The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is expected to retain the interest rate for its six crore account holders at 8.5% in 2010-11, with a formal announcement likely to be made in August. "I hope that the recommendation of 8.5% by the finance and investment committee of the EPFO will be retained," Central Provident Fund Commissioner S Chatterjee said. "The EPF rate will hopefully be finalised in the next EPF Board meeting, which is expected in August," he said. Asked if there was any shortfall in return from the current payout of 8.5%, Chatterjee said there was no deficit.
Start Systematic withdrawal plan Online Although an SWP gives you regular income and saves on taxes in the long term, you cannot open an SWP on a scheme where you have an ongoing SIP iStockPhoto If you are planning to take a sabbatical from work or are retiring soon, you may be looking at different investment options that give a regular income. Usually, a lump sum is invested to get regular fixed amounts later. Popular products include post office monthly income scheme, Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme and monthly income plans (MIPs). A lesser known option is the systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) in mutual funds. Recently, some funds have even removed the exit load on SWPs if you were to withdraw up to 15-20% in the first year, to encourage people who want to start investing in this instrument. Here is a look at what an SWP is. WHAT IS SWP? Many of us would be familiar with a systematic investment plan (SIP ), where a corpus ...
