The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is proposing 8.5% interest rates for the current fiscal year 2012-13 to the central government. Over 50 million subscribers are part of the EPFO group and EPF is considered as one of the important retirement savings scheme for Indian population. In the previous fiscal 2011-12 the interest rates offered was 8.25%. There is a increase of 0.25% for the current fiscal. Though it is not finalized, the final interest will be announced with in two weeks of time. Normally the interest rates are announced at the beginning of the year, this year there is a delay. If you have any questions, please write it in comments section. If you are interested in receiving the future articles about investments, please subscribe here.

If you are interested in learning more about the EPF, please read the following articles:

• EPF withdrawal conditions
• EPF (PF) Transfer and Form 13
• EPF Transfer and Opening PPF Account
• Check EPF Balance Online
• Buy Retire Rich Invest Book
• Tax Planning for 2009 – Part 1

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There is no introduction required for the EPF. Since everyone already aware the scheme and used in their working organization. We have earlier published several articles about the EPF for retirement planning ,tax deduction on epf, etc. One of the topic most readers are confused is the conditions involved on withdrawing your EPF amount. Please note that withdrawing the EPF savings are not suggested. The purpose of EPF is to enforce everyone to have the retirement corpus when they are not in any job. That is the reason why the rules for withdrawing the EPF amount is very strict. The following table illustrates the conditions involved on withdrawing the EPF amount. The following are some of the articles related to EPF which may be more useful for you. If you have any questions, please write it on comments section. If you want to receive future articles about investment, please subscribe here.

• Check EPF Balance Online
• Buy Retire Rich Invest Book
• Tax Planning for 2009 – Part 1

I hope the above table would have provided the good details about the list of conditions on withdrawing the EPF amount. If you have any questions, please write it on comments section. If you want to receive future articles about investment, please subscribe here.

• EPF (PF) Transfer and Form 13
• EPF Transfer and Opening PPF Account

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In the near future, the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) organization is planning to issue the passbook for all the EPF account holders. It is very good news for the salaried employees who has the EPF account. This can be announced or started from the coming April 2012 onwards. There are lot of benefits in issuing the passbook for the EPF account.

• Get EPF information on SMS
• Use EPF for retirement planning

• In the current scenario, switching the job become inevitable and employes are finding trouble in transfer the PF amount to the new company. Even they are not able to get the status.
• If the PF account holder dies, their nominees can easily get the PF amount using the passbook.
• This will help the account holders to keep track of their PF amount and encourage them to save that for the retirement planning.

The decision will be taken in the EPF meeting Feb 22, 2012 (next week). Hope this will be a positive news for every one.

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In the recent times there are lot of changes in the interest rates of debt instruments. It includes the interest rates changes on public provident fund(ppf), post office savings, employee provident(epf), etc.This is the main investment options for the people who are ready to take less risk. 2011 has been very bad year for the stock market because of the uncertainty on global economy, this creates huge demand for the safe investment options among the investors. This article summarizes some of the popular investment options with the latest interest rates and its tax benefits. This would be good refresh for the investors to know the latest interest rates on these schemes. If you have any doubts, please post it in the comments section. Subscribe to our future articles here.

Employee Provident Fund (EPF)

I have written about this many times in our blog. It is one of the traditional savings scheme in our country for enforcing the salaried employees to save for their retirement planning. Following are the few points to consider about the EPF:

• At present interest rates on EPF is 9.5% p.a.
• There is no tax liability of you withdraw money after the 5 years in the EPF account.
• When you are changing job, you can transfer your EPF account to new employer by submitting the form 13 or withdraw the money by submitting the form 19.
• Amount contributed towards EPF account would eligible for the tax exemption under section 80C.
• You can receive the SMS on your EPF balance by registering here.

Public Provident Fund (PPF)

If you are not salaried person and don’t have the option to save in EPF, open PPF account and save for your long term goals.

• It is 15 years lock-in period.
• At present PPF offers 8.6% interest on the investment, the income is not taxable.
• Minimum amount is Rs. 500 and Maximum Rs.100000 can be deposited in an single year.
• The investments are eligible for the tax exemption under section 80C.
• It is good idea to save in the PPF for your long term goals like retirement and children education or marriage.

New Pension Scheme (NPS)

The following are the important points to consider.

• NPS is available for people aged between 18 years and 55 years.
• The minimum amount per contribution is Rs 500, to be paid at least four times in a year. The minimum amount to be contributed in a year is Rs 6,000.
• If the subscriber exits the scheme before the age of 60, s/he may keep one fifth of the accumulated saving and invest the rest in annuities offered by insurance companies.
• Since the NPS is meant for post-retirement financial security, it does not permit flexible withdrawals as are possible

Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)

The following are the important points to consider:

• Duration of the scheme is 5 years and can be extended to three years.
• Interest rate is 9% and compounded quarterly.
• The interest income on this scheme is fully taxable.
• The maximum investment on this scheme is Rs.15 lakhs.
• The application forms are available with post offices and nationalized banks.
• You can read our previous article about SCSS scheme.

National Savings Certificate (NSC)

It is one of the oldest traditional savings scheme. The following are the important points to consider:

• NSC is available in 5 years and 10 years duration.
• This investment is available in the post offices.
• The interest rate is 8.40 for 5 years and 8.70 for the 10 years investment.
• The interest income on NSC is entirely taxable.

Comparison Table

The following table lists the above savings schemes and its features.

Summary

Many of the product in this article has been already discussed in our earlier articles. This is a refreshing article to update with the latest interest rates on the each scheme. If I have missed any of the popular scheme in the list, please post it in the comments section. If you have any doubts, please post it in the comments section.

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In my previous article I have listed down the investment proofs needs to be submitted for this financial year 2011-12. I would be writing in detail about the each topic. This article explores the details of employee provident fund (epf) and how it can be used to show an tax exemption component. It is compulsory deduction on your salary and many don’t consider this while computing their total investment needed for the tax exemption. If you have any doubts, please post it in the comments section. Please subscribe to our future articles here.

Section 80C

As we know that there is maximum of Rs.100000 can be invested for the tax exemption under section 80c. This includes various investments like Life Insurance, Home Loans, Health Insurance, Public Provident Fund (PPF), etc. These investments has to be invested by you and submit the proofs while end of the year. But, EPF is compulsory deducted by every employer for their employees to save for their retirement planning. By default, EPF savings fall under the section 80c’s Rs.100000 category.

When you are planning to invest Rs.100000 for this year to utilize the section 80c, you must include your contribution towards EPF and plan your investment.  For example, your employer is deducting Rs. 3000 for every month towards EPF, your yearly contribution would be Rs.36000 (3000 x 12). In this case, under section 80c you are left with Rs.64000 (Rs. 100000 – Rs. 36000) for the tax exemption investments. You are not required to submit the proofs for EPF, since your employer would calculate and send to the govt.

What is EPF?

also read

• Invest in EPF for retirement planning
• EPF Balance Information on SMS
• EPF Transfer and Opening PPF Account
• EPF (PF) Transfer and Form 13

The above section explains the tax computation part using the EPF. This section explains the EPF and what are the benefits. The following are points you must know about the EPF:

• Interest rates for employee provident fund (EPF) is 9.5% monthly cumulative. It is the best investment avenue for low risk category.
• Minimum 12% of your basic salary would be deducted towards EPF. Also, you can increase your EPF investments by submitting the declaration form.
• If your salary is above Rs.6500 per month, then you would be eligible for the EPF deduction.
• Interest income on provident fund is not taxable.
• When you are switching your job, you can transfer your EPF to your new employer by submitting the form 13. If you would like to withdraw your savings, you have to submit the form 19.
• If you are withdrawing EPF before the five years, the amount is taxable.
• The maximum amount can be shown under tax exemption is Rs.100000
• You can find more details in the official site.

Summary

I hope this would have given the basic idea on EPF and its benefits. It creates the lump sum corpus for your retirement and helps in saving the tax. But, make sure that you are not withdrawing or closing the EPF account. The power of compounding is important for your long term goals. If you have any doubts, please post it in the comments section.

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One of the traditional and more safest investment or saving habits in India is monthly contribution for the Employee Provident Fund (EPF). Still many of us not aware of the advantages on EPF contribution and how it is superior when compare to the other safe investments. If you are looking for the retirement planning, have the continuous contribution towards the EPF is the way to go. This will show the power of compounding on the long run. This article explores the few important facts about the EPF and how you can do the perfect retirement planning using the EPF contribution. If you have any thoughts, please post it in the comments section. Subscribe to our future articles here.

• Check EPF Balance Online
• Buy Retire Rich Invest Book

High Interest Rates

It is one of the main reason why EPF is the best investment option compare to the other debt instruments like Fixed Deposit, PPF, NSC, etc. Provident Fund Commission offers 9.5% p.a. as the returns for your savings on the EPF account. This is compounded monthly which never offered in any other investment portfolios. The effective rate of return will be much higher in the log run. The following is the table lists interest rates of the other debt instruments:

Voluntary Contribution to EPF

It is commonly allowed by the companies and govt. institutions to increase the amount destructed for the EPF. It is compulsory for the salaried person to give 12% of the basic into the EPF. Apart from that employee can increase his contribution towards EPF up to 100% of basic salary and Dearness Allowance. Company is obliged to contribute 12% of the basic salary to your EPF account. Which is added bonus of the employee because at the end money goes to employee.

If you don’t have any expenses and commitment to pay EMI, etc, it is good idea to increase the EPF contribution. Note that surely it is better investment than any other debt instruments for the long run. It will be very good for the retirement planning. The amount excess of Rs.100000 will not be eligible for the tax exemption. See the next section for details.

Tax Exemption of EPF

The contribution towards EPF is coming under the section 80c of the Income Tax exception. As we know, Rs.100000 is shown under the section 80c of the Income Tax act, EPF also comes under this section. You can add the total yearly contribution towards EPF, if it is less than Rs.100000 remaining amount you must plan for the other tax saving investments.

There is no tax for the interest income on EPF and when receiving the lump sum amount after the retirement. But, other debt instruments like fixed deposits attract the TDS towards the interest income. Note that, if you are withdrawing money within five years, the amount will be taxable.

Retirement Planning using EPF

Undoubtedly, EPF is one of the good avenue for planning the retirement. If you are salaried person working for more than 20 years for a company, you must plan your retirement using the EPF. You don’t take any loans or withdraw for any other purposes. It will compound and will make the huge amount which can be utilized for investing in the retirement scheme.

Calculating the current inflation scenario and lifestyle, it wouldn’t be enough to run your life with the pension amount. You must have the retirement corpus to run the happy life. There are many schemes available with the insurance companies to provided the monthly income. Pay the EPF amount and receive monthly income after the retirement.

Advantages of Employee Provident Fund (EPF)

This section summarizes the important points about the EPF which you must remember to take decision on EPF.

• Interest rate is 9.5% p.a. which is higher than other debt investments.
• It is the long term investment. Don’t use EPF for the short term goals.
• You can take the loans from EPF amount instead of taking the personal loans.
• If you are switching the company, instead of closing you can transfer to the new employer.
• Employer needs to contribute 12% of basic salary to your EPF account.
• It is maintained by the govt. organization, so it enjoys the most safest investment.
• Tax exemption under section 80c
• There is no tax for the interest income and no TDS deducted at the time of retirement.

Summary

I hope this article would have been the eye opener to understand the power of EPF contribution. Please don’t take this as slightly, you will be worrying when time is gone. Most of the employed are not taking this as seriously, because it is very common in the scenario of switching the companies very often. If you have any thoughts, please post it in the comments section.

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Employee Provident Fund (EPF) is the best retirement planning for the salaried employees. It is compulsory for every organization to open EPF account for its employees and deposit their contribution towards each employee. It is one of the great benefits for the employees, apart from the salary 12% basic should be contributed by company. This article is about getting your balance amount in the EPF through SMS.

As you are ware, EPF is controlled by the government and the companies must deposit their EPF money to the local EPF office. Until now, if you want to know the balance amount on your EPF account, you must write to the office and it will take moretime to know the current balance of the account. This week, govt. has updated the system and now every one can registered their mobile number to get the SMS every month. If you have any doubts, please post it in the comments section. Subscribe to our future articles here.

• Book : Retire Rich Invest
• EPF (PF) Transfer and Form 13
• PF Interest Rates increased to 9.5%

EPF Balance on SMS

This is another good initiative from the Employee Provident Fund(EPF) organization to facilitate the members. Till now there is no proper mechanism for EPF members to get the balance details through online or SMS. EPF organization is announced that this service is launched from 01-July-2011. Initially the data was not available to all the states. But, now it is available for all the states. The following are the steps to get the EPF balance on SMS.

Step 1: Open the website

The website address for update your details is as follows:

EPF Member Registeration

Then click on the “Click Here to know the balance” and it will move to the below page.

Step 2: Select state

If you select the state, it will show the following details. In this sample, I have selected the Maharashtra. You have to select the state which your EPF account is maintained by your company. The list will display the list of EPF offices in the state. You must know the which office your account is opened.

Step 3: Click on the EPF office

When you are clicking on the EPF office, the following screen would be displayed.

You have to enter the following three details:

• Employee PF account number: You have to get this details from your company. Normally this would be mentioned in your PF slip.
• Name : It is your name as specified in the PF slip.
• Mobile : The mobile number where you want to get the SMS information.

Once you have filled all the above details, select the check box (I Agree) and click on the submit button.

Step 4: Your mobile number is registered

If there is any problem in the step 3, you would see the error in the screen. You have to provide the correct details to register it successfully. If it is registered successfully, you will see the following screen:

Summary

I hope this would be very useful for you to understand the process to register your mobile number. But, still many people reported that the data on the account is not updated by all the offices. It is govt. responsibility to make the data updated every month. Otherwise getting SMS is not enough if the data is not updated. If you have any doubts, please post it in the comments section.

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