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Showing posts from December, 2020

Senior Citizen Saving Scheme in 10 points

  1. Senior Citizen Saving Scheme as the name suggest is a saving scheme for senior citizen by the government. You can avail this scheme from Post office or any Bank. The goal of this scheme is to give quarterly interests on the 1 time lump-sum initial investment. 2. Eligibility :  A person above 60 years of age, retired civil employee above 55 and below 60 years of age, retired defense employee above 50 and below 60 years. 3. A minimum amount of Rs. 1000 is required to open the account. As it is a one time investment, one can invest up to a maximum of Rs. 15 lakhs . 4. Investment in SCSS can be claimed for tax deductions under section 80C. Also, the interest earned is not taxable provided it is below Rs. 50,000. Interest earned above Rs. 50,000 will be taxable and TDS will be cut automatically. 5. This is a more of a dividends style scheme rather than a compound interest scheme. The interest earned will be deposited to the account every quarter and shall not get additional interes

Public Provident Fund in 10 points

1. Public Provident Fund ( PPF ) is a saving scheme by government of India which gives a guaranteed return on your investment. This can be availed by adults (18+ age) from Post office or any Bank. 2. PPF has a lock-in period of 15 years i.e. the money cannot be withdrawn during this period. One can do a partial withdraw 1 time after every 5 years . (50% of 4th,9th,14th year). 3. The interest rate ranges from ~7-10% , this varies every quarter and is fixed by government. Interest earned is tax-free if one does not quit the scheme. 4. One can start the account with minimum of Rs. 500 and can deposit a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakhs every year. One needs to deposit minimum of Rs. 500 every financial year to avoid discontinuation of your account. 5. One can avail tax deduction benefits on PPF under section 80C. 6. PPF can be extended in blocks of 5 years after the maturity of 15 years. One can withdraw a maximum of 60% on maturity if applied for extension. 7. Pre-mature closure of account is

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) in 10 points

1. Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is a saving scheme by Post Office whose goal is to double your investment on maturity. The time horizon required to double the money varies based on the interest rate set by government. Some banks also issues KVP. 2. For 2020, KVP doubles the income in 10 years 4 months ( 6.9% interest rate). Roughly, the maturity period varies from 6 years to 10 years . Hence, it is possible that you buy KVP in 2020 which will mature in 2030 and you buy another KVP in 2022 (9% interest rate) which also matures in 2030. 3. Any adult can invest in KVP and has to invest a minimum of Rs.1000 and then ahead in multiples of 100. It is a lump-sump one time investment. 4. KVP can be used as a collateral against loans in banks, corporates, NBFCs.  5. It is possible to quit the scheme before maturity only after 2.5 years . Otherwise it is not possible to withdraw the money invested.  6. KVP does not have tax deductions benefits under section 80C. Also, it is 1 time withdrawal an

Sukanya Samriddhi Account in 10 points

 1. Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA) scheme was started in 2014 by the government under the mission of " Beti Badao, Beti Bachao ". This scheme can be availed from public sector banks, some private banks (ICICI, AXIS, IDBI, HDFC) and Post Office Savings Account. The goal of this scheme is to have savings account for girl child and save money for her bright future. Government gives a higher interest rate on this scheme. 2. Eligibility :   Account should be opened before the girl child attains the age of 10 years . Only  one account per girl child is allowed. And a family can have accounts maximum for two girl child. Twins and Triplets are accepted exceptions. 3. Account can be opened with minimum deposits of Rs. 250 and every financial year Rs. 250 is mandatory to be added to the account. One can deposit a maximum sum of Rs 1.5 lakh in 1 financial year.  4. One can deposit money for 15 years max from the date of opening account. Deposited money and interests can be clai

National Saving Certificate in 10 points

1 .  National Saving Certificates is a scheme by government of India (Post Office Saving Scheme) which gives a interest by fixed interest rate on your investment (locked-in for 5 years). It is a guaranteed return, low risk scheme.  2. Minimum Investment required is Rs.1000 and no limit of investment. Investment can be in multiple of 100s only. For example, Rs 1100, 1200, 4900..etc. Only Rs 1.5 lakh can be claimed under section 80C for tax deductions.  3. National Saving Certificates can be used as a collateral against loans in the banks, corporations, NBFCs. 4. Interest rates are fixed by government every quarter and are in rage of  ~ 6.5-9%. Unlike PPF where interest rate changes, the interest rates in NSC remain fixed for 5 years and interest earned are re-invested i.e. your interest will compound annually. For example, say this quarter the interest rate is 7%, and you invested Rs 10,000 this month. It will become Rs 14,002.5 after 5 years. (7% compounded) 5. One needs a savings a

What is a Hedge fund ? How is it different from Mutual fund?

 We have often heard of mutual funds and seen advertisements about them but we rarely hear of hedge funds. Hedge funds are also pooled investments by investors and are managed by hedge fund managers just like Mutual funds. All they have are different characteristics and principles.  The word " hedging " in the world of finance means "to protect or shield  from potential losses of capital or in other words to limit risks". This is achieved in financial markets by  taking opposite positions with your primary positions. This put a limit both to your gains and losses. For example, if you invest Rs. 1 lakh in a stock then you have potential to lose 100% money if the company goes bankrupt but with the help of hedging techniques, you can limit your losses to say 10% or less by taking short positions (i.e. you make money if stock falls). Derivatives are used for this purpose. This is the main purpose of hedge funds. Though, hedge funds today are much more than this. Let'