What is PPF?
The Public Provident Fund is a 15-year savings scheme run by the Government of India. Anyone with a PAN can open one at most banks and post offices. You can deposit between ₹500 and ₹1.5 lakh per financial year. Interest is announced quarterly (currently 7.1%, paid annually) and is fully tax-free. Maturity proceeds are tax-free too. PPF is one of the few EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) instruments left in India.
Maxing PPF at ₹1.5 lakh a year for 15 years at 7.1% gives a tax-free corpus of around ₹40.7 lakh. The same money in a 6% taxable FD (post-30%-tax effective ~4.2%) would mature near ₹30.6 lakh. The tax-free wrapper, not the rate, is the win.
Treating PPF as your only retirement plan. It is excellent ballast, but a 15-year corpus capped at ₹22.5 lakh of contributions cannot fund a 30-year retirement on its own. Pair it with equity.
A 60-second lesson on this, with a worked drill, lives inside the Finlo app. Free, forever, on the basics.