What is EPF?
The Employee Provident Fund is a retirement scheme for salaried employees in companies with 20 or more workers. You contribute 12% of basic + DA. Your employer matches 12%, of which 8.33% goes to EPS (pension) and the rest to EPF. The EPF rate is set yearly by the government (currently 8.25%). The corpus is tax-free at withdrawal if you complete 5 years of continuous service.
On a ₹50,000 basic salary, your monthly EPF inflow is roughly ₹6,000 (you) + ₹1,800 (employer to EPF) = ₹7,800. Over 30 years of consistent service with annual increments and an 8.25% rate, the corpus easily crosses ₹1.5 crore. That is a default retirement, with no decision needed.
Withdrawing EPF every time you switch jobs. Each withdrawal resets the compounding clock and triggers tax if under 5 years. Transfer the balance via the UAN portal instead.
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