Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) is the withdrawal of fixed amount of money from an investment on a periodic basis. Well, as per the fundamentals, mutual fund investments should be withdrawn over period of time; and never on a lump sum basis. This helps to take advantage of the sales price averaging. It works on the same principle as Cost Averaging. Average sales price will work out to be higher if withdrawn in a periodic manner than in one-time withdrawal.

Systematic Withdrawal Plan Options

There are 2 types of Options available in Systematic Withdrawal Plan -

1) Fixed Withdrawal

In this case, a fixed amount of money is withdrawn every month by redeeming the required number of units, which is based on the NAV of the mutual Fund at the time of withdrawal.

Example. 1000 units are present in the mutual fund and the NAV in the current month is 10. The withdrawal amount requested is Rs. 900. Hence, 90 mutual fund units will be redeemed to fund the withdrawal.

2) Capital Appreciation

Here, a certain percentage of the capital appreciation is withdrawn on periodic basis. If the fund appreciation does not match the requested withdrawal amount, then payment in that period will be withheld and pay-out will be made in the subsequent period. Generally, growth funds are preferred for this option.

Example: For a quarterly Systematic Withdrawal Plan, the withdrawal requested is Rs. 500. If the capital appreciation has been Rs. 600 and 90% of capital appreciation is permitted, then Rs. 540 will be deposited in the investor’s bank account at the end of Q1. However, due to the downturn in markets, if the capital appreciation in Q1 is only Rs. 450. Thus, the payment will be withheld and paid in Q2 along with payout for Q2 i.e. Rs. 450 + Rs. 540= Rs. 990.

Key Benefits of Systematic Withdrawal Plan

1. Money when you need it

Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows account holder to access their money exactly when they need it. This helps individuals to achieve their financial goals.

2. Regular Income

It allows investor to withdraw money on a periodic basis. Thus, investors do not need to withdraw everything at once. This way, Systematic Withdrawal Plan helps achieve a higher average sales price. Also, timing the market is not necessary to ensure that best sale price is available.

3. Tax Advantage

Systematic Withdrawal Plan offers tax advantage as long term capital gains have a lower tax rate. Tax Deducted At Source or TDS is not applicable.

Systematic Withdrawal Plan can be set up to withdraw only the capital appreciation amount. In this way, one can enjoy the gains while the capital still stays invested.

How does Systematic Withdrawal Plan work?

Nothing can be more blissful than receiving regular income to fund the day to day expenses during retirement or funding your child’s tuition fees or any other requirement. What better way to have this than start a SWP.

Let’s take a look at the following example to see on how to apply Systematic Withdrawal Plan -

Janak has 10000 units of a mutual fund X. He has availed of Systematic Withdrawal Plan option and has instructed the fund house to withdraw Rs. 5000 on the 4th of every month. In this case, fixed withdrawals are made from the capital. Following table explains how this will work-