I know this is the wrong time to talk about savings for tax deduction u/s 80C.
As is common practice, many of you would have just finished with your PPF and other tax-saving investments in Feb-Mar, for the financial year 2017-18. It is basic human tendency to delay the unpleasant tasks till the very end!
Yet — start of the financial year — is the best time to invest in PPF (and other tax saving products too).
Why?
Let's explore with PPF as an example:
Public Provident Fund or PPF is, undoubtedly, one of the best fixed-income products for wealth creation.
It is 100% safe. It is guaranteed by the Govt. of India. And, most importantly, the interest earned is tax-free. Therefore, every investor should maximize his savings in PPF (subject, of course, to his/her Financial Plan and there being no savings in Employee Provident Fund and Tax Saving ELSS Mutual Funds).
Having said that, as mentioned earlier, most people follow a flawed investment strategy when it comes to their tax-related savings. They wait till the very end of the financial year to make their investment. With PPF, this lowers their interest earning by as much as Rs.3 lakhs.
That's right! A small twist in the investment pattern and you can enhance your maturity corpus from PPF by a sum of Rs.3 lakhs.
And, naturally, with zero risk!
So what happens if you invest on April 1st vis-a-vis Mar 31st?
Suppose you make your PPF investment of Rs.1.50 lakhs on Mar 31st, which is the last day of the financial year.
Accordingly, after 15 years you would have accumulated a corpus of almost Rs.39.50 lakhs (assuming the current interest rate of 7.6% p.a. on PPF).
But what if you make your PPF investment of Rs.1.50 lakhs on Apr 1st, which is the first day of the financial year.
If that be so, after 15 years you would have accumulated a corpus of almost Rs.42.50 lakhs.
In short, you have earned Rs.3 lakhs more with a small change in the investment dates.
By the way, this change in strategy will be challenging for just this year only. After that it will become business as usual.
How?
Normally, you are making your Sec 80C investments around Feb-Mar. All I am asking you to do is to shift this to April-May.
So in 2018, you will have to make double investment. You will have to invest in Apr-May for FY 2018-19; which is soon after making investments in Feb-Mar for the FY 2017-18.
But from 2019 onwards, you will have to invest just once i.e. in Apr-May (instead of Feb-Mar).
So effectively speaking you are shifting your annual Sec 80C investments by a mere month or two. Everything else remains absolutely the same.
We are still in the first month of the current financial year. So, in case you are yet to make your PPF and / or other tax saving investments, DO IT NOW.
As is common practice, many of you would have just finished with your PPF and other tax-saving investments in Feb-Mar, for the financial year 2017-18. It is basic human tendency to delay the unpleasant tasks till the very end!
Yet — start of the financial year — is the best time to invest in PPF (and other tax saving products too).
Why?
Let's explore with PPF as an example:
Public Provident Fund or PPF is, undoubtedly, one of the best fixed-income products for wealth creation.
It is 100% safe. It is guaranteed by the Govt. of India. And, most importantly, the interest earned is tax-free. Therefore, every investor should maximize his savings in PPF (subject, of course, to his/her Financial Plan and there being no savings in Employee Provident Fund and Tax Saving ELSS Mutual Funds).
Having said that, as mentioned earlier, most people follow a flawed investment strategy when it comes to their tax-related savings. They wait till the very end of the financial year to make their investment. With PPF, this lowers their interest earning by as much as Rs.3 lakhs.
That's right! A small twist in the investment pattern and you can enhance your maturity corpus from PPF by a sum of Rs.3 lakhs.
And, naturally, with zero risk!
 |
| April is by far the BEST MONTH for tax saving investments. |
So what happens if you invest on April 1st vis-a-vis Mar 31st?
Suppose you make your PPF investment of Rs.1.50 lakhs on Mar 31st, which is the last day of the financial year.
Accordingly, after 15 years you would have accumulated a corpus of almost Rs.39.50 lakhs (assuming the current interest rate of 7.6% p.a. on PPF).
But what if you make your PPF investment of Rs.1.50 lakhs on Apr 1st, which is the first day of the financial year.
If that be so, after 15 years you would have accumulated a corpus of almost Rs.42.50 lakhs.
In short, you have earned Rs.3 lakhs more with a small change in the investment dates.
By the way, this change in strategy will be challenging for just this year only. After that it will become business as usual.
How?
Normally, you are making your Sec 80C investments around Feb-Mar. All I am asking you to do is to shift this to April-May.
So in 2018, you will have to make double investment. You will have to invest in Apr-May for FY 2018-19; which is soon after making investments in Feb-Mar for the FY 2017-18.
But from 2019 onwards, you will have to invest just once i.e. in Apr-May (instead of Feb-Mar).
So effectively speaking you are shifting your annual Sec 80C investments by a mere month or two. Everything else remains absolutely the same.
We are still in the first month of the current financial year. So, in case you are yet to make your PPF and / or other tax saving investments, DO IT NOW.
