Savings

FD vs PPF — when each wins

A bank FD is fully liquid (with a small penalty for premature withdrawal), interest is fully taxable at slab rate, and the rate locks at booking. DICGC insurance covers up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank. A PPF account locks money for 15 years (with partial withdrawals from year 7), the interest is fully tax-exempt (EEE — exempt at contribution, accumulation and withdrawal), and the rate floats with each quarter's government notification. For someone in the 31.2% slab, PPF's 7.1% post-tax is roughly equivalent to a 10.3% pre-tax FD — a margin no scheduled commercial bank pays.

The 5-year tax-saver FD trap

A 5-year tax-saver FD qualifies for the ₹1.5 lakh Section 80C deduction in the old tax regime, which is real money — about ₹47k a year saved for someone in the 31.2% slab. The catch is the interest is still fully taxable at slab rate, locked in for five years, and ELSS mutual funds usually deliver a better post-tax return over the same horizon for anyone willing to accept market risk. For someone in the 5% slab or no-tax bracket, the tax-saver FD is genuinely competitive.

Compounding frequency, the silent variable

Most Indian bank FDs compound quarterly. Some NBFC schemes compound monthly. Old PSU bank cumulative-FD products sometimes compound half-yearly. Post Office time deposits compound annually. The FD calculator's compounding-frequency tabs let you compare like-for-like. For PPF, the compounding rule has a specific timing quirk: interest is credited annually but calculated on the minimum balance between the 5th and last day of every month. Contribute before the 5th of any month and you get a full month of interest. After the 5th, you lose that month.

What the suite covers beyond savings

For higher expected returns at higher risk, the SIP and lumpsum investment calculators are the equity-side counterparts. For predictable retirement-payout schemes specifically aimed at age 60+, see the retirement category.