Post Office Senior Citizen Scheme is among the most popular post office savings schemes due to this unique feature: a lump sum investment guarantees a monthly income of over ₹20,000. This will ensure you don’t face financial difficulties after retirement and ensure a regular monthly income.
Benefits of investing in Post Office Senior Citizen Savings Scheme
This post office scheme offers excellent interest rates on deposits from the government. Investors receive an annual interest rate of 8.2%. This ensures a regular monthly income on your investment. The special thing is that it offers a much higher interest rate than fixed deposits offered by many banks. Furthermore, the government also provides income tax benefits on investments made under this scheme, up to Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C. By investing in this government scheme, one can spend old age happily without any financial problems.
Who can invest
Talking about the age limit, any person aged 60 years or above can open a single or joint account. Apart from this, people aged 55 to 60 years who have taken VRS from government posts in the civil sector or people aged 50 to 60 years from the defence sector (retired from Army, Air Force, Navy and other security forces) can open an account.
How to get maximum profit
Now let’s discuss the annual interest income and how you can earn a regular monthly income by investing in this post office scheme. For example, suppose you invest a lump sum of 30 lakh rupees. At the government-defined interest rate of 8.2%, this investment will earn an annual interest of 2.46 lakh rupees. Divide this amount monthly, and you can earn a guaranteed monthly income of 20,500 rupees. The maturity period for this scheme is 5 years.
An account under the Post Office SCSS Scheme can be opened by visiting any nearby post office branch. Investors are also given the option to close the account at any time after opening. However, there are rules for this, which state that if the account is closed within less than one year of opening, no interest will be earned on the investment amount.
If you close it after completion of 1 year or between 2 years, then 1.5% will be deducted from the interest amount, similarly, if you close it between 2 to 5 years, then 1% of the interest amount will be deducted.
