The '1% upgrade' strategy focuses on raising the portion of your income you invest by 1% each year. In contrast, a 1% SIP hike refers to increasing the actual investment amount by 1%. To illustrate, if you are investing ₹10,000, which is 10% of your income, a 1% upgrade would raise your contribution to 11% or ₹11,000. Conversely, a 1% SIP hike would simply increase your investment amount by 1%, bringing it to ₹10,100.