Author name: Meera Iyer

You open two FD brochures. Both say 8% interest. Both have a ₹1,00,000 minimum. Three years later, one pays ₹1,24,000 and the other pays ₹1,25,971. Same principal. Same rate. Same tenure. Different maturity amount. The reason is simple interest vs compound interest — two formulas that look similar on paper but produce different results in […]

Your bank does not wait for you to file your ITR before collecting tax. The moment your fixed deposit interest crosses a certain limit in a financial year, the bank quietly deducts TDS and deposits it with the government — sometimes before you even realise interest has been credited. For FY 2025-26, this catches many

You get your salary credit on the 1st. Ten thousand rupees go to savings, as planned. But where exactly should they go — into an RD that drips in monthly, or should you wait until you have a lump sum and open an FD? This is one of the most common money questions salaried employees

You open your first bank account. The branch executive asks whether you want a regular savings account or a zero balance account. You nod at the second option — because “zero balance” sounds like no hassle, no fees, no stress. Then, three months later, a charge shows up on your statement you never expected. This

Small finance bank FDs have started appearing on every rate-comparison website — and for good reason. Several small finance banks in India regularly offer fixed deposit rates that are 0.5% to 1.5% higher than what large public and private sector banks pay. For someone parking ₹5–10 lakh in a fixed deposit, that difference can mean

If you save ₹5,000 every month in a recurring deposit, how much will you actually receive at the end of two years? That is exactly what an RD calculator India tool is built to answer — and it takes less than a minute. A recurring deposit is a disciplined, low-risk savings product offered by banks

Your salary hits on the 1st. Rent goes out on the 5th. The EMI clears on the 10th. By the 15th, your savings account balance is looking thin — and by the end of the month, you notice a deduction you didn’t make. The bank has charged you a minimum balance penalty. No notification you

After salary credit, most salaried Indians move money for rent, EMIs, and bills — and then leave whatever is left sitting in a savings account earning 2.5% to 3.5% per year. That idle surplus could be working harder. A sweep-in FD is a facility your bank may already offer that automatically moves that surplus into

Most families open a joint bank account without reading a single word of the account mandate form. The account gets used for grocery transfers, rent payments, and school fee deductions — and nobody thinks twice about whose money it actually is, or who pays tax on the interest. That works fine until it doesn’t: a

Every month, your salary hits your savings account. Money moves in and out — EMIs, UPI payments, groceries, rent. Then one day you notice a small credit labelled “interest” on your bank statement, and it’s far smaller than you expected. If ₹1–2 lakh sat in that account all quarter, why did you earn only a