When markets fall and your SIP is running

The call usually comes on a bad week. The value on the app is red, the news is loud, and someone in the family has said it might be better to pause for a while.

We understand the feeling. Nobody enjoys watching money they worked for go down. But a SIP is built to run through weeks like this, and it helps to know what is actually happening before deciding.

What your SIP is doing

When prices are lower, your monthly amount buys more units than it did before. When prices are higher, it buys fewer. That is the whole mechanism. It works the same way whether or not you are paying attention.

We cannot tell you when a market will turn, and neither can anyone else. We will not pretend that it always recovers, because there is no promise in that. What we can tell you is that stopping a SIP in a fall means stopping the part that buys at lower prices.

Questions worth asking first

Has my goal changed? If you are still saving for something ten years away, a bad few months does not change the date.

Has my need for the money changed? If you now need it soon, that is a real reason to talk to us about the plan, and has nothing to do with the market.

Am I upset about the market, or about my budget? If money has become tight at home, that is a different conversation, and a fair one. Lowering the amount for a while is often better than stopping altogether.

Is this scheme still the right kind for this goal? Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes we should look at it again. Either way we would rather look at it with you than have you decide alone at midnight.

What we ask of you

Before you stop anything, call us. We will look at your goal, your timeline and your risk profile together. Sometimes we will agree with you. Sometimes we will suggest sitting still. You decide, always.

Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme related documents carefully before investing. Nothing here is a prediction or a promise of returns.