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Your Child's College Fees Are Due In 12 Years: Should You Keep The SIP Running Until The Last Month?
NDTV Profit 1 hr ago·16 Oct 2026, 5:50 am
Investors often debate how long to stay invested in a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) to meet a specific financial goal. A common question is whether to continue the investment until the very last month before the target date, such as when a child starts college. This approach is often called 'laddering' or 'lump-sum at the end'. The logic is that you want to keep your money growing in the market for as long as possible to maximise returns, rather than locking it away in a low-interest savings account as the deadline approaches.
This strategy carries a trade-off. By keeping money in equities, you benefit from potential market growth, but you also expose it to volatility. If the market crashes shortly before the goal date, your corpus could be significantly lower than expected. Conversely, moving money to debt or liquid funds near the end ensures safety but sacrifices the higher growth potential of stocks. Investors must weigh their risk tolerance against the need for guaranteed funds at the exact time of expense.
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- Category: Stocks.
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