIPs help you accumulate more units when the market is down

An SIP works precisely because it ignores market timing. When markets fall, the same fixed investment buys more units of a fund. When markets rise, it buys fewer units. Over time, this averaging helps investors accumulate units at a reasonable cost.

In fact, in falling markets, SIPs quietly do their best work.

If you stop your SIP during a downturn, you break the very mechanism that makes it effective. You avoid investing when prices are lower and often return only after markets have recovered.

In other words, you miss the opportunity to buy more units at cheaper valuations, also known as ‘rupee cost averaging’.

Below is an example that proves how a Rs 10,000 monthly SIP helps you buy more mutual fund units when the market is underperforming, versus fewer units when it is performing well.

Halting your SIPs leaves you with less money over time

Another important point my friend highlighted was how putting a halt, even temporarily, on my SIPs could leave me with a lower corpus in the long run.

“How?” I asked, “It is just for a couple of months.”

“Those couple of months don’t seem that long. However, even missing three months of SIPs can put a substantial dent in your wealth.”

How? Let’s say you started investing in a flexi-cap fund around 10 years with a Rs 10,000 monthly SIP.

The difference is clear. If you had kept investing without any breaks, you would have ended up with Rs 1.5 lakh higher than someone who halted their SIPs even for three months during the 10-year period. 

Lesson learned? Even if the markets fall, keep your SIPs going.

Markets fall, yet recover sooner than we think

My friend also reminded me that markets have seen far worse events before. Wars, financial crises, pandemics and political shocks have all triggered sharp market reactions in the past. Yet over long periods, markets have recovered and continued their upward journey.

The purpose of a SIP is not to avoid volatility. It is to navigate it.

By investing regularly, you remove the need to decide whether the current moment is the ‘right time’ to invest. Because, in truth, no one really knows.

That conversation helped me recognise something uncomfortable: my urge to pause the SIP wasn’t based on strategy. It was simply fear.

Seeing markets fall makes every investor uneasy. Even experienced investors feel the temptation to step aside and wait for clarity.

But clarity in markets often arrives only after prices have already moved up.

That is why the discipline of a SIP matters. It forces you to continue investing even when the headlines are unsettling and the market mood is pessimistic.

So I did what an SIP investor is supposed to do: I let the SIPs go through.

The takeaway

The conflict in West Asia may continue to influence markets in the coming weeks. Global uncertainty may remain high and volatility can continue to persist.

But for someone investing through SIPs, those short-term swings are part of the journey.

Because the real strength of a SIP isn’t timing the market. It’s staying invested when timing feels most tempting.

Also read: How SIP pause during Covid boosted returns but cut my wealth

This article was originally published on March 12, 2026.