The middle name of post office is trust. The post office with its theme red colour is etched in the mind space of common Indians for generations. The reason: it offers risk-free returns. About 1.54 lakh post offices offer these saving schemes across the country.
The instruments offered through the post offices are Savings Account, Time Deposit Account, Monthly Income Scheme POMIS), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Recurring Deposit Account.
Savings account
The rate of interest that is offered to a holder of a post office savings account is 4% per annum. While the minimum investment is Rs 500, there is no upper ceiling of investment.
Time deposits
The rate of interest offered by the time deposit account (similar to fixed deposits in banks) is the following: 6.9% for 1-year tenure, 7.0% for 2-year tenure, 7.1% for 3-year tenure and 7.5% for 5-year tenure. The compounding is done quarterly for interest payment. Minimum investment is Rs 1,000 with no ceiling.
Post Office MIS
The popular MIS scheme offers an interest rate of 7.4%. One can invest a maximum amount of Rs 9 lakh in single name and Rs 15 lakh in joint names. This is used by many as pension accounts.
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme
The Senior Citizen Savings Scheme offers a high interest rate of 8.2%. One can invest a maximum amount of Rs 30 lakh. One can invest only one is above 60 years of age.
PPF interest rate
The PPF carries an interest rate of 7.1%. It has a lock-in period of 15 years and is used for long-term capital appreciation by millions of Indians. One can go on investing beyond 15 years in multiplies of 5 years viz, 20, 25, 30, 35 years and even beyond.
NSC, KVP interest rate
The NSC carries an annual interest rate of 7.7%. The investments are compounded annually. While the minimum investment is Rs 1,000, there is no upper cap on the investment amounts.
The Kisan Vikas Patra carries an interest rate of 7.5%. This amount is compounded annually too. The minimum investment allowed in KVPs is Rs, 1,000. There is no upper limit.
Sukanya Samriddhi interest rate
The SSY offers the same interest rate as SCSS – 8.2%. It is compounded annually. One can invest a minimum of Rs 250 a year and maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh. One needs to have a girl child to open this account.
You can opt for Small Savings Schemes in Post Office like – Time Deposit, Monthly Income Scheme, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, PPF, NSC, Sukanya Samriddhi, Kisan Vikas Patra, and Recurring Deposit. Personal Finance Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
