On the auspicious day of Dhanteras, which marks the beginning of Diwali celebrations, it is considered an auspicious day to buy gold and invest money. Making long-term investments on this auspicious day is a wise choice as you can redeem these investments at the right time to fulfil future goals. Here are five long-term investment options you can consider for your future::- www.deekpay.com

**Fixed Deposits** : Instead of keeping your money in a savings account, you can opt for Fixed Deposits (FD) where you can get interest rates of up to 6.51 TP3T. As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines for payment banks, the total balance of the account holder should not exceed 1 Lac at the end of the day. Hence, with your consent, PPBL will open a Fixed Deposit account on your behalf with one of our partner banks.

- **Expiration date**: 12 months

- **Interest due**: 6.5%

- **Auto-renewal**: automatic renewal upon maturity

- **Mode of redemption**: immediate redemption

- **Early redemption fee**: No fee (no penalty)

**Invest in Mutual Funds through Paytm Money** : This is an ideal option for both low-risk and high-risk investors. On Paytm Money, there are a variety of mutual fund options to choose from that can provide you with high returns in the long run. You can invest from Rs. 100 and also choose from forward-looking schemes rated by agencies like CRISIL, Morningstar and Value Research.

- **Fees**: no hidden fees, commissions or charges when buying and selling mutual funds

- **Returns**: additional 1% through investment in direct mutual funds

- **Portfolio insights**: free access to insights, statements and tracking of performance at any time

**Paytm Digital Gold** : At Paytm, you are guaranteed to buy 24K 99.99% purity gold, supplied by India's only internationally certified MMTC-PAMP refinery and stored in MMTC's most secure, 100% insured vaults with no storage charges. You can buy gold from Rs. 1. Paytm will make sure to provide you with real-time gold prices to help you decide whether to sell your existing gold or buy more.

**Employees Provident Fund (EPF)**: This is a government-administered scheme and is one of the widely used investment options for salaried professionals. Any organisation with more than 20 employees is eligible to offer EPF to its employees.If your organisation does not offer this investment option, you can make a request for a fixed amount to be deducted from your salary every month so that you get a total amount when you retire. In case of emergency, you can also withdraw part of the amount before retirement.

**Public Provident Fund (PPF)**: This is the most popular and common government-backed investment scheme. This scheme is suitable for those who wish to make risk-free, long-term investments.PPF has a maturity period of 15 years and the interest rate is often adjusted by the government. After 6 years, you can partially withdraw your funds. In addition, you can also take a loan on the balance in your PPF account.

An in-depth knowledge of the various investment options offered in the market is vital if you want to invest wisely. The right long-term investment option for you will largely depend on factors such as your financial goals, risk level, time horizon and budget. While mentioning all these above, do not forget to first save your hard earned money for your daily expenses. After that, you can make plans to invest for achieving bigger goals.

Updated: 15 February 2021