How to secure future of your girl child with small and simple scheme in 2025
Unfortunately, the birth of a girl child is not welcomed in various parts of India. Right from the time she arrives in this world, she is faced with discrimination, humiliation, and oppression at every stage of life. When it comes to providing healthcare, education, and growth opportunities to her, she is neglected because of gender. The wise ones manage to survive and foster new paths to follow. However, most of them surrender hopelessly to the sad fate assigned to them. One tool to fight this menace would be education. And because education in our country comes at a cost, it is sensible that you start as early as possible. One scheme that is tailor-made for the girl child of our nation is Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana or SSY is a government-backed scheme launched in 2015 under the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' initiative by GOI. This scheme helps investors to save money for the studies and marriage of the girl child. SSY offers handsome returns which beat PPF investment as well by 0.5%.
Fintra here will quickly explore the various nitty-gritty of this scheme by highlighting the following:
- Who can Invest in SSY?
- SSY Interest Rates
- Maturity and Lock-in Period For SSY
- What Is Minimum and Maximum Investment In SSY?
- What Are The Taxation Rules of SSY?
Who can Invest in SSY?
An SSY account can be opened by parents/guardians of a daughter in the house who is less than 10 years old. A maximum of 2 accounts (for 2 daughters) can be opened in SSY for a family. However, there is an exception of 3 accounts in the case of twin daughters.
SSY Interest Rates
Just like in PPF, the interest rates for SSY are not fixed and change every quarter basis the yield on government bonds. For the quarter (April to June 2023) it is set at 8.0%. As mentioned earlier, no matter whatever the change happens in interest rates, it will always be higher than PPF by 0.5%. Also, you can expect it to vary between 7%-8% for the years to come.
Maturity and Lock-in Period For SSY
The maturity period for SSY is larger than PPF i.e. 21 years OR till the time your daughter gets married. However, you can contribute to the SSY account for 15 years only. For 16th to 21st year, you need not pay any money. So if you plan to start investing in SSY when your daughter is 9 years old, she will get the money once she is 30. So, it is better that you start investing as soon as you welcome your daughter into this world.
SSY amount can be withdrawn prematurely in the following cases:
- In case of death of parent/guardian
- If the daughter has encountered a life-threatening disease and money is needed for her treatment.
- When the daughter has reached the age of 18 and needs money for higher education, 50% of the corpus can be withdrawn.
What Is Minimum and Maximum Investment In SSY?
Minimum investment stands at Rs. 250 per year for SSY and the maximum is at 1.5L. If you fail to deposit Rs. 250 in a year, you are charged a penalty of Rs. 50/ year along with the minimum investment to reinstate your suspended account.
What Are The Taxation Rules of SSY?
Just like PPF, SSY comes under EEE category (Exempt, Exempt, Exempt). This means that whatever you invest in SSY
(A) The investment can be claimed for deductions in 80C while tax filing
(B) The income gained from interest on PPF is tax-free
(C) Withdrawal of amount from PPF account is also tax neutral
Conclusion
SSY is a good instrument to safeguard your daughter's future. The real magic of compounding is realized when you use this calculator to find out the maturity amount. A sum of Rs. 50,000 invested each year after your daughter turned one year old, will fetch you Rs. 21L on her 21st Birthday. This is against a total investment of 14L. We would recommend using the tool to realize the power of this scheme.
