Compare PPF, FD and NSC

Public Provident Fund, Fixed Deposit and National Saving Certificates

 

As an individual, I search for investment options for tax saving for financial year.

I have questions.

Where do I invest so that I can save my tax maximum PPF, FD , NSC, ELSS etc..?

Which are the best options?

Which options are safe?

Which option give more returns? Which option give different facilities like loan or withdrawal?

So here, I collect some information on PPF, FD and NSC

	PPF	FD	NSC
	PPF (Public Provident Fund) is a saving-cum-tax saving scheme	Fixed Deposit is Term Deposit. The interest rate is fixed for the whole maturity period	National Saving Certificate
Interest rate	7.9% per annum	6 to 7 % per annum (varies by bank)	NSC IX 8.1%
Lock in period	15 Years	5 years (tax benefit)	5 year
Min & Max	Min 500 and Max 1.5 Lakhs	any amount	Min 100 and Max no limit
Taxable benefit	fully tax exempt under sec 80C	tax exempt under sec 80C	tax exempt under sec 80C
Interest earned	Tax-free	Taxable	Taxable
Withdrawal	from 7th financial year	No	No
Loan	Yes, Between 3rd to 5th Year. 25% of total balance of preceding year	Yes	Yes, from any bank
Loan interest rate	2% higher than deposits	1% or 2%