How to become rich: There are always ways to make money to fulfill dreams like buying a house or your own favorite vehicle. These desires can be fulfilled by investing in equities. There is no doubt, that stock markets are money making machines. However, stock markets may have their glory, but they also have their own dangers as they come without any guarantee of generating profits for you. If you are not among the risk takers and want a safe and secure future investment, there are plenty of other options. The Indian economy is vast, and there are a bundle investment tools that can help you generate better earnings. One of which is planning for retirement. If you are planning to go for a retirement scheme, then Public Provident Fund (PPF) is the answer to all your prayers.

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PPF is said to be a tax-savings cum savings scheme, which was introduced by National Saving Institute of the Ministry of Finance. This has helped the public a lot. Even those who do not earn more than Rs 15,000, can invest in this scheme at minimum amount of just Rs 500 to earn big in future. The maximum investment can be done up to Rs 1,50,000.

Generally, the goal of PPF is to provide savings in small amounts for people, helping them cultivate the habit of investment.

Investing in PPF is very flexible, as there are no limits to how many times one should invest. However, investment amount can vary and depend upon your choice.

One can link PPF investment with the desired bank and let every month a certain amount get deducted.

The maximum return PPF gives is about 8.1% per annum. One big reason, that PPF stands out is that it is completely tax free and money is compounded annually.

This means, that you will earn every year an appreciation of your desired amount by means of compound interest.

However, PPF is not a short term investment. It has a lock-in period of 15 years. But still, you can make partial withdrawal from the 7th year, if there is any need of

financial aid. You can manage your PPF account online as well and keep a track of your balance amount.

If your PPF account is with a bank then all you have to do is have access to internet banking facility. All you have to do is simply log into your e-portal and follow the procedures.

In case your account is with a post office, you will have to visit the respective post office branch to have details of your PPF account.

Interest rate on PPF is calculated on the minimum balance on the account of an individual between 5th to the last day of each month. Hence, if you plan to make any large deposits, then remember to do it before 5th so that you can get higher returns.

Opening a PPF account is very simple, you can approach state-owned and private banks like SBI, Bank of Baroda, PNB, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, etc. You can ask them to open a PPF account.

So how can you become crorepati by just investing in PPF.?

Let’s say you are at age of 25 and decide to invest Rs 15,000 every month in PPF for retirement at 55 years of age. This means, you decide to invest Rs 15,000 for a whole 30 years. The largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), which also allows you to invest in PPF, has a calculator where you can understand how much will be your gains after maturity.

One can select between fixed monthly amount or annual. There is also variable yearly and monthly amount, under which you are given maximum 12 transactions per year to deposit amount under variable PPF account.

If you have selected the fixed monthly amount, then you deposit every month a total Rs 15,000 in your PPF account for 30 years. This would mean, you have invested a total Rs 54 lakh and has earned interest of Rs 1.51 crore.

With this, taking your principal and interest earned amount, you sit on a pile of Rs 2.05 crore at the age of 55 years. Hence, why wait for tomorrow, make an effort and invest today in PPF account for your retirement. Retire a crorepati!