Critical or major illnesses can be costly, and the hospital bills for such illnesses tend to be huge. When a critical illness strikes any person at any time, he or she will have to withdraw the funds meant for their long-term investment, so that they can pay for the treatment. So, in cases like these, the investor needs to carefully analyze their investment avenues to pick the best investment option for their treatment.
The best investment options that allow withdrawals
Most investors assume that they want to make money as fast as possible. And so, they bank on their investments to skyrocket in a short amount of time. As a result, they tend to look for the best investment plans that tend to give such returns. Also, the best investment plans for any person mean the risks involved should be as low as possible.
This is not the case, in reality; however, such investment options simply don’t exist. So, the higher is the risk, the higher is the reward or the higher is the returns. Hence, when you go hunting for investment plans, you ought to bring your risk profile into the picture and see whether it meets the actual risks involved.
On that note, all investment products are classified into two types, namely, financial and non-financial assets. The financial assets are further classified as fixed income as well as market-linked assets. Fixed-income assets include all those assets like Public Provident Funds or PPFs and bank deposits, and the market-linked assets include those assets including stocks or mutual funds.
When it comes to non-financial assets, that is, things like gold or real estate, most people tend to invest in them.
With that said, here are the best investment plans that work.
- Direct equity: The silver-lining
Stock trading isn’t everyone’s thing and so is investing in them. Stocks tend to be volatile and give no guarantee of returns. Furthermore, if choosing the right stock is a real pain just think about the entry and exit. So, in all, trading stocks or investing in them isn’t something everyone’s good at.
So, where does the hope lie? Why it lies in investing in the equity of course? With the ability to return higher inflated adjustments, no wonder they are one of the most popular modes of investment.
They are all not always sweet and sugary. There are many risks involved in them too. Unless one chooses to go for the stop-loss method, he or she can lose a considerable amount of their capital. However, there are a few ways in which you can reduce this risk. One of the most popular ways is the diversification of investments across different market sectors.
At present, the one-, three-, as well as five-year market returns for equities stand at 13, 8, and 12.5 % respectively. A Demat account is required if one wants to invest in inequities. So, aren’t these reasons enough for direct equities to be one of the best investment plans?
- Equity mutual funds: Investing in equities and equity-related securities
The current rules and regulations of SEBI or the Securities Exchange Board of India state that equity mutual funds must invest at least 65 % into equity assets and related securities and instruments. Equity mutual funds tend to rely heavily on the fund manager as far as the generation of returns is concerned. The fund manager has the option to manage the equity mutual funds either actively or passively depending on the type of funds.
The ability of the fund manager is decisive of the returns generated in an actively traded fund. However, in the case of a passively traded fund like those of index funds or exchange-traded funds, they tend to track the index that underlies them. Equity funds are classified from market capitalization or sector-wise investment.
They are also classified by whether the fund is a domestic fund, that is, one that invests only in Indian stocks, or an international fund, that is, one that invests in overseas companies. The current one-, three as well as five-year returns these funds are generating stand at 15 %, 15 %, and 20 % respectively.
- Debt mutual funds: The other best investment option?
Debt mutual funds tend to produce steady returns. In that, they tend to be less volatile and pose lesser risks as compared to equity mutual funds. They invest in those securities which generate interests like treasury bills, commercial papers, government bonds, and other such securities and money-market instruments.
The current one-, three-, as well as five-year returns for debt mutual funds, stand at around 6.5 %, 8 %, and 7.5 % respectively.
- National Pension Scheme: A long-term, retirement-focused investment product
The Pension Fund Regulatory Authority or the PFRA manages the NPS or National Pension Scheme or System. There is a minimum annual contribution for all NPS tiers, and the one for Tier-1 has been brought down from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 1,000. The National Pension System invests in varied assets like equities, fixed deposit accounts, corporate bonds, liquid funds, and government bonds among others.
Exactly how much can one invest in the National Pension Scheme primarily depends on the amount of risk the investor is willing to take. The current one-, three- and five-year returns for Fund option E, under this scheme stand at 9.5 %, 8.5 %, and 11 % respectively.
- Public Provident Funds: A long investment tenure of 15 years
The Public Provident Funds are one of the popular investment options that people tend to put their money into. This fund tends to give a large amount of compounded, tax-free interest for 15 straight years. There’s no doubting that this is one of the best investment plans out there. This is because, the interest accrued as well as the money invested is sovereignly guaranteed, which makes this one of the safest and best investment plans.
- Bank fixed deposits: A safe bet
Under the fixed deposit scheme offered by banks, the rules laid out by the DICGC or the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation states that each depositor will be assured a maximum sum of one lakh on both the principal and interest amount. And there is the option to invest on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly basis.
There is also another option where one can invest on a cumulative basis. The interest accrued from these schemes is subject to taxes as per the income tax slabs of the investor.
- Senior Citizens’ Saving Scheme: The first choice for retirees
The Senior Citizens’ Saving Scheme is a must-have for all those senior citizens and retired people out there. The investment scheme stands up to its name by allowing only senior citizens to invest in them. Anybody above 60 years of age can invest in this scheme through a post office or a bank. The scheme comes with a tenure of five years and the current interest earned from this scheme stands at 8.3 % per annum. The investment amount is capped at Rs. 15 lakhs. However, the scheme does allow for an investor to have more than one account.
- RBI taxable bonds: Invest in a Bond Ledger Account
With the replacement of the 8 % Savings Bonds of 2003 by the government and the introduction of the 7.75 % Savings Bonds, you can invest in them for seven years in a Demat account or a Bond Ledger Account. A Certificate of Holding is handed over to the investor as proof of his or her investments.
- Real Estate: Your go-to investment option
Your own house is never an investment. Rather, the property you buy in addition to your own house is your investment. The value and rent you can draw from any property primarily depend on the location of that property. Real-estate investments give two forms of returns. They give returns in rent form as well as in capital appreciation form.
Real estate tends to have low liquidity. One another big risk real estate investment pose is the regulatory approvals. Nowadays, however, there are real estate regulators to do just that.
- Gold: The investment concerns of safety and high cost
Gold is a good investment option. Although it comes with its own set of risks including theft or the risk of high cost. There are also the ‘making charges in case you are considering investing in jewelry. These charges are anywhere between 6 % and 14 % of the actual cost of gold. One alternative to reduce the risks gold poses is to invest in gold ETFs.
These investments tend to take place via stock markets, and the assets considered here are gold. Sovereign Gold Bonds are another good way to invest in gold in paper form.
Therefore, these were some of the best investment options provided to an investor. Although some of them are fixed-income plans and others are market-linked assets or investments, both of them have the same goal to achieve. Create more wealth for the investor by generating higher returns. Market-linked investments help with market volatility, whereas fixed-income investments help preserve the wealth accrued. It’s always better to have a mixed set of investments, while keeping the goal, risks as well as investment horizons in mind.
