NiveshLab

Inspiration

A lot of people I know start a SIP without really understanding what inflation is doing to their actual returns. An FD showing 7% sounds good, but if inflation is running at 6%, the real return is just 1% — most calculators never show that. And for people who want to try actual stock trading, the barrier is a demat account, KYC, and putting in real money before they've ever practiced. That first mistake usually costs money.

What it does

NiveshLab does two things. First, a SIP vs Lump Sum vs FD comparison that factors in inflation, so you can see what your money is actually worth in today's terms, not just the final number. Second, a paper-trading simulator with ₹1,00,000 in virtual cash across 10 real Indian stocks and ETFs (Reliance, TCS, a Nifty ETF, a Gold ETF, and more) — no sign-up, no KYC. It also has 10 short lessons covering SIPs, compounding, and diversification.

How I built it

The whole thing is a single HTML file — no backend, no database. Everything runs in the browser, and progress is saved to LocalStorage. That kept it dead simple to run and deploy, and meant anyone can use it instantly without setting anything up.

Challenges I ran into

The hardest part was making the stock price simulation feel realistic instead of just random. I used a Box-Muller transformation to generate the price movements, which gives something closer to how real markets actually behave — small daily moves most of the time, with occasional bigger swings. Keeping the code organized while packing everything into one file was the other challenge.

What's next

Swapping in real market data instead of simulated prices, and adding more India-specific lessons — tax-saving instruments, mutual fund categories, that kind of thing.