ABOUT PUBLIC PROVIDENT FUND (PPF) SCHEME
Public Provident Fund was launched by the Finance Ministry’s National Savings Institute in 1968. The main objective was to help individuals make minimal savings and provide better returns on their savings. It can also be defined as a savings-cum-tax savings investment vehicle wherein an individual can build a retirement corpus whilst saving on annual taxes. Thus, anyone looking for a safe investment for earning better returns and saving taxes, a PPF account should be opened.
ELIGIBILITY TO OPEN A PPF ACCOUNT
The eligibility falls as under:
- Indian citizens are eligible
- An individual can open only a single account under his/her name.
- Hindu Undivided Family and Non-resident Indians are not allowed to open a PPF account.
BENEFITS OF PPF
As below:
- The risk factor is low as compared to others as it is backed by the Government of India.
- A PPF account can be opened at public banks, nationalized banks, selective private banks, and post offices.
- The lock-in-period is 15 years for PPF, but there are certain provisions wherein partial money can be withdrawn after 7 years. The returns are more attractive as compared to the FDs.
- Deposits must be made once a year for 15 years. It can be made in the form of demand draft, cash, online transfer, or cheque.
- The amount required to open a PPF account is INR 100. If annual investment exceeds INR 1.5 lakh, then no interest will be earned on the ‘excess’ amount and no tax-deductions can be claimed.
WHAT IS THE PPF CALCULATOR?
The PPF calculator is a handy tool that can calculate yearly wise PPF returns the investor can earn by contributing in their PPF account over a pre-determined time-period and with a specific frequency.
HOW TO USE PPF CALCULATOR?
The usage is quite simple:
- Tenure: Minimum 15 years of time-period is required with the option of extension in blocks of 7 years.
- Payment Frequency: This can be either monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or annually.
- Deposit Amount: This is the decided amount that is to be deposited as per the payment frequency.
- Rate of Interest: Over here, the return is calculated on your investment according to the expectations.
Once the above-mentioned data is fetched into the PPF calculator, click on CALCULATE to get results about PPF maturity amount, PPF interest earned, and PPF investment.
NOTE: The calculator will showcase an estimate; not an accurate figure.
