Post Office Monthly Income Scheme Account (MIS)
Post office offers POMIS among a host of banking products
and services, under the purview of the Finance Ministry. Hence, it is highly
reliable. It is a low-risk MIS and generates a steady income. You can invest up
to Rs. 4.5 lakhs individually or Rs. 9 lakhs jointly, and the investment period
is 5 years. Capital protection is its primary objective.
For instance, if Sharma has invested Rs. 5 lakhs in the post
office monthly investment scheme for 5 years. As mentioned above, the interest
rate is 7.3%. His monthly income will be Rs. 3250 for that period. Post
maturity, he can withdraw his 5 lakhs, either from any post office or get it to
his savings account via Electronic Clearance Service.
How to open a Account
Opening a post office monthly income scheme is not as
tedious as you think. Before imagining long queues and even longer paperwork,
please take a look at the step-by-step procedure.
·
Open a post office savings account, if you
haven’t already.
·
Collect a POMIS application form from your post
office.
·
Submit the duly filled form along with a Xerox
copy of your ID, residential proofs and 2 passport-size photos at the post
office. Please don’t forget to carry the originals for verification.
·
You will need to get the signatures of your
witness or nominee(s) on the form.
·
Make the initial deposit via cash or cheque. If
you give a post-dated cheque, that date will be considered as the account
opening date.
Features & Benefits of Post Office Monthly Income Scheme
·
Capital
protection: Your money is safe until maturity as this is a
government-backed scheme.
·
Tenure:
The lock-in period for Post Office MIS is 5 years. You can withdraw the
invested amount when the scheme matures or reinvest it.
·
Low-risk
investment: As a fixed income scheme, the money you invested is not subject
to market risks and is quite safe.
·
Start
small: You can start with a nominal initial investment of Rs. 1500. As per
your affordability, you can multiply this amount.
·
Guaranteed
returns: You earn income in the form of interest every month. The returns
are not inflation-beating, but is higher
compared to other fixed income investments like FD.
·
Tax-efficiency:
Though your post office investment doesn’t fall under Section 80C and the
income is subject to taxation. On the other hand, it has no TDS either.
·
Eligibility:
Only a resident Indian can open a POMIS account. NRIs cannot enjoy the benefits
of this scheme. You can open it in your child’s name too, provided he/she is
aged 10 or above.
·
Payout:
You will receive the payout one month from making the first investment, and not
the beginning of every month.
·
Multiple
account ownership: You can open more than one account in your name. But the
total deposit amount cannot exceed Rs. 4.5 lakhs in all of them together.
·
Joint
account: You can open a joint account with 2 or 3 people. Regardless of who
is contributing, it belongs to all account holders equally.
·
Fund
movement: The investor can move the funds to an RD (recurring deposit),
which is a feature Post Office has added recently.
·
Age:
As mentioned above, you can start an account on behalf of a minor who is of age
10 and above. They can avail they fund when they become 18. However, the
investment cannot exceed Rs. 3 lakhs for a minor.
·
Nominee:
The investor can nominate a beneficiary (a family member) so that they can
claim the benefits and corpus if the investor passes away.
·
Ease of
money/interest transaction: You may collect the monthly interest directly
from the post office or transfer it to your savings account. Reinvesting the
interest in an SIP is also lucrative option.
·
Transfer:
In the event of shifting from one city to another, you can easily transfer your
investment to your post office in the current city at no extra cost.
·
Reinvestment:
You may reinvest the corpus post maturity in the same scheme for another 5
years to get double benefits.
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