Ten years of annual SIP instalments. One 20% correction. Ten completely different outcomes — and the reason staying invested is the most important financial decision you will ever make.
You invest the same amount every year. Same fund. But every instalment buys units at a different NAV — and that price difference, compounded over time, changes everything.
The unit bought years ago has been storing energy ever since. The unit bought last year has barely started. Same fund. Completely different power.
Think of your SIP portfolio as a pyramid. Each layer is a batch of units bought at a different NAV. The wider the layer, the more shock it can absorb. The narrower, the more fragile.
The red line shows where a 20% market correction reaches. Everything below it survives. Everything above it gets hurt.
The bar shows shock absorption capacity — how far NAV must fall before that unit reaches breakeven. The red mark is the 20% correction. Bars reaching past it survive. Bars falling short get hurt.
Marble absorbs 66.6% — the 20% correction uses less than a third of its cushion. Glass absorbs 0% — the full fall goes straight into loss.
₹10,000 invested annually. Current NAV ₹29.9. NAV falls to ₹23.92 after a 20% correction.
| Material | Buy NAV | Absorbs | After Fall | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marble | ₹10 | 66.6% | +139% | Safe |
| Travertine | ₹10.2 | 65.9% | +135% | Safe |
| Granite | ₹11.1 | 62.9% | +116% | Safe |
| Limestone | ₹12.5 | 58.2% | +91% | Safe |
| Sandstone | ₹14.4 | 51.8% | +66% | Safe |
| Terracotta | ₹17.0 | 43.1% | +41% | Safe |
| Clay | ₹23.3 | 22.1% | +3% | Safe |
| Paper | ₹34.6 | 0% | −31% | Hurt |
| Tin | ₹27.7 | 7.4% | −14% | Hurt |
| Glass | ₹29.9 | 0% | −20% | Loss |
| Portfolio | ₹15.7* | 47.6% | +53% | Safe |
* Weighted average buy NAV · 70% of batches remain in profit after the fall
Every rupee invested at a low NAV buys more units — and each of those units carries more shock absorption. The flat boring years are when the most armour is built at the lowest cost.
The flat years do not feel productive. NAV does not move. Statements look identical month after month. But every instalment during those years buys the most units at the lowest NAV — and those units become the deepest armour in the portfolio.
Every year you stay invested, you do two things simultaneously. You add a new batch to the top of the pyramid — thin, uncharged, no armour yet. And you allow every existing batch to charge a little further — building more cushion, absorbing more risk, storing more power.
The investor who stops during a correction is removing themselves from the circuit at precisely the moment their oldest units are doing their most important work — holding the floor for the entire portfolio.
The investor who stops because NAV has risen and they feel satisfied — has pulled the marble out just before it reaches full charge.