r/personalfinanceindia

Reminder~~~~~

Hello, this is just a reminder to invest in your Public Provident Fund (PPF) today, i.e, 4th April, to get the maximum interest!!!

Context~~~~~

Many of us who invest in PPF know that 1.5L (maximum) can be invested in it every year, for 15 years, to get a sweet chunk of tax free corpus.

It’s the beginning of this financial year, and interest calculation in PPF is done on the lowest balance between 5th and the last date of each month.

So if you max out your PPF every year, do it today for the most interest.

If you don’t know what PPF is or need details about it~~~~~

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public\\\_Provident\\\_Fund\\\_(India)

I’m 24M, currently earning around ₹1L/month take-home. My parents are pushing me to buy a flat, where even a 1 BHK in my city costs around ₹80–90 lakhs. The thing is, I’m really hesitant to jump into such a big commitment this early in my career. The EMI would take up a huge chunk of my salary, and I don’t want to feel stuck or financially stressed. Right now, I’m: Doing SIP of ₹20K/month Gradually accumulating gold (planning to use it later for down payment) I’m more inclined towards building a stronger financial base first instead of rushing into a home loan. Am I overthinking this? What are some better alternatives or strategies I should consider at this stage?

I'm 27 years old this Feb. I graduated from 12th in 2017 and since then did nothing and lived as a Hikikomori and NEET (Not In Employment, Education or Training) until my dad died in late 2023

I then spent one whole year telling my tale on reddit if you visit my profile and see my oldest posts. With the help of two strangers, one purchased a refurbished laptop for me and another gave me job referral link which is first job ever I applied for

I got my first job in late 2024 earning me Rs 16k monthly as WFH job regarding image/video annotations

it's contract basis of 8 months maybe, I got my first contract renewal last year idk when

I inherited Rs 15 lakh from my late dad's ULIP policies which I invested in liquid fund but over the many months I had to make withdrawals for emergency household expenses and a tablet I bought making its current invested amount be Rs 13 lakh 54k and fund value being Rs 14 lakh

I've invested from my salary and also took some from the liquid fund to invest in PPFC. it's current invested amount is Rs 3 lakh 16k and fund value is Rs 3 lakh 2k

I depend on the liquid fund for emergency expenses

My mom earns Rs 3800 as monthly pension from ICICI Prulife Pension plan because my late dad had invested Rs 8 lakh there few years back

In the past I used to invest Rs 10k from salary and keep Rs 6k for expenses along with moms pension money for expenses

But due to many emergency household expenses I some months couldn't not invest a single rupee into equity

So for past 2 months maybe idk I've been invested Rs 15k from my salary into equity and depending on liquid and mom's pension for living expenses

My first goal is to have Rs 8 lakh in PPFC as soon as possible to get some mental relief that I won't miss out in some gains because I'm invested like it happened after covid but I wasn't invested cause I didn't earn then and didn't even know about mutual funds

I'm no different from any illiterate person, I've no skill, no remembrance of what I studied in school, no degree, nothing, I'm absolutely useless meatbag

Current job is easy for me and I'm very efficient in it but salary is low

Please help me know how a useless man like me can earn more money

I want to eat well and feed my mom well and invest more

Even earning monthly Rs 25k would help me immensely

I've no other obligations other than taking care of my mom, I've nobody else in life and neither can I afford it nor am I interested even if I can afford it someday

Thank You

Please consider helping me with my plight

Me and my wife have our own corporate insurance provided by our companies. A couple days back when my wife gave birth, the bill came up to 1.5L. Rainbow in our city not being a network hospital for my wife's TPA, I thought I'll go with mine for the initial part of cashless with a maternity limit of 70k and use wife's insurance with a limit of 75k to claim reimbursement.

But it came down to me paying the entire amount upfront cash because,

While providing E-Card, my TPA informed that maternity claims can only be made only if my wife was already added as a dependent on my Insurance.

I don't know why I did not add her, maybe thinking she has her own insurance and a scenario of her needing mine will not come (OR) when my Insurance fine print says self+spouse+3 children, my dumb f*ck brain thought my E-Card will cover them all by default.

Now I can only claim reimbursement using my wife's insurance for the limit of 75k

Isn't the marriage certificate itself a proof to make a claim against my wife on my insurance?

Can anything else be done in this situation?

Tl;dr - Did not add wife as dependent in Insurance, cannot make a claim for maternity bills now

So I am 28 years old and a nurse in Australia. I came here when I was 22 and now finally have my citizenship.

It was a long and hard journey and now in the next couple of years I'm planning to return to India. I have never felt home here in Australia.

Even though I don't regret moving here I think about india almost everyday. I miss my friends and family.

But most people on the return to India subreddits are IT folks with loads of savings and high paying jobs lined up. I can't imagine making more than 45-50k inr a month as a nurse working in private healthcare in india.

But I desperately want to return back. I was thinking about doing another degree while continuing my job as a nurse in Australia. Maybe engineering? Deakin university offers a 3 years accelerated course and I would work part time as a nurse along with it.(I will pay domestic fees as I'm a citizen now)

Or any other field which pays decent in india. Any reccomendations??

But I am scared that I would be too late for any new career. Most of my friends in India now are earning good( given they struggled a lot in their early years). I would be starting at a low salary and it would take me at least 5 years to reach a good salary i think.

I have managed to save about 1.25 cr and another 34 lakhs in superannuation.

(I would really appreciate any advice)

Its pointless investing when you don’t know what you can consistently save. I used to focus a lot on “which mutual fund”, “which stock”, etc. but ignored the basics of where my money was actually going.

Only after tracking expenses did I realize…I didn’t even know my monthly surplus. No wonder our generation leans so hard on paychecks.

Der aaye durust aayre, now I’m fixing that first…understanding cash flow, cutting unnecessary spends. Building my foundation first before jumping into investments.

Anyone else?

I’m in my early 30s and I’ve been seriously thinking about getting a car for my parents, but I can’t tell if this is a wise decision or just an emotional one.

About 10 years ago, my dad owned a car, but we had to sell it due to financial struggles. Since then, my parents have been managing without one.

Right now, I earn about ₹1L/month. My total net worth is around ₹25 lakhs. I financially support my parents and also contribute to my sister’s education. I’m married, and my husband and I split rent and utilities, so that helps.

My parents are getting older, and it’s starting to show physically.

My mom runs a small business and has to travel regularly.My dad is often out, but doesn’t contribute financially.

They both currently use their own Activas to get around. If the whole family needs to go somewhere, we rely on cabs.

Here’s what’s really bothering me:

My mom was recently diagnosed with arthritis, but she still has to ride her Activa everywhere because of her work. The roads here are terrible, traffic is chaotic, and safety is a real concern. Just the other day, someone hit her while she was walking on the side of the road.

They also travel long distances on the Activa to visit temples, which honestly makes me anxious every single time. Every accident I hear about feels personal now.

I’m not looking to buy anything fancy,!just a safe, reliable car (something like a Tata Punch-level budget, around ₹7–8 lakhs).

My husband and cousins think I should wait until I have more savings, but I keep feeling like I’m delaying something that could genuinely improve their safety and quality of life right now.

So I’m stuck:

Am I making a financially irresponsible decision driven by emotion, or is this actually a reasonable and justified expense given the situation?

TL;DR:

Early 30s, earning ₹1L/month, ₹25L net worth, supporting family. Parents (aging, mom has arthritis) still ride Activa daily in unsafe conditions. Want to buy them a basic ₹7–8L car for safety. Family says wait,I’m unsure if this is smart or emotional.

Planning to buy a 70L 2bhk. First time home buyer.

To save on registration and stamp duty charges, the seller said we can register the amount for less and the rest can be transferred to his relatives. He is ok with me paying all in white.

He says the bank would still give a loan for more than the registration amount (90-95%).

How does it work?

I want everything to be recorded in the Absolute Sale Deed.

Hi. I am planning to start a RD of 35k monthly for a year. I am expecting at least a 7.50% interest on the total accumulated amount.

Which bank would you suggest me? I know the interest rate in neo-bank is typically higher than normal banks but I want to go with the safer option here as I am saving this for my education by the next year. Thank you

My MIL (78, widowed) lives with us and gets some pension and virtually no expenses. I don't check usually but she has around 45-50L in her savings account, dead money. And still a pension of some 40k per month. My wife and her sister (only two kids) are both not at all interested in her money with god's grace.

Recently, she asked me to make better use of that money. She (and all other stakeholders) is OK even gifting it in our name. I am unsure how to help her. She has no expenses as such as she lives with us and I also have a comprehensive health insurance so chances of her needing this money are almost zero. (She has a house also in other city worth 2Cr (not rented right now) so there are assets to bank upon in worst of worst cases.)

I don't have much exposure to Indian stock market and recent pulldown has not helped.

Assuming a medium term 5yr+ horizon, what's the best advice? The idea is to maximize returns with as little tax/gift implications as possible and make use of this money.

I fall into 37% tax bracket and my wife in 33% bracket.

One of my friend bought HDFC life sanchay plus policy

Here are the details

Premium per year :100k

Premium year :6

Maturity: 7

Benefits: 502022 at 6 years and

78k every year for next 10 year or 600k as Lumsum at 7 years.

Life insurance is there but that is not of no use.

This policy is too good to be true. Is there anything I am not able to get.

On my previous post, a lot of people were saying that ₹6cr net worth is barely enough to be in the top 10% in India. That honestly sounds wild to me.

Is India actually that rich now? I get that metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore have crazy real estate prices, but across the whole country this seems hard to believe.

For comparison, I’m not even sure if China’s top 10% threshold would be that high.

Are these numbers real, or are people just overestimating based on urban bubbles? Would love to see any data or studies on this.

Hey everyone,

I’m a 27-year-old guy working in IT in Bangalore, earning around ₹1.6L/month. I’ve only recently started taking investing seriously, and I’ve also received some inheritance this week. I’m trying to build a solid long-term allocation plan and would really appreciate your inputs.

INHERITANCE SUMMARY

(Planning not to touch the cash for at least 10-15 years unless absolutely necessary)
Cash: ₹35L
Gold ornaments: ~40g (chain + bracelet)

PLANNED ALLOCATION FOR ₹35L

1. Crypto (BTC): ₹1L
2. Gold: ₹6L (Planning via jewellery scheme to avoid wastage charges) Question:Should I invest this as a lump sum or stagger it monthly given the current situation?
3. Debt Mutual Funds / Liquid Funds: ₹4L
4. Other Options (~₹4L) Considering diversification into: REITs / InvITs, Bonds, Invoice discounting platforms (not sure about the risks here)
5. Equity: ₹20L

Questions:
How should I split the ₹20L between Indian and international markets?
Within Indian equity, is a 40% large cap / 30% mid cap / 30% small cap split reasonable?
Should I increase gold exposure via ETFs instead of allocating more to equity?

PERSONAL SAVINGS SNAPSHOT

1. Emergency fund: ₹6L (sweep FD account)
2. Bank balance: ₹5L (kept for home loan prepayment / buying market dips)
3. Gold coins: 2G
4. Health insurance: ₹15L (plus corporate cover)
5. No term insurance yet (planning to get one this year)
6. Stocks: ₹30K
7. Crypto: ₹30K (mostly BTC, some ETH and SOL)
8. Mutual funds: Started in March 2026, so minimal corpus so far

MONTHLY INVESTMENTS (SIPs) - 40.2K per month

1. Bandhan Small Cap Fund – ₹10K
2. Mirae S&P 500 Top 50 ETF – ₹5K
3. Bitcoin SIP – ₹5.2K
4. Tata Nifty Midcap 150 Momentum 50 Index – ₹10K
5. Parag Parikh Flexicap – ₹5K
6. HDFC Flexicap – ₹5K
7. NPS: ₹50K annually

Question: Should I rebalance to increase international exposure?

DEBT SITUATION

1. Car loan: ₹15K/month (3.5 years remaining)
2. Personal loan (for dad’s business): ₹20K/month (4.5 years remaining) High interest, but can't pre-close due to family constraints. Parents are not interested in using the inheritance money
3. Home loan EMI contribution (co-owned with mom): ₹20K/month (17 years remaining) Currently prepaying ~₹1.2L/year, planning to increase to ₹2L/year. Can't use inheritance for prepayment due to the same reason

UPCOMING EXPENSES

1. Brother’s wedding gift: ~₹1L atleast
2. My wedding: Expecting ~₹10L from property sale in next 6 months to cover expenses

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

1. Feedback on overall allocation plan. Suggestions on alternatives
2. Suggestions on India vs international equity split
3. Thoughts on gold allocation and whether I should increase it
4. Any obvious mistakes or risks I might be missing

Appreciate any advice or perspectives. Thanks in advance
EDIT - Fixed formatting

Written with chatgpt:

Bought a plot in 2022 for ₹1.2 Cr with the intention of eventually building my own house.

Financed it with a ₹70L loan. Fast forward to today, the outstanding (principal + interest) is around ₹92L.

The land’s current market value has appreciated to ~₹2.5 Cr.

Now the situation:

My parents are pushing me to take an additional ₹50L loan to start construction. I’m not very comfortable with this move right now—mainly due to the increased financial burden and risk.

Looking for perspectives:

- Does it make sense to stretch financially to construct now?

- Anyone who has been in a similar situation, how did you approach it?

Would appreciate grounded advice.

Current financials:

Salary: ₹80k/month

Own 1 flat (₹50L, no EMI, On rent- 20k)

Ancestral land: ~₹2 Cr (not liquid)

Savings: ₹5L

MF & Stocks: ₹3L (currently ~20% down)

Gold: ₹10L

No loans/EMIs

Confusion:

1- Where should I invest next given this situation?

2- Is it a good idea to buy another flat using a home loan for investment/rental income?

Thanks in advance😊

My current portfolio is below

- Mutual Fund: 1.68 Crores
- FDs : 1.66 Crores
- Insurance maturity in 2027 (bought these when I was young and didn't know better): 16 lacs
- Existing take home income, post-tax: 8 lacs per month
- Savings in bank accnt: 17 lacs (this is temp till I invest)
- Other investments+ bonus: 12 lacs

I am interested in purchasing a piece of land right next to my family in a rural location in south India. The reasons I am more optimistic about this land despite all the cases of land being problematic is:
- Land is right next to existing family property (which I will ultimately inherit)
- Sellers is known through my family neighbours and docs checked.
- The seller has agreed to sell fully through bank transfer so white transaction of approx 80 lacs
- Land is close to two metros (about 2 hours by car / train and developed infra as compared to other rural places. Roads, PHC, tourist spots etc)
-Major train junction is 30 mins away
-To ensure we protect from other neighbours or something commercial coming there and have access to all roads
- Indian cities are increasingly unlivable so I prefer the rural location as it is also being developed with good roads and infra.
- I work remote and don't need to live in a city

My question is: is buying land (after all due diligence with all the checks) advisable as part of my existing portfolio. I understand there are always risks. I also expect to be employed for another two-three years at least at the same income if not higher. I have plans to relocate abroad temporarily but long term plan is to come back to India. As the land is just adjacent to family they will be around and settled in the area for more than 15 years so know the community etc.

Grateful for any advice

Hi all,
I want to gift an fd to my neice (foreign citizen with OCI, parents are also foreign nationals with OCI). She's 1 YO. Is there a way to do this?
Want her to have the money when she's 18.
I don't want to monitor.
Thinking of doing with SBI if there's an option available.

As they are foreign nationals, Equity MF might be tough to do (guessing this, not really sure) as there might be issues with opening a demat, taxation etc.

Please suggest how can I gift this.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently a first-year B.Tech ECE student and I'm trying to figure out my long-term career roadmap. I have a major life goal: I want to travel the world, taking at least one major international trip every year (Europe, Japan, the Americas, etc.). Right now, I'm thinking about solo or couple travel, but eventually, I want to be able to sustain this lifestyle for a family of four.

Since I am at the very beginning of my college journey, I want to make sure I pick the right path to make this financially possible without going broke or sacrificing my investments.

Could you guys give me some advice on a few things?

What profession should I pick? With my ECE background, should I stick to core electronics, pivot heavily into software or data engineering, or eventually aim for management? Which path actually provides both the high income and the paid time off required for international travel?

What would the expenses be? Realistically, how much does a standard 10-to-14-day global trip cost nowadays when flying out of India?

What should my target salary be? To afford this comfortably while still handling daily life, future family costs, and solid savings, what kind of monthly in-hand and annual CTC should I be aiming for in my 20s and 30s?

Hi everyone,

I redeemed my mutual fund investment (ICICI Prudential Strategic Metal and Energy Equity FoF Direct Growth) through Groww around 11 days ago, but I still haven’t received the money in my bank account.

SIP was active earlier, redemption request placed successfully

Status on Groww: Completed

No credit received in bank yet

I understand redemption usually takes 2–5 working days, so this delay seems unusual.

I’ve not yet contacted ICICI directly, but planning to.

Has anyone faced something similar?

Should I escalate to SEBI now or wait longer?

Any guidance on the exact steps to take would really help.

Thanks!

I am a student and need advice on which savings account i should open for storing and maintaining personal savings and few UPI transactions.

I already have these:

1. Bob Lite account in Bank Of baroda, (using for UPI only)

2. Jandhan Account in SBI, (it was opened when I was under 18, i don't use it anymore, it's just lying around for no reason. but imposes serious restriction as I can't open any other savings account in SBI because of this)

3. General SB savings account in Canara Bank (using for other savings)

4. Indusind Delite Savings Account (such a trash experience, just waiting for it to automatically close after 1 yr since branch never helped in closing it)

*So I need one more account. My choices are:

1. PNB Unnati savings account

• I'll open it online

• branch is nearest to my home

• The only major government bank in my city except the ones I already have an account in.

• Zero Balance

2. HDFC Digisave Youth Account

• Just want to experience a private bank experience better than Indusind

• Also want to build a relationship with a private bank

• Branch is little far away than other banks

• I will also open this online.

• ₹5k MAB for now & when I hit age 26, it'll be converted to regular savings account with ₹10k MAB.

Which will be best for long term usage? Also, My operations with the account will be 95% online, I will not visit the branch very often, except for 1 or 2 cash deposits per year. Minimum balance is not a problem.

PS: I will never open an online only bank account ever again. After reading all the drama going on because of kotak 811 with some people, it's crazy dumb. Airtel & Jio payments Bank are a scam, and lastly Jupiter and Fi are going to be dead very soon anyways because of ₹5k MAB for a bank that doesn't even exist in real life for most of its customers.