Everybody plans for the New Year and makes a to-do list for the awaited 365 days. Be it your job, your study plans, your shopping list, and your budget checklist for the year. While you dream to check the list, it is often abandoned thought to invest in the right time at the right place. There are many investment options like Direct Equity, Mutual Funds, National Pension System (NPS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Fixed Deposit (FD), Senior Citizen Saving Scheme (SCSS), Real Estate, and Gold.

Short-Term Investments

The investments that mature within 12 months are known to be short-term investments. Short-term investments can be quickly liquidated. Such investments are chosen by people who do not wish to risk their money being invested for a more extended period. The highly selected short-term investment is a Recurring Deposit Account.

Recurring Deposit (RD) Account

• The RD deposit allows a person to deposit a fixed amount to the RD account on a monthly basis.
• The RD interest rates vary from 5.25% to 7.90% for a 1-year mandate.
• The minimum deposit of an RD account is 500 rupees.
• The minimum tenure of an RD is six months which can be extended in the multiples of 3 up to 120 months (10 years).
• Premature withdrawal can cost a penalty of about 1% of the interest rates received.
• The principal amount invested is not affected in any circumstances giving complete security to your investment.
• There is an option to open a joint RD account for minors.
• Additional interest rates are given to senior citizens which can vary from one provider to other.
• Periodic payouts are not possible in an RD account.

Long-term Investments

Long-term investments are those investments that can give you results of your investment in anywhere from 1 year to 10 years. Generally, long-term investments are made by people who wish to invest their savings to get a long-term benefit.

Real Estate

• Real Estate investment is defined as investing your savings or surplus money in buying property for yourself or rental purpose.
• The real estate property rates vary from place to place.
• If you invest in a progressive area, you can expect more value to your property.
• If renting your property, you can get a monthly income.
• During financial crisis/emergencies, you can sell your property in probably double the rate you purchased it for appreciation of the property.

Fixed Deposits

Fixed Deposits can be both short-term investment as well as long-term investment. The flexible tenure of an FD account offers you to choose the maturity of FD from as low as seven days to a maximum of 10 years. The minimum deposit amount of an FD is 1000 rupees for banks. Non-governmental financial providers offer a range of Fixed Deposit accounts with a minimum deposit amount 25,000 rupees. FD interest rates are higher than a standard Savings Account.

You can calculate the rate of interests and check the maturity date of your FD using the online FD calculator provide on the website of your financial provider. Due to the risk elimination and guaranteed returns,  investment in fixed deposits is considered as one of the most stable forms of financial investments for short-term as well as long-term financial goals.