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-   -   Where do you invest your money? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/12877-where-do-you-invest-your-money-8.html)

Yes that's true. As mentioned earlier, for me I invest 1.5 lakh. My wife, has separate PAN (and minor kid does not) but they together invest 1.5 lakh - 75k in each PPF account with separate passbooks. Wife is guardian for kid. This was suggested by bank itself.

I will share my opinion, with 30 years of experience, on where to invest surplus funds in India. My primary criteria to invest is to keep the original investment safe and then gain some returns.


1. Your own business - nothing like it as you know all the details of your business and you will always know everything about your investment.
2. prime Real estate is the safest option where your funds will be most secure and will also give you appreciation. This does not apply to real estate investments which promises huge returns which are very risky. For example invest in any authorized residential/commercial/industrial area of Delhi and even in very high priced areas where people tell you that there is no scope for appreciation. Do not invest in suburbs of Delhi or unauthorized areas of Delhi.
3. Gold is always the safest option.
4. if you have any inside information on any stocks or if you have information related to companies which operate in your line of business then you can invest in that stock.
5. Next best is bank FD whether Tax saving or otherwise.

No one will work for your money. you have to work yourself.
our stock markets and corporate culture and its governance is not mature enough and honest enough and I will tell you that even the best companies barring a very rare few use shady practices to enrich their promoters.

Thank you, this is what I was saying. There is no way I can deposit 1.5L P/A in my PPF along with 1.5L P/A in my kids account with me being guardian.

So basically have to look for some other option or MF for the kid.

I invest in both equity and debt instruments- but through Mutual Funds. AM interested to understand if the retail portal started by RBI to allow the investor to buy government securities directly has value or is it safer? I also invest in RBI floating rate bonds (through a bank) and while there has been no unpleasant experience till date ( in fact it has been very simple to invest through internet banking), are there any chances of you not getting the money back, if the bank goes belly up?

Well, before bank FD, i would recommend RBI floating rate bonds which give better returns than FD, and would be much safer too.

See discussion here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post5194511

These bonds are held in demat account in your name. The banks are just an intermediary. Also, if your private bank is ICICI/HDFC Bank/Axis Bank, they will NOT be allowed to go belly up because they are classified as 'systemically important' banks. It is equivalent to American "Too Big to Fail" institutions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_big_to_fail

RBI keeps a much closer watch on these banks to ensure that they don't take too much risks with their loan and investment (derivatives) portfolio.
https://www.rbi.org.in/commonman/Eng...s.aspx?Id=2900

The RBI bonds are sold by RBI. The banks only work as agents. As such, there should not be any concerns if the agent banks go belly up. Of course, if RBI goes belly up, we would have bigger problems!

I have a question for you: which bank offers you simple way to invest in these bonds through internet banking? Do you do it though a demat account? I have been struggling unsuccessfully to invest through netbanking from regular savings accounts: all 3 large private banks - HDFC, ICICI and Axis supposedly offer it via netbanking, but for some reason none of them has a working flow, and fails with some spurious error message or other. Nobody at the branch level seems to be even aware of the option, so can't help! Escalating through customer care so far hasn't yielded any result even after several weeks! So, some pointers from you would be of great help. Thanks.
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HDFC bank netbanking provides this option. I have tried twice and it has been a very smooth experience. As easy as opening an FD online.

Surprised that it doesn’t work for you. The only thing I can suggest is write an email to customer care rather than calling or visiting the branch. Not sure if you have already tried this.

From smartcat's thread, Simhi has posted a direct link. Opening an RBI direct account today!
Thanks Simhi


Recently opened my first non tax saving fd at Lokmanya Co-op Bank for 9.4% interest rate. But other than that, most of my money growing investments go towards mutual funds and direct equity (stocks). This is after exhausting all 80C tax saving investment avenues.

Lets create a reservoir of petrol and invest. Buy petrol today and sell after a decade:)

On serious note Gold Bonds, China market, Nasdaq Top 100 all good options in addition to those listed.

Just a small correction, Axis Bank is not included in the Domestic-Systematically Important Banks (D-SIBs). Currently, only SBI, ICICI and HDFC bank are included.

Just to clear a bit, RBI doesn’t issue any bonds. It is only the government bonds and the RBI is acting as a banker to government (merchant banker if you will).

i invested through the HDFC portal. Super easy and efficient. It, however takes 24-48 hours for the RBI to respond with an email confirming your bonds. The physical copy is also sent by post.

I did that on the first day itself and it was full of bugs. But the customercare were very supportive and sorted it out. I have the account opened, but don't know how to use it. No tutorials yet.

Is there really a distinction anymore?! I've come to view RBI as just another department of the government, rather than an independent entity!



As has already been pointed out by sahil624, Axis Bank is not yet on that list, although I don't see why, given its size and importance which is comparable to ICICI.

Another puzzle is how Moody's (e.g.) rate the Indian banks:

They assume a "very high probability of support from the GoI in times of need" for the Public Sector Banks (SBI, BOB, PNB etc.) + IDBI Bank.

"Probability of high level of support" - YES Bank.

"Moderate probability of support from the GoI" - ICICI, Axis, IndusInd.

No support needed - HDFC Bank, since "the bank's Baseline Credit Assessment is at the same level as India's sovereign rating (baa3)"!



Yes, I'm aware of that option, and would go for that if investing through netbanking doesn't work out. For a couple of reasons, -- I don't see any point opening a new account right now just for the FRSBs if going through my existing bank accounts serves my purpose just as well. Plus investing through banks counts towards the TRV, potentially gaining me further benefits from the banks, -- hoping to get the best of both worlds!



I myself am surprised in turn, -- how come it was so very smooth experience for you, and not for me! Please see the error message attached: None of the three possible reasons applies to me!

Yes, I have indeed already written to the customer care (after the branch manager just sat on my detailed mail for three weeks, doing nothing) -- not that it has helped any, so far! My complaint keeps bouncing back-and-forth like a ping-pong ball between myself and various departments of the bank ('customer care', DPHELP', 'Depository Services Team', then back to the 'Customer Support Team') with the same Case ID!

At each stage I get a response from a new person, with a new, irrelevant query: "please send us a screenshot of the login error"! "Were you trying to send funds to abroad?" Say what?

Of course, after each annoyed response from me, the same platitudes are offered once more, and a few more days time is requested for resolution! The goal post keeps getting shifted: the last deadline for resolution came and went on 23-11-2021. The new one is now 02-12-2021.

ICICI bank was cleverer, -- they wanted to keep my annoyance level limited, so chose not to respond at all to my mails (including to the Head, Privilege Banking)! Indian private enterprises, a panacea indeed!
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HDFC customer care is a hit or a miss. The difference in your and my experience is a good example. Maybe time to write to banking ombudsman as a last resort.

https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/Complaints.aspx

Guys, Whats the best alternative to FDs which will also give me liquidity? While giving me higher net returns (taxation factored in??)

How to invest in these instruments?