Smart Equity Invest

How We Calculate

Every rupee figure on this site comes from one of two places: a stated assumption put through a formula, or a published number with a date and a source. This page lists both, so any figure can be checked.

The default assumptions

Unless a page says otherwise, calculations use:

AssumptionValueWhy this number
Equity return, before costs12% a yearRoughly what diversified Indian equity has returned over long periods. Not a forecast: individual ten-year periods have been well above and well below it.
Inflation6% a yearClose to India's long-run consumer inflation. Education and healthcare are assumed at 8–10% where a page says so.
CompoundingMonthlyReturns are applied each month at the annual rate ÷ 12.
SIP timingStart of each monthEach instalment earns that month's return.
TaxFY 2026-27 rates plus 4% cessSurcharge is ignored unless stated, because it applies only to incomes above ₹50 lakh.
Fund costsDeducted from the returnA 0.5% expense ratio on a 12% return is modelled as 11.5%.

Where a page uses different figures, it states them next to the calculation.

The formulas

A monthly SIP of P for n months, with a monthly rate r (annual rate ÷ 12):

Future value = P × [((1 + r)^n − 1) ÷ r] × (1 + r)

A lump sum L for t years at annual rate R:

Future value = L × (1 + R)^t

Today's cost C of a goal, grown at inflation i for t years:

Future cost = C × (1 + i)^t

Step-up SIPs apply the SIP formula year by year, raising the monthly amount at the start of each year. Tax-harvesting figures simulate every year of a SIP and treat harvested gains as long-term. The pages that use this say it is an approximation.

The site's SIP calculator and compound interest calculator use the same formulas, so you can reproduce any figure with your own inputs.

Where company and market data comes from

DataSourceNotes
Company financialsScreener.in, from companies' annual reportsConsolidated figures. Screener groups balance-sheet lines into broad heads, so the annual report shows more detail under the same totals.
Share prices, PE, ROEScreener.inTaken on the date shown on the page. Prices change every trading day.
Index valuation (Nifty 50 PE)NSE, via index valuation trackersSeveral trackers publish slightly different readings for the same week. The page gives the range.
Tax rulesIncome-tax Act and Union Budget announcementsChecked after each Budget.
Mutual fund rulesSEBI regulations and circularsIncluding the expense-ratio framework in force from 1 April 2026.

What "figures checked" means

Every guide shows the date its figures were last checked against their sources. A page is checked again:

  • after every Union Budget, for pages with tax rates;
  • after companies publish annual results, for pages using company financials;
  • at least once a year for everything else.

A script in the site's code lists every page whose check date has run past its refresh period, so a stale page gets noticed instead of left to drift.

What a figure is, and what it is not

  • An illustration of arithmetic. "₹10,000 a month for 20 years at 12% becomes ₹1 crore" is exact arithmetic on stated inputs. Real returns will differ, possibly by a lot.
  • A dated fact. "TCS closed at ₹2,082 on 25 September 2026" was true on that date. It is not a price target or a view on the share.
  • Never a recommendation. Companies and funds are named to make an example concrete. None of them has paid to be mentioned. See About.

Found a figure that doesn't reproduce? Tell me, with the page and the number.