I have submitted my Form 15 to my bank in April 2023. My income falls under the non-taxable category against interest received from bank FDs. Bank has not deducted any TDS up to September 2023 but from October 2023 they have started deducting TDS on FD interest earned by me saying that interest earned on my FDs have crossed the limit of Rs 5 lakh. Is the bank right in deducting tax citing this reason? Please enlighten me.

Ans: Hi Mahesh,

Please share other details such as your age, expenses, other investments and financial goals for me to help you.
No sole guidance can be done only on your income details. But you can save the maximum that you can and invest it in mutual funds for long term.

Also make sure to have a dedicated emergency fund as well as proper healthand life insurance for yourself and family for any uncertain situations.

share your other details and I shall be able to guide you.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Udit,

You cannot close a PPF account before time. It has to be there for 15 years. Although you can withdraw a certain amount but there is no option for pre-closure of the account.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Abu,

You must be under 30% tax bracket and hence this deduction. This interest will be taxable if you come under any tax slab as per your slab rate.
But of you don't earn anything, can claim back this tax paid in ITR filing. Or next time, prefill a form 15G/H for tax exemtion.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Sriram,

Good for you to consider diversifying your invvestments at the age of 51.
If you want to invest for 3 years, can choose a mix of debt and balanced funds to invest per month. This wil come with less risk and better returns than other investment options.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Raghavendra,

Please share the exact ULIP and premiums paid. As tax paid depends on the premium and sum assured as well. Usually ULIPS have a lot of hidden fees which brings your returns down. In future, refrain from buying any policy such as your current one and directly go for mutual funds for any long term investment.
Share details of your policy for me to guide you better.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Satyaballav,

Any policy should not be considered for investment. You already must have gotten clarity about SBI Life Smart Privilege Plus plan.
If you want to do any SIP or lumpsum, you can consider a mix of debt and balacned funds for a time horizon of 3 to 4 years. Again, it depends on the goal for which you want to invest.
You can reply to this answer and I will guide you with exact plan for your investment.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Mani,

You are one of the rare example of someone who is a long term investor and have build quite a good corpus through all these years.
Let us have a look at what can be done:
1. Insurance - you are well covered. Even premiums are being taken care of using dividends.
2. Emergency fund - build a dedicsted fund of minimu 10 lakhs in liquid funds for any emergency situation.
3. Mutual funds - a SIP of 15k has built you a corpus of 50 lakhs in 13 years which is great. You should also focus on increasing your investments to the maximum capacity whenever possible.
4. You are a bachelor and want to retire. But you also have to plan if ou want to get married. Getting married will change the entire plan. You will need funds to get marry, start family, kid's education and marriage. All these things should also be considered before making any decision.
5. Your current expenses of 5lakhs will double easily on getting married, so your resignation and retirement depends on this plan as well.

Hence my suggestion would be to focus on increasing income for now and you are too young to consider leaving your job. Plan your future goals and then take this decision collectively.

Also as your MF portfolio crosses 50 lakhs, would suggest you to consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Sanjay,

I understand that many apps such as Gullak is quite famous amongst everyone fro quick gold investments. Apps like these provide a quick and effortless investment solution to everyone who wants to go to digital gold.
But I do not recommend this. these apps comes with hidden charges in the form of 3% gst when you buy and some deductions as well when you will sell. Overall not much beneficial if you want to invest in Gold.
Gold etf, by far, is the best way tto invest in digital gold as its appreciation is wrt to the gold price in actual. It doesn't have any hidden or extra cost. Go for it without thinking again. Monthly SIP in gold etf is the best way to take the benefit of market volatility.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

You have done great investments with some companies and aree earning out of it. This is the best form of diversification.
I understand, you have your house, monthly income from salary and your investments.
To further diversify the 1 crore that you are getting, can consider investing in a mix of equity oriented and balanced mutual funds. Your current investment in the Oswal midcap ELSS doesn't seem good. Even this can be shifted to a much better fund suited to your requirements wrt your risk appetite.

You can work with a professional advisor who will guide you with exact fund names to invest your 1 crore and also redirect 12 lakhs from elss fund to another fund.

Your goal of travelling can be done using a portion of 15% from 1 crore that you will get. This amount will be invested in debt and small cap funds and you can do a sWP from this amount to fulfil your travel goal.

Regarding health, first make sure to have a dedicated health insurance for yourself and family with a cover of minimum 25 lakhs. And have an emergency fund of around 10-15 lakhs. This would be sufficient to take care of this.

Lastly, refrain from doing investments based on any random tips in mutual funds as any wrong fund selection can hamper the growth of your portfolio.
Hence consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/