STOPPING YOUR MUTUAL FUND SIPs ?

1. Generally, MF SIPs are activated to:-
a) invest fixed amounts periodically from surplus income,
b) link them to identified financial goals through a portfolio,
c) take away emotions from equity investing,
d) avoid “missing the bus” or “catching the tide” in stocks,
e) avail benefits of long-term rupee cost averaging, and
f) devote optimum time and energy in career enhancement activities.
2. Generic reasons for stopping SIPs of good mutual funds are for :-
a) Fear of losses - if so, shift to fixed income products.
b) Profit-booking - if so, rebalance portfolio to original debt-equity ratio.
c) Meeting an emergency - if so, keep a contingency amount in a liquid or ultrashort term fund, or withdraw only as required.
d) Goal amount reached - if so, fulfil the goal immediately.
e) "Playing" market cycles - if so, earmark a suitable fixed amount separately to meet that urge.
f) Paucity of savings - if so, reduce SIP amount instead of stopping altogether.
g) Indecision - if so, revisit all above reasons again, instead of weakening compounding power of a good SIP investment.
3. We can avoid reaching the stage of having to stop good MF SIPs later by:-
a) Having an asset allocation strategy for our investable amount,
b) Including funds matching our risk profile and appetite,
c) Ignoring non-diversified funds,
d) Avoiding duplication of funds in the same category, and
e) Consolidating our fund portfolio periodically.