After retirement, when the salary stops coming, the biggest concern is a regular income to run the household expenses. If you too are looking for a safe and guaranteed source of income for yourself or your parents in old age, then the Post Office Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) is for you.
This is such a great government scheme that not only keeps your money safe, but also gives more interest on it than bank FD. Let us understand the 5 big benefits of this scheme and know how you can get a guaranteed income of ₹ 20,500 every month from it.
After retirement, people want to invest money in such a place where their principal i.e. hard earned money is completely safe. Senior Citizen Savings Scheme fits the bill in this case. This is a small savings scheme backed by the Government of India, which you can open in any post office or authorized branch of a government/private bank. There is no risk of your money sinking in it. The government gives full guarantee of both your principal and interest.
Among the safest investment options available for senior citizens, SCSS is one of the highest interest paying schemes. Its interest rate of 8.2% is usually much higher than the 5-year fixed deposit (FD) of the big banks of the country. Once you invest money in it, the interest rate at that time gets locked for the entire 5 years. Even if the interest rates go down in the future, you will continue to get interest at the same high rate for 5 years.
By investing a lump sum amount in the Post Office Senior Citizens Savings Scheme Account (SCSS), you can arrange for regular income for yourself even after retirement. Currently, it is getting 8.2% annual interest. In this scheme, interest is given every 3 months, which will come to your account on 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January. The amount of interest comes to your savings account in the same post office. If the account holder does not withdraw the interest amount, then additional interest i.e. compound interest is not available on such interest.
You can invest up to Rs 30 lakh in this scheme. At the rate of 8.2%, you will get an annual interest of Rs 2,46,000. Since under this scheme interest is received on a quarterly basis, if we divide it into 3-3 months, it will be Rs 61,500. That is, every 3 months, Rs 61,500 will come to your account. If it is divided on a monthly basis, then there will be an income of ₹ 20,500.
This scheme not only gives you a good income, but also helps you in saving tax. On the amount invested in this scheme, you can claim tax exemption of up to ₹ 1.5 lakh in a financial year under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
Investing in this scheme is very easy and its rules are also very simple. Any Indian citizen whose age is 60 years or more. Those who have taken VRS (voluntary retirement) can open an account even at the age of 55 (within 1 month of retirement). Employees retired from defense services can open this account even at the age of 50.