Next: Saving
Gold, and the honest way to own it
Making charges, purity and hallmarks on jewellery; what Sovereign Gold Bonds did and why they stopped; ETFs, digital gold, and holding a claim not metal.
21 min
beginner
Deposits and the small savings shelf
Fixed deposits, PPF, NSC and the post office shelf: what each one locks up, for how long, and the trade-off sitting behind every rate on the poster.
3 lessons · about 21 minutes · written for reading age 13 · last checked 2026-08-11
What a locked term is actually buying
A fixed deposit and a recurring deposit are the same bargain in two shapes — and the rate on the poster is the least interesting number on either of them.
7 min
PPF: the account you cannot empty
Fifteen financial years, a rate the government resets every quarter, and a tax treatment almost nothing else gets. The lock is the product, not a side effect.
7 min
NSC, Sukanya Samriddhi and monthly income
NSC, Sukanya Samriddhi and the monthly income account give three different answers to the only question that matters: when do you get to touch the money?
7 min
Check yourself
5 questions at the end. Every wrong answer explains itself.
Tools for this
Fixed Deposit Calculator (with TDS and real return)
Maturity value, effective yield after quarterly compounding, TDS, and what the return looks like once tax and inflation are taken off.
PPF Calculator
A 15-year projection with a sensitivity view, because the rate is reset every quarter and will not stay where it is today.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Calculator
A full 21-year projection, including the six years at the end where deposits stop but interest does not.
What changed recently
Dated commentary on this topic — a Budget change, a new rule, a scam pattern.
2026-04-02 · 4 min read
Small savings unchanged: PPF stays at 7.1%
PPF stays at 7.1%, Sukanya Samriddhi at 8.2%, NSC at 7.7%. Another quarter without a change in a set of rates that is formally reviewed every three months.
2025-11-27 · 5 min read
₹5 lakh insured per bank, not per branch
DICGC cover is a per-depositor, per-bank limit covering principal and interest together. Splitting money across branches of one bank does nothing.
Sources
- Post Office Savings Schemes — PPF, NSC, Sukanya Samriddhi and the Monthly Income Account — Department of Posts, Government of India · checked 2026-08-11
- Small savings interest rates, notified quarterly by the Ministry of Finance — Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance · checked 2026-08-11
- National Savings Institute — scheme rules for small savings — National Savings Institute, Ministry of Finance · checked 2026-08-11
- Reserve Bank of India — deposits, rates and public awareness — Reserve Bank of India · checked 2026-08-11
- A Guide to Deposit Insurance — Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation · checked 2026-08-11
- Income Tax Department — tax deducted at source on interest, and Chapter VI-A deductions — Income Tax Department, Government of India · checked 2026-08-11