People sometimes joke that the best investors are the ones who forget they invested. There's truth in it. Many of the best results I've seen came from SIPs that simply ran for years without anyone touching them. But I've also seen SIPs that quietly stopped years ago, without the investor noticing. So what really happens if you set up a SIP and forget about it for ten years? Some things are great. A few things can go wrong.
The good part: no panic selling
The biggest danger to a SIP isn't the market. It's the investor reacting to the market. People who check every day are far more likely to stop or sell during a fall.
Someone who forgets their SIP doesn't panic. Their instalments keep buying through the falls, often at lower prices. Our page on your SIP when the market falls explains why that matters so much.
Compounding gets time to work
Growth on growth needs years, not months. A SIP left alone for a decade gives compounding the time it needs. Our page on what compounding is explains why it's slow at first and stronger later.
I won't put a number on what ten years might produce. Nobody can. But time in the market is the ingredient people most often cut short.
The problem with "set and forget"
Set and forget is a lovely idea, and for the investment itself it mostly works, but the paperwork around a SIP lives in the real world, where people change banks, lose phones, move cities, get married, retire and pass away, and every one of those ordinary events can quietly stop a SIP that was meant to run forever.
So the goal isn't to forget. It's to stop worrying.
What can quietly break
Here's the part people don't think about. A SIP isn't completely self-running. Several things can break silently over ten years.
The bank mandate can fail. If you change banks or close an account, the debit stops. Our page on SIP autopay explains why mandates fail.
The SIP can have an end date. Many SIPs are registered for a fixed period. When it ends, instalments simply stop.
KYC rules can change. If your KYC status becomes "on hold", new instalments may be blocked. Our page on KYC status explains how to check.
Contact details go stale
Over ten years, many people change phone numbers and email addresses. If the old ones stay on your folio, you stop getting statements and alerts.
That's how investments get "lost". The money is still there, but nobody is getting the messages. Our page on finding unclaimed investments shows how common this is.
Mandate limits can block raises
If you ever try to increase a SIP that's been running for years, you may find the old bank mandate has a limit lower than the new amount. The higher instalment simply fails.
That's easy to fix with a new mandate. But you only find out if you look, and most people only look when the raise has already failed for a few months.
The fund itself can change
Over a decade, a fund might change its manager, its strategy, or even its name after a merger. It could become something quite different from what you chose.
Our post on what happens when a fund is merged or renamed explains what to look for in those letters.
Your life changes too
In ten years, you may marry, have children, change jobs, or move cities. Your goals change. The SIP that made sense at 25 may need adjusting at 35.
And as a goal gets close, the money should move from equity to steadier funds. A forgotten SIP doesn't do that on its own.
The nominee may be out of date
A nominee chosen ten years ago, perhaps a parent, may no longer be the right person. If something happens and the nominee is wrong or missing, your family faces a much harder claim.
Our page on nomination explains how to update it.
Old folios multiply
Over ten years, you may invest through different apps, banks or distributors. Each route can create a new folio. Without a yearly look, you can end up with several folios you've half forgotten.
A consolidated statement shows them all. If they're in the same fund house, they can often be merged. Our page on consolidating folios explains how.
The middle path: forget daily, check yearly
So the answer isn't to watch your SIP every day, and it isn't to ignore it for a decade. It's to forget it day to day, and check it once a year.
A yearly check takes about an hour. Our page on how to review your portfolio gives a simple checklist.
Pick one day a year
Choose a fixed day for the check, maybe your birthday, the first day of the financial year, or Diwali. Something you won't forget.
Put a reminder in your phone with a yearly repeat, and add your spouse to it too. It sounds small, but people who have a fixed review day almost never end up with a SIP that stopped years ago without them knowing, while people who plan to check "sometime" usually discover the problem only when they need the money and find far less than they expected.
A ten-minute yearly checklist
- Are all my SIPs still running? Check the latest statement.
- Is my bank mandate active, and is the limit enough?
- Are my email, phone and address current?
- Is my KYC status valid?
- Is the nominee still right?
- Has any fund changed its manager or objective?
- Should I raise my SIP with this year's increment?
Raise it while you're there
A forgotten SIP stays at the same amount forever. A SIP checked once a year can be raised with your income.
That one habit can make a much bigger difference than any fund choice. Our page on the step-up SIP shows how to raise it automatically.
What a well-kept SIP looks like after ten years
Picture two people who started the same SIP on the same day.
One checked once a year, raised the amount with each increment, updated their phone number when it changed, and moved money to safer funds as their goal neared. The other set it up and never looked again. Both "forgot" their SIP day to day. Only one of them will find what they expected when the goal arrives.
Tell someone
The biggest risk with a "forgotten" SIP isn't to you. It's to your family. If nobody else knows it exists, it can stay unclaimed for years.
Write down the fund houses, folio numbers and nominee, and tell your spouse or a trusted family member where the list is. That one sheet of paper protects years of saving.
So, should you forget your SIP?
Short answer? Half forget it. Seriously. Here's how.
Forget the daily ups and downs, yes. Forget the SIP completely, no. Check it once a year, fix what's broken, raise it if you can, and then go back to forgetting.
If you have an old SIP you haven't looked at in years, I'm happy to check it with you. Myfolios is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor (ARN-145870) working from Indore since 2014. Get in touch.
