Choose the better investment choice for a girl child by weighing SSY and PPF.
The arrival of a kid frequently causes a flurry of financial planning concerns over the future of the child. The national government has launched several savings programmes targeted at encouraging self-reliance among girls and women to assist parents in this endeavour. Through wise investments, these schemes provide significant long-term funds. The Public Provident Fund (PPF) and the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) stand out as two popular investing options if you are fortunate enough to have a newborn girl and want to ensure her future. These programmes provide possible investment opportunities with high rates of return.
Who then qualifies to invest in SSY and PPF? Only girls under the age of 10 are served by the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. A girl child who participates in this scheme can accumulate a sizeable fortune that matures when she turns 21. On the other hand, everyone from any background is welcome to invest in the Public Provident Fund Scheme. Additionally, it permits a girl child who is at least 10 years old to register a PPF account.
Let’s now examine the lock-in periods related to these plans. With the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, a girl can open an account at any bank or post office from the time of her birth until the age of ten.
A maximum of 21 years may elapse between investments in this scheme. While the Public Provident Fund Scheme has a 15-year investment duration. Notably, if the girl child has reached the age of 18, the SSY account may be terminated before she marries. On the other hand, the PPF account’s initial 15-year period may be extended for an additional 5 years.
Let’s now explore the investment caps for both programmes. You may deposit any amount in a Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account throughout a fiscal year, ranging from Rs. 250 to Rs. 1.5 lakh. The Public Provident Fund, meanwhile, permits investments up to Rs 1.5 lakh each year, starting at Rs 500. Regarding interest rates, you receive an alluring 8% interest on your Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana investments, which is credited to your account on a quarterly basis. On the other hand, the Public Provident Fund provides an interest rate of 7.1%. Given these figures, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana appears as a potentially preferable option for protecting the financial future of your girl kid. Additionally, the SSY account permits partial withdrawals after the child reaches the ages of 18 and 21, as well as when they reach the age of legal majority. The PPF account, however, allows partial withdrawals upon the completion of 7 years of investment.
