Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) as we know it, has become the most favoured route of investments for not only the investors but also Financial Advisors in India. That is not surprising since they have so many advantages: Become a Disciplined Investor A SIP helps you to discipline yourself. You can commit a fixed amount each month to investments, and the amount gets invested at the pre determined date. This ensures that money does not lie in your savings account at a meagre 3.5% and there is no temptation to spend that amount as it is not there to spend. Rupee Cost Averaging Enormous sums of money have been lost by investors in a bid to time the market. But no one has been able to do it consistently. When experts have failed, the rookie investors will obviously not be able to gain much. It is a useless activity, even attempting to time the increasing volatile markets. SIPs ensure that a fixed amount is invested irrespective of the ups and downs in the market and hence the cost of acquisition of investments is averaged out. The timeless principle is "Buy Low Sell High". However, investors tend to sell out when there is a fall in the markets due to panic. A rising market tempts them to enter the markets at high levels. SIPs help overcome this problem. Achieve your Financial Goals Your future financial goals like buying a car, buying a house, a child's education can be converted into the required monthly SIPs. For example, if you need INR 6 lakhs after 4 years to purchase a car. Assuming that your investments earn 15% per annum, you will need to save INR 9,198 per month to achieve a corpus of INR 6 lakhs. By converting your goals into monthly investments, you can view the achievability of your goals clearly and this also motivates you to stay on track with your investments. Compounding Benefits The biggest advantage of regular long term investments, compounding benefits. The investments made continue to grow year on year and the invested profits participate in growth in future years. Effortless Investments Once initiated an SIP can go on for as long as you want it to run with no further intervention required from your side. With a simple instruction, the SIP can be stopped at anytime. The convenience, returns and all the other benefits of SIPs have made SIPs the most preferred and the favoured form of investments. If you still have any questions, you can ask the same in the comment section below.