'Building wealth isn't the goal': Deepak Shenoy’s investment advice for mutual fund SIPs goes viral

Deepak Shenoy, Founder and CEO of Capitalmind Mutual Fund, has discussed SIPs on X. The post has gone viral, already garnering more than 65,000 views.

Shenoy noted monthly SIP investments had now reached ₹31,000 crore nationally. Shenoy argued the primary benefit wasn’t actually price averaging, contrary to popular belief.

Most people have a monthly SIP; Deepak Shenoy explained why. Most people earn income monthly, naturally suiting monthly investing.

“The main reason is: most of us earn money monthly. End of story. You earn, you spend, you save, you invest. That cycle happens monthly, and therefore you SIP monthly,” the financial entrepreneur wrote.

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However, there is a secondary reason supporting SIPs. Money left unspent often gets spent eventually, he explained.

SIPs help people invest first, spending only whatever remains afterwards. This forced discipline ultimately helps individuals build wealth over time.

“…you invest first and spend later, usually. So you end up spending only what’s left with you, and that ‘forced’ investing of sorts helps you build wealth for later,” he wrote.

According to Shenoy, lump-sum investing also works well for many. Some months bring surplus income while others bring financial constraints. Either approach, he suggests, relies fundamentally on consistent saving behaviour.

“Many of us have the discipline to do an SIP manually every month – otherwise called ‘lump sum’ investing. This is also fine, and probably better because some months you will have way more money, and some you will be on kadki mode,” he commented.

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According to him, early investing gains come primarily from savings themselves. Growth from returns becomes significant only in later years.

Initially, portfolio value largely reflects money actually saved and invested. Eventually, incremental savings matter less compared to the growing overall corpus.

“Save a little more every month or every year, and you’ll build wealth faster. But building wealth isn’t the goal, really, for you. We, as mutual funds, help you build wealth…” he advised.

“…but, your story has three parts:

Part 1: You save and invest your money

Part 2: The money grows because of returns

Part 3: You spend the money”

Shenoy believes people mustn’t forget this crucial final step. He reminded readers that wealth would not define someone’s overall life. Instead, life itself remains what truly matters most.

“SIP is a way to help you, but you have to do Part 3 all by yourself. And that, bro, is the best part of it all,” he concluded.

Social media reacts

Social media users reacted to Deepak Shenoy’s financial advice.

“Part 3- I need to be reminded of this every day. Please set up an auto-tweet scheduler to remind you of this every day. Deepak’s wisdom is for the ones who’ve been disciplined and good investors but forgotten to live a little,” wrote one of them.

“SIP is like democracy. It is not great, but it is better than any other form of investing for a person with a regular income – could be an auto driver, a practising doctor or a lawyer, etc.,” commented another user.

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One user posted, “You missed a point, Deepak. The sense of security that comes with having money saved far outweighs the joy of spending it. Once a person has experienced that feeling, there’s no going back.”

“Excellent articulation. You are driving home an extremely underrated point: we earn monthly, so SIP is a good route to invest. Otherwise, that money could get spent on useless things if there is no discipline. Need more people to stress upon this narrative,” came from another.