Senior citizens i.e. individuals above 60 are the ones who have already retired or are on the verge of retirement. FDs have been one of the top preferences among senior citizens when it comes to investments. This is because FDs provide fixed returns despite the changing market conditions and FDs also allow them to withdraw periodic interests to manage their regular expenses. However, due to the uncertain economic conditions and RBI policies, banks were forced to cut down their FD rates and this came as a major setback for the senior citizens who were planning to invest in bank FDs.
Therefore, assuming that they have already gathered a corpus that is enough to carry out the future plans and expenses, senior citizens don’t like to take big risks and usually rely on secure investments like the SCSS scheme, fixed deposits, and post office deposit schemes. Senior citizens can still invest in fixed deposit plans due to the reasons listed below:
Easy Estimation of Returns
Fixed deposits allow senior citizens to lock their investments for a fixed period. As they already know the FD interest rate, it is easy for them to predict the return upon tenor completion.
The fixed deposit interest calculator makes their job easy by calculating the FD returns in advance. As a result, they can plan their future finances accurately.
Alternatives to Bank FDs
Senior citizens no longer have to depend on bank FDs to maximize their investment. A higher interest rate is offered by post offices and NBFCs. For instance, Bajaj Finance FD comes with an FD rate of 7.25% that is the highest in the market right now.
This interest rate is high enough to fetch them surplus returns at maturity. Also, they can invest in its non-cumulative FDs to earn a monthly, quarterly, yearly, or six-monthly interest payout.
Suppose that a senior citizen has collected a corpus of Rs. 20,00,000 and wants to invest it for 5 years. The below table shows the comparison of returns between the bank, post office, and Bajaj Finance FD schemes:
| FD Scheme | Investment amount | Investment period | Interest Rate | Interest gains | Returns |
| Bank FDs | Rs. 20,00,000 | 5 years | 6.0% | Rs. 6,93,710 | Rs. 26,93,710 |
| Post office FDs | Rs. 20,00,000 | 5 years | 6.7% | Rs. 7,88,134 | Rs. 27,88,134 |
| Bajaj Finance FD | Rs. 20,00,000 | 5 years | 7.25% | Rs. 8,38,027 | Rs. 28,38,027 |
Therefore, it is quite evident that the returns offered by the Bajaj Finance FD scheme are much more than the other options.
Flexible & Safe Option
Fixed deposits enable senior citizens to select a tenor, investment amount, and FD type of their choice. For instance, with Bajaj Finance, senior citizens can start their investments with just Rs. 25,000. Also, a flexible tenor ranging from 12 to 60 months can be set for the invested corpus.
Also, a 0.25% additional FD rate applies to senior citizens and non-seniors get a 0.10% extra FD rates on investing in Bajaj Finance FD plans via an online FD form.
Moreover, the senior citizens can choose to invest in more than one FD plan by splitting their corpus in FDs of different types and tenors. This allows them to manage their monthly expenses and plan for the future by investing a part of their savings in both non-cumulative and cumulative FDs respectively. It is also a safe option as CRISIL and ICRA which are the top credit rating agencies of our country have rated it highly for being a safe investment option.
Senior citizens always reckon FDs to be a better option than other instruments because it is not only a safe avenue but also provides flexible investment alternatives to them. However, the depleting bank FD rates had raised concern in their mind regarding whether they should be investing in fixed deposits or not.
Senior citizens can still invest in corporate FDs like Bajaj Finance FD plans that are offering interest rates as high as 7.25%. Apart from the high interest rate, flexible tenor range, multi-deposit facility, option to retrieve accumulated interest periodically and other lucrative features make it the best investment option for senior citizens.
