KAIKAI

Employees' Provident Fund (EPF)

Government decides the interest rate: The centre reviews the interest rate of EPF each quarter, making it a stable savings options with assured returns. The current EPF interest rate of 8.25% per annum.
Interest earned on EPF is partially tax-free: For private-sector employees, interest on accumulated contribution up to ₹2.5 lakh is tax-free, while interest on the employer's contribution is entirely tax-free.
Tax benefit on contribution: An employee’s contribution to the EPF account is allowed as a deduction up to ₹1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Income-tax Act. This is available under the old tax regime.
Partial withdrawal allowed: You can make a partial withdrawal for special purposes such as marriage, education, medical emergencies, unemployment and home purchase.

Entirely tax-free scheme: PPF comes with an exempt-exempt-exempt (EEE) tax status, meaning your contributions are deductible up to ₹1.5 lakh per year). The interest accrued is also tax-free and maturity proceeds that you receive upon withdrawal are exempt from tax as well.
Partial withdrawal allowed: Partial withdrawal from a PPF account is possible when the account has been operational for at least 5 years.
Loan facility against PPF corpus: A loan against PPF allows you to borrow money using your PPF balance as collateral. An account holder can avail this facility between the third and sixth financial year of opening your PPF account, though the timeline varies between banks.

Open to all: Any Indian citizen between 18 and 70 years can open an NPS account.
Flexible withdrawal: Subscribes can withdraw up to 80% of the corpus, while at least 40% must be used to purchase an annuity for a regular pension. If accumulated NPS wealth is up to ₹8 lakh, you can withdrawn the entire sum as a lump sum at retirement.