PPF stands for Public Provident Fund and it provides one of the highest returns when it comes to fixed income instruments. It provides you with the perfect opportunity of earning stable and sufficient returns over the long term and also helps you to collect a corpus big enough to mitigate your future investment needs. Here are some key features of the PPF scheme:
Tenor of investment
The PPF investment tenor is of 15 years and you can extend this tenor by another 5 years upon tenor completion.
Minimum & Maximum investment amount
You can deposit a minimum of Rs. 500 and a maximum of Rs. 1.5 lakhs every year in your PPF account. It is up to you to decide whether you want to invest this amount at once or in the form of installments.
PPF interest rate
The PPF interest rate is revised after every 3 months. The interest rate is revised by the central government every quarter which means that your deposits will continue earning at the same interest rate up till the end of that particular quarter. The current PPF interest rate is 7.1% and it will be valid till the 31st of March 2021.
Account opening process
You can open a PPF account by visiting a post office or any bank that provides it. Some banks even provide the online account opening process in which you will have to submit your KYC documents, nominee declaration form, passport-size photo, and PAN Card along with the PPF form.
Withdrawal rules
You can withdraw your provident fund partially (50%) during an emergency but this facility is provided only after the first five years from the PPF activation date. After the 4th year, you can draw up to 50% of your PPF balance in every financial year.
Therefore, though the PPF interest rate is high, it is not constant for the entire tenor, and therefore, you cannot predict the returns before investing. Also, the withdrawal rules are not as flexible as you would want them to be. An investment option that provides the same kind of returns or even better with the same level of stability is provided by the Bajaj Finance FD scheme. This is possible because it offers an FD interest rate of up to 7.25% that remains constant throughout the tenor. Some other benefits that you will be applicable for after investing in this FD scheme are mentioned below:
- Easy liquidity options
Bajaj Finance FD scheme allows you to withdraw your deposited amount once your FD has completed a minimum lock-in period of 3 months. Also, a loan against FD is provided to resolve an immediate financial emergency or crisis. The loan amount can be as high as 75% of your total FD value and it helps you to keep your investment intact till maturity.
- Safety
Investing in a fixed deposit offered by Bajaj Finance is safe as it is considered to be a secure investment platform by CRISIL and ICRA which are the leading credit rating organizations of our country. Therefore, the capital you have invested will be available for withdrawal along with the interest on the stipulated maturity date.
- Smooth investment process
You don’t have to leave your office or home for investing in this FD scheme as an online investment process if offered for your convenience. Therefore, you just need to fill an online FD form, get your documents verified via the CKYC process, and complete the payment via a suitable online method to get your deposits rolling!
A 0.10% additional FD rate will be provided for choosing the online investment process and if you are a senior citizen, you will get a 0.25% additional interest rate irrespective of whether you choose an offline or online investment method.
You can also invest in multiple FDs at once by using its multi-deposit facility and the Bajaj Finance FD calculator that is provided on its portal will help you to predict your returns accurately even before investing. All these user-friendly features and additional FD rates help you to steer your investments towards your financial goals at a steady pace.