The post office of India offers several saving schemes such as PPF, SCSS, Kisan Vikas Patra, SSY (Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna), NSC (National Savings Certificate), etc. These are popular investment schemes in India as they are safe and offer attractive interest rates to investors.
The flexibility of investment and other user-friendly options that a fixed deposit provides seems to be missing in these saving schemes. If you want a flexible option that also offers the stability of returns and high interest rates then you can look forward to investing in the Bajaj Finance FD scheme. This is because this FD scheme offers an appealing FD interest rate and comes with a myriad of options that make it a convenient instrument for everyone.
Here are some points that can help you compare the post office saving scheme with the Bajaj FD scheme:
Method of investment
Like other fixed deposit schemes, you need to deposit a lump sum amount to invest in the Bajaj Finance FD scheme. The minimum deposit amount can be as low as Rs. 25,000 which means that you don’t need a huge corpus to invest in this FD scheme.
The minimum deposit amount in NSC is Rs. 1000 and you can increase this amount in multiples of Rs. 100 as per your convenience. SSY i.e. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna allows you to start investing with just Rs. 250 per year and the highest contribution can be up to Rs. 1,50,000 per year. Likewise, the minimum deposit amount varies for different types of postal FD schemes.
Interest Rate
Post office saving schemes such as PPF provides an interest rate of 7.1% whereas the post office interest rate of postal FD schemes can be up to 6.7%. With Bajaj Finance FD, your deposits can earn at 7.25%. This interest rate is high enough to help you meet your financial goals and requirements.
Suppose that you invest Rs. 10,00,000 in postal FD scheme and lock-in another Rs. 10,00,000 in Bajaj Finance FD for 5 years. The below table compares the returns of both these instruments:
FD scheme | Amount | Tenor | Interest rate | Interest gains | Maturity amount |
Postal FD scheme | Rs. 10,00,000 | 5 years | 6.7% | Rs. 3,94,067 | Rs. 13,94,067 |
Bajaj Finance FD | Rs. 10,00,000 | 5 years | 7.25% | Rs. 4,19,013 | Rs. 14,19,013 |
Tenor range
Post office saving schemes come with a different tenor range. For instance, PPF comes with a tenor of 15 years whereas NSC offers a tenor of up to 5 years. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance FD offers a flexible tenor range between 12 and 60 months. This means that you can set a tenor according to your financial requirements and needs.
Payout options
With a post office saving scheme such as NSC, the interest gets calculated every year but it is paid only at maturity. The PPF provides interest directly at maturity whereas the SCSS offers a quarterly interest payout option. However, with the non-cumulative FDs of the Bajaj Finance FD scheme, you can avail the monthly, quarterly, six-monthly, or yearly interest payouts.
A 0.10% additional FD rate is provided to senior citizens whereas non-seniors are eligible to 0.10% additional FD rate if they choose the online investment procedure. Also, options like multi-deposit facility, loan against FDs, easy withdrawal options, etc. make it one of the most user-friendly investment alternatives for you. The high credibility ratings conferred by credit rating agencies like CRISIL and ICRA make it a safe investment platform for everyone.
Investing in post office saving schemes like PPF, NSC, SSY, etc. is a good idea as they are low-risk instruments. Also, they offer considerable returns at maturity. However, if you are looking for a safe investment option that also provides better liquidity options and flexible methods of investment then you can look forward to investing in the Bajaj Finance Fixed Deposit scheme. A high interest rate of up to 7.25%, multiple interest payouts, a higher FD rate to online investors and senior citizens, and features like multi-deposit facility and loan against FDs make it the best investment alternative in 2021.