National Saving Certificate is a fixed income plan that allows every adult Indian resident to invest their money in a safe and secure manner. With this scheme, you can receive more return on investments compared to fixed deposits, and you don't have to bear the risk of mutual funds or stock investments. However, before you invest, you must make a plan using the National Savings Certificate calculators. You can use them to determine your maturity amount for different NSC interest rates within seconds, making it easy to create a sound financial plan. In this article, we will cover NSC interest rates, the scheme's features, its eligibility criteria, and a lot more. Let's dig in.

National Savings Certificate Interest Rates

Before we discuss what the NSC investment scheme and NSC calculator are, let's take a look at the ever-changing interest rates of this scheme. The Finance Ministry of India considers various factors before updating the National Saving Certificate scheme's interest rate every quarter of a year. For example, in the current third quarter of the financial year 2022-23 (October - December of 2022), the interest rate of this scheme is 6.8% per annum.

The interest rate of the NSC scheme can stay the same or change in the next quarter, depending on the future updates of the Ministry of Finance. Here's a list of National Savings Certificate interest rates for the past few years:

Savings Certificate interest rates of the past few years:

What are the Features of NSC?

Previously, the NSC scheme was available with two different tenures - 5 years plan and ten years plan. However, only the 5-year NSC plan is available nowadays. So, let's take a look at the key features of the NSC certificate plan:

• Any Indian can purchase the NSC plan with 5-year maturity by going to the nearest Indian Post Office.
• The interest rate of this scheme can change anytime, depending on the decisions of the Finance Ministry of India.
• You need to deposit at least Rs. 1,000 to invest in the NSC scheme. However, there's no maximum investment limit.
• The investors will receive compound interest on their investments every year. But the money can only be withdrawn after the NSC investment reaches maturity. Plus, there would be no TDS deduction on the matured amount.
• Many major banks or non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) accept your National Saving Certificate investment as collateral to provide secured loans.
• You can nominate a member of your family to your NSC scheme account. This way, even if you pass away, the nominee can withdraw the money from the NSC scheme after it reaches maturity.
• By investing in NSC, you qualify to receive tax benefits of up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs on your principal investment under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Eligibility Criteria to Invest in NSC

Do you want to know if you are eligible to invest in the NSC scheme? Here's a list of eligibility criteria you must fulfill to invest in NSC:

• The applicant or the investor must be a resident of India.
• Any person who is more than 18 years old can make either an individual or joint (with up to two more adults) National Savings Certificate investments. A minor who is more than ten years old can also invest in the NSC scheme with the intervention of his/her guardians.
• Non-Resident Indians or NRIs are not eligible to invest in the NSC scheme. However, if they made an investment in the NSC scheme before becoming NRIs, they can keep the investments until they mature.
• Trusts or HUFs (Hindu Undivided Families) can't invest in the NSC scheme. However, the Karta or the head of a HUF can make an NSC investment in his own name.

What is NSC Calculator?

As we have mentioned before, the interest in an NSC investment compounds once every year. So, at the end of the tenure of the NSC scheme, the investors will receive the principal investment along with the compounded interest of the past five years.

However, the compound interest formula is pretty complex, and it can take minutes, if not hours, to manually calculate the maturity amounts. To solve this problem and try different NSC calculations faster, you should use an NSC interest calculator.

All you have to do is open the online calculator page, type the investment amount and the annual interest rate, and you will automatically receive the estimated maturity amount within seconds.

Benefits of Using the NSC Calculator

Here's a list of benefits of using an NSC calculator:

• The NSC calculators are easy-to-use thanks to their straightforward designs and functions.
• It makes the calculations almost instantly, saving a lot of your precious time.
• The calculator's results are fairly accurate, so you don't need to double-check them.
• It doesn't cost you money.
• You can use it from wherever you want and whenever you want.

Conclusion

National Saving Certificate or NSC is, without a doubt, one of the safest investment options available for most Indian citizens. You can invest a certain amount of money in this scheme just with a visit to your nearby Indian Post Office. In this scheme, you will receive compound interest on your investment, which is much better than a general savings account. And with a National Savings Certificate calculator, you can also see how much money you need to invest to receive the desired amount once the money matures. This way, you can plan your finances better and build a better and financially secure future. Both for yourself and your loved ones.