How to Go from ₹1 Crore to ₹3.11 Crore in 10 Years Without SIPs

The Long Road to the First Crore

Accumulating the first crore is often the most challenging financial milestone. Madhu, a disciplined investor, started investing at 25 with a monthly systematic investment plan of ₹10,000. Despite consistently earning 12% annual returns, it took her 20 years to reach ₹1 crore.

Had she increased her SIP contributions, the journey would have been shorter, but it would still have taken over a decade of disciplined investing:

The Challenge of Continuing Investments

By the time Madhu reached ₹1 crore, her financial responsibilities had grown. She had home loan EMIs, rising education expenses for her child, and ageing parents requiring support. With these obligations, continuing SIPs became difficult, though ideally, she should have continued contributing, even if at a reduced amount.

However, she decided to leave her ₹1 crore investment untouched, allowing it to grow at 12% annually.

The Power of Compounding at Work

Once Madhu stopped investing, her existing wealth continued to grow without additional contributions. Here’s how her portfolio has multiplied over the years:

In just 6 years, her ₹1 crore doubled to ₹2 crore. By the end of 10 years, her portfolio reached ₹3.11 crore through compounding alone. While the first crore took her 20 years to build, the next 2 crores were achieved in just 10 years, all due to compounding.

Impact of Lower Returns

Even if Madhu’s portfolio earned a more modest 10% return, her money would still grow significantly:

• ₹1 crore doubles to ₹2 crore in 7 years
• ₹2.6 crore is reached in 3 additional years

Although growth slows slightly, compounding continues to create substantial wealth over time.

The Key: Staying Invested

Compounding allows money to generate more returns over time, but the challenge is psychological—resisting the urge to withdraw.

Madhu faced the temptation to withdraw a small portion for luxuries like a car. She considered withdrawing ₹15 lakh, just 15% of her corpus. However, a simple calculation showed that withdrawing ₹20 lakh would reduce her future wealth by nearly ₹2 crore over 20 years, leaving her with ₹7.7 crore instead of ₹9.6 crore.

Conclusion

The journey from ₹1 crore to ₹3.11 crore in 10 years does not require fresh investments—just time, patience, and discipline. The key lesson from Madhu’s story is that the hardest part of building wealth is not just earning returns but staying invested long enough for compounding to work. Resisting the temptation to withdraw and allowing money to grow uninterrupted can lead to exponential wealth creation over time.

Disclaimer: This blog has been written exclusively for educational purposes. The securities mentioned are only examples and not recommendations. This does not constitute a personal recommendation/investment advice. It does not aim to influence any individual or entity to make investment decisions. Recipients should conduct their own research and assessments to form an independent opinion about investment decisions.

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