Income can either be of a fixed nature or variable. The benefits of opting for a fixed salaried income is the assurance that a definite amount of money shall be received at the end of each month. However, when you have a limited and definite income, it is necessary to smartly plan your investments. This finite income makes it necessary to manage the available resources after accounting for your monthly expenditure. So, if you are a salaried individual and on the lookout for investment options, then you have come to the right place.
#1 Fixed deposit
Due to its definite growth in a specified duration, it is one of the most favourable and safe investment options, especially for salaried individuals. Fixed deposit investment enables you to have a defined amount at the end of the investment tenure without having to worry about other factors. Moreover, since the fixed deposit interest rates are higher when compared to conventional savings accounts, it helps in corpus accumulation over a specified duration. Fixed deposit benefits also include the flexibility of tenure from 7 days to even 10 years. So, this investment is suitable for long term as well as short term investors considering the flexibility of the investment tenure. Apart from conventional banks, non-banking finance companies are also authorised to accept deposits
#2 Mutual Funds by way of Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs)
Since salaried individuals do not have a large corpus but a limited and definite amount of income each month, investment via SIP is a prudent alternative. If you are ready to assume the risks associated with stocks but do not have the time to manage them, SIPs by way of mutual funds can help you. Here, you need not invest all your money at once but in a periodic instalment. A fund manager pools the money from like-minded investors and then invests in a particular mutual fund. Further, diversification among the various sectors is also possible with a mutual fund investment. The selection of a mutual fund must depend on your risk appetite and its returns.
#3 Public Provident Fund (PPF)
Another risk-averse investment avenue is the public provident fund. The investment in PPF is backed by the Government of India and thus a 100% secure form of investment. When investing in a PPF scheme, you must note that there is a lock-in for a period of 15 years. This lengthy tenure is not suited for liquid investment, but instead for savings like retirement corpus. Further, a PPF investment also offers deductions in your income tax return.
#4 National Pension Scheme (NPS)
NPS is among the popular alternatives for retirement planning. It is another investment avenue that has government backing and thus safe to invest in. The minimum investment amount starts as low as ₹ 500 making it affordable for all salaried individuals to have a fixed income after retirement.
#5 Gold
Lastly, gold is an age-old investment avenue that offers long term appreciation. Gold can also be used to hedge against inflation with mostly positive appreciation. While earlier investment in gold was limited to physical form, now you can purchase digital gold, ETFs or even gold bonds.
The above are some of the investment avenues for a salaried individual. Remember to not place all your eggs in one basket, but instead spread the risk among the various alternatives offering growth and stability to your portfolio of investments.
