Investment Contributions

Today we are going to discuss why you should need to make regular contributions towards the risk-free investment schemes of the government. Such schemes are Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) & National Pension Scheme (NPF).

You should know that there are some rules regarding the minimum investment amount one should contribute in a fiscal year to keep these investment plans going. If the minimum investment is not made then your account will become inactive for any of these three schemes.

Minimum Contributions Required:

For PPF:

To keep your PPF account active the minimum investment amount is Rs.500. If you have failed to do so, then you will need to write an application to the bank or the post office wherever your account is to revive it. But there is also a fine of Rs.50 for each year you have failed to invest, which will be paid at the time of applying. As soon as your account will be active then you will have to pay Rs.500 for re-subscription. There is no maximum limit for contributing to a PPF account, but only the maximum amount of Rs.1.5 lakh per year is tax-free.

For SSY:

As the SSY account is handled by the parent or guardian till the girl child reaches the age of 18 years. The parent or guardian will have to invest a minimum amount of Rs.250 to keep the account active. If the account is under the default category then the fine of Rs.50 is applicable for each defaulted year. Not making regular payments will not affect the earning of your SSY account. And it will keep earning the interest rates that the government provides until the tenure of 21 years. Kindly note that the investment tenure for the account is only 15 years, so you can only revive the account before this period.

Also read:
Post Office: Get Rs.16 Lakh By Depositing Rs.10k Monthly

NPF:

If your NPF account falls under the category of Tier I then the minimum deposit account is Rs.1000 per fiscal year. Tier I accounts don’t have any upper limit for contributions. As per the rules of Tier II accounts, there is no minimum deposit amount mandatory for the account holders. If your NPF account is considered default then you can pay the direct penalty of Rs.100 with Rs.1000 as the fine of each defaulted year.