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Market-linked Moderate risk Verified record

National Pension System (NPS)

Government of India — small savings · Government & Post Office Schemes

A voluntary pension account where contributions are invested in market-linked funds until you retire.

Terms set by notification Not published as a number here — it varies by provider, tenure or plan.

The official NPS portal, with contribution rules, fund choices and exit conditions.

Check the official page

Source NPS — official portal

www.npstrust.org.in

The official NPS portal, with contribution rules, fund choices and exit conditions.

How it works

National Pension System (NPS) is a government schemes product from Government of India — small savings, in the market-linked category: no promised return. A voluntary pension account where contributions are invested in market-linked funds until you retire.

Because the return type is market-linked, the questions that matter most are: What exactly does this hold, and what would make it fall? Can I leave this money invested if it drops 30%?

  • Building a retirement corpus with regular contributions
  • A market-linked pension alongside fixed deposits

Key facts

Provider
Government of India — small savings
Source
NPS — official portal ↗ https://www.npstrust.org.in
Rate
Terms set by notification ↗
Category
Government & Post Office Schemes
Minimum investment
₹500 minimum per contribution; annual minimum applies
Tenure
Until age 60
Payout
Pension after 60
Eligibility
Resident individuals aged 18 to 70, subject to KYC.
Getting your money back
Locked until 60 in most cases, with limited partial withdrawals after three years.
Protection
No capital protection: the corpus is invested in market-linked funds.
Tax
Contributions may qualify for a deduction. Part of the maturity amount is taxable; rules differ by how you exit.

What can go wrong

  • The corpus can fall: it is invested in equity and debt funds.
  • Part of the corpus must buy an annuity at exit, on terms available then.
  • Charges and fund choices affect the final corpus.

Before you decide anything

  • The fund manager and allocation you choose
  • The annuity rules at your exit age

These are questions to take to the provider, not a checklist that makes a product suitable. Whether something fits your situation is a decision only you — or an adviser you choose — can make.

Official sources

These link to the regulator or provider where the rules for this type of product are set out. They are the pages worth checking before you act, because they are the ones that get updated.

Other products in this category

The same rules and the same kind of trade-offs, described the same way.