Anyone who needs a guaranteed, tax-free debt allocation and can leave the money untouched for fifteen years. It is particularly efficient for taxpayers in the 20% and 30% brackets under the old regime, for the self-employed who have no EPF, and for parents building an education corpus.

Anyone who may need the money within five years, anyone whose emergency fund is not yet built, and anyone with high-interest debt outstanding — repaying a 14% personal loan is a guaranteed 14% return, which no PPF rate will match. NRIs cannot open a new account at all.

The mid-twenties, because the fifteen-year clock is the binding constraint. Someone starting at 25 completes the first term at 40 and can run three extension blocks before 60. Starting at 45 still works, but leaves room for only one extension before retirement.

Rarely. At 7.1% and 6% inflation, the real return is close to 1%. PPF preserves purchasing power and adds a little; it does not build wealth at the pace equity does. Treat it as the stable base of a portfolio, with equity providing the growth.

Yes, and the timing works neatly. Open an account when the child is around three and it matures as they turn eighteen. You may also open an account in a minor's name as guardian — though the ₹1.5 lakh ceiling is shared across your account and the minor's.

Under the new regime the 80C deduction is not available, which removes about a third of PPF's appeal for high earners. The interest and maturity remain exempt, so PPF is still one of the few genuinely tax-free debt instruments — just less compelling than it was.

Neither, exclusively. Decide your equity-to-debt split first, then use PPF for the debt portion and equity funds for the growth portion. Filling PPF to ₹1.5 lakh before touching equity leaves a young investor badly underweight the asset class that actually compounds.

It is a tool that simulates the growth of a Public Provident Fund account. You enter your deposit, its frequency, the interest rate and the tenure; it returns the maturity value, the interest component, and a year-by-year passbook.

It reproduces the official method exactly: interest on the lowest balance between the 5th and month-end, credited annually on 31 March. Where it can differ from your passbook is the assumed rate — the calculator holds one rate constant, while the Government revises the rate quarterly.

7.1% per annum, unchanged for several quarters. The rate is notified by the Ministry of Finance each quarter, and the field is editable so you can model a different assumption.

No. Deposits beyond ₹1,50,000 in a financial year earn no interest and are refunded without interest. The ceiling covers your own account and any minor's account you operate, taken together.

₹500 in each financial year. Fall short and the account is marked discontinued, which blocks loans and withdrawals until you pay the revival fee.

Three choices: withdraw the full balance tax-free; extend for five years with contributions (submit Form 4 within one year of maturity); or extend without contributions, which happens by default and still earns full interest.

No. A resident who becomes an NRI may keep an existing account until maturity but cannot extend it beyond the original fifteen years.

Partial withdrawals are allowed from the seventh year, once per financial year. Full premature closure is allowed after five years for specified reasons, with a 1% interest penalty applied to the entire holding period.

They answer different questions. PPF gives a guaranteed, tax-free return with no volatility. An equity SIP has historically returned more but can lose 30% in a bad year. Most portfolios need both — PPF as the floor, SIP as the engine.

Yes, between the third and sixth financial years, for up to 25% of the balance as at the end of the second preceding year. Repay the principal within 36 months. Only one loan may be outstanding at any time.

No. Only one account per person is permitted. A second account earns no interest; on discovery it is merged with the first or closed, with the excess refunded.

Yes, as guardian of a minor. Remember that the ₹1.5 lakh annual ceiling is shared between your account and the minor's, not doubled.

At any post office or at authorised branches of most public and private sector banks. Several banks allow the account to be opened and funded entirely through net banking.

Yes, freely and without charge. The account is treated as continuous, so your fifteen-year clock and your balance carry over intact.

Calculated monthly, credited yearly. Interest accrues on the lowest balance between the 5th and month-end, and the twelve amounts are paid into the account together on 31 March.

Almost always deposit timing. Money credited on the 6th or later earns nothing for that month. The other common cause is a rate revision during your tenure.

No. PPF interest is exempt from income tax and no TDS is deducted at any point.

Report it under exempt income in Schedule EI. It is disclosure only; no tax is payable on it.

No. The Section 80C deduction is available only under the old regime. The interest and maturity remain tax-free under both regimes.

There is no ceiling. The initial term is fifteen years, after which you may extend indefinitely in five-year blocks. This calculator models up to fifty years.

Yes, at any time, in any number of instalments, subject to the ₹1.5 lakh annual ceiling. A mid-year lump sum earns interest only from the month it is credited.

The deposit earns no interest for that month. It begins earning from the first of the following month.

Pay ₹500 for each missed year plus a ₹50 default fee for each of those years. Once revived, loans and withdrawals become available again.

Yes. The balance in a PPF account cannot be attached under a court decree in respect of any debt or liability of the account holder.

The nominee or legal heir receives the full balance, tax-free, regardless of how many years the account has run. The fifteen-year lock-in does not apply. The account cannot be continued by the nominee.

Yes, at any time, at the bank or post office where the account is held. Nomination is free of charge and can be split across multiple nominees with defined shares.

No. It is reset every quarter and applies to the whole balance from that quarter onwards. A PPF account is not a locked-in-rate instrument like a fixed deposit.

SSY typically carries a higher notified rate and is also EEE, so it is usually the better choice for a girl child. Its restrictions are tighter, though: eligibility ends at age ten and withdrawals are tied to education and marriage.

Compare the loan's post-deduction cost with 7.1% tax-free. If your effective home loan rate exceeds 7.1%, prepayment is the mathematically stronger move — with the caveat that prepayment is irreversible and PPF is not.

No. Banks will not accept a PPF balance as security for an external loan, because it is legally protected from attachment. The only borrowing allowed is the PPF's own loan facility in years three to six.

If you make no election within a year of maturity, the account continues automatically without contributions. The balance earns the full notified rate and you may withdraw any amount, once per financial year. You cannot restart contributions later.

Materially. At 7.1% nominal and 6% inflation, ₹40.68 lakh in fifteen years is worth about ₹17 lakh in today's money. The calculator's real-value card shows this figure for your own inputs.