10 different ways of generating regular income

POSTED BY Jagoinvestor ON November 7, 2011 COMMENTS (78)

Do you want to generate regular income for yourself by investing a lump sum amount in some financial product ? It can be because of any reason like retirement , unstable income from job/business or just wanting to have your own income flow. In this article we will see 10 different ways of creating regular income in India our of which 5 will be safe methods and 5 would be risky (hence chance of high income) .

Income Generation

5 Safe Ways

Below are 5 safe way of generating income , in which the principal and the return are almost assured . It’s suggested for those investors who can not take any risk in their financial life .

1. Post office Monthly Income Scheme

One can invest a lump sum amount in POMIS and get monthly income for next 6 yrs. The return one can get is around 8% and the income can be given in form of monthly interest for next 6 yrs. One will get back his principal amount along with a  5% bonus at the end. One can invest only upto 4.5 lacs for an individual account and 9 lacs in a joint account.

2. Monthly interest from Fixed deposits

The most famous option is to open a fixed deposit with monthly interest payment. This is simple and one of the safest option one can take . the interest rate will depend on the tenure for which you open the Fixed deposit. One can expect a interest of around 7-8% . The interest income is taxable.

3. Annuity from Insurance companies

One can also buy annuity plans from LIC or pvt insurance companies. The returns on these plans will depend on the pension tenure and which option you have taken while buying the product (return of principal amount or not). The return of these plans are very low and sometimes not even known in advance like in case of NPS . One should get into this only if you are not capable of doing anything else with your money

4. Govt long-term bonds

One can buy long-term govt bonds with maturity of around 25-30 yrs and paying a half-yearly interest at around 8% (this varies from time to time). These are real long-term bonds and at the end of the tenure you get back your principal amount . These bonds are govt way of raising money for public and you can consider these bonds as one of the safest instruments. These bonds are also tradable in secondary market, so you can also sell them if you want to get rid of them.

5. Senior citizen Saving Scheme

One of the best option for senior citizens above 60 yrs of age is to put their money in senior citizens saving scheme and get interest of 9% per year which is payable quarterly. SCSS is only for 5 yrs after which they mature, they are extendable by 3 more year after that. Note that even investors in age group of 55-60 can invest in SCSS, provided they have opted for VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) and the funds are coming from their retirement benefit.

5 Risky Ways

Now we will discuss 5 risky ways of generating income, these options have some risks like fluctuations in your assets pricing and volatility in the income , but for this reason one might end up with much superior returns and high income compared to safe options . It’s suggested for those investors who are more pro investors and are ready to take high risk.

6. SWP from Mutual funds

One can invest in Equity mutual funds or debt mutual funds and opt for a SWP (systematic withdrawal plan) which will liquidate a fixed number of units or portion out of mutual funds and credit it to your bank account. This is reverse of SIP and can be one of the ways of generating an income. Note that SWP might attract exit load if started immediately , so its better to start a SWP after a year or two. Note that the investments in mutual funds might be volatile if it’s a equity mutual funds. If one does not want too much of volatility , better invest in debt funds.

7. Monthly Income plans of Mutual funds

There are mutual funds which are of category Monthly income plans (MIP). These mutual funds have inbuilt structure of providing regular income (not always montly, purely depends on dividend declaration) . These MIP’s can be little volatile as they have a little part in equity also. The dividends are tax-free in hands of investors.

8. Dividends from Equity shares

If you are a stock lover, you can invest in long-term stocks which have good enough dividend paying history. Note that in this way the income is not always guaranteed through dividends, but if you diversify your investments across 10-12 stocks , then you can be assured that there will be regular flow of dividends from some of the other stocks. Also the actual value of your investments can fluctuate as it’s a risky investments . But for people who understand stock markets and are patient with their investments , it can be a good option.

9. Dividend from mutual funds

For those who cannot invest in equity directly ,they can opt for long-term mutual funds with dividend payout option , this will make sure they get a dividend income from mutual funds , but that will happen only once a year . It wont be a monthly payout . One should diversify across 3-4 funds to make sure the dividends are coming from different funds.

10. Rent from Real estate

One can also invest in real estate and generate an income through the rental income. While the value of property will appreciate , one will also get a regular income, but understand that this is high maintenance option and you will have to keep on monitoring your asset. There are risks like not getting good tenants and not getting right tenants for months . It’s best to take a property in the middle of city which would be in demand rather than outskirts .

Which of these options was yours favorite ? Can you suggest more ways of creating regular/irregular income in India

78 replies on this article “10 different ways of generating regular income”

  1. lalit says:

    Hi Manish,

    One can even think of PPF as an option to generate income once initial susbcription of 15 year period is over.

    1. Its PPF is surely one of the options 🙂

  2. astrosunil says:

    I would like to bring out one incident happened in my home town – Hubli banks, where my dad had invested most of his savings. they were giving 14 – 15% interest of FD’s & hence attracted lot of investors. later these banks went bankrupt & acquired later by other banks. the money was stuck & later only principal was given after many years. So the same old principle of diversification also applies when it comes to retirement planning as well. get returns from several sources rather than only one in your retirement period.

    1. Thanks for sharing that Sunil . Its really eye openor for many investors who look for high interest without understanding the risks !

  3. Ramakant Bhosle says:

    Hello Manish,

    Many thanks for your informative articles on Personal finance and Planning. I am retiring this month at the age of 58 years and will get around 40L through PF and Gratuity. Kindly advise me some reliable investment plans in order to get regular monthly income post my retirement (other than income from House Property). Thank you in advance.

    With best regards,
    Ramakant

    1. I think the best thign for you would be Senior Citizen Saving Scheme or Normal Fixed Deposits

  4. Deepak says:

    Hi Manish,

    This article is eye-opener, i am glad that i was able to read this. I am 32 years old & now planning to invest in PPF, intially 60k per year & then increment of 15-20 % per year. In addion to this, i want to get life insurance policy which can give life coverage & some returns post maturity. Please suggest few options.

    Thanks

    1. For life insurance you can go with Aviva or HDFC term plan

      1. Deepak says:

        thank you !

  5. Ramesh says:

    Hello Manish,

    Thanks for your excellent blogs on financial planning. I am retiring this year at the age of 58 years and will get around 35L through PF/Gratuity. Kindly suggest me some good investment plans to get regular monthly income (Approx. 25K) also big chunks of money on other deposits.

    Warm Regards,
    Ramesh

    1. If you want 25k per month and want it to be linked with the inflation (so that you can increase your monthly drawings each year. you would need a good enough amount like 65-75 lacs . Only then in real way you will be able to create a inflation linked pension . The best thing would be a combination of FD’s and rental income !

  6. vimal says:

    once again great article thankyou ..

    i have one doubt regarding real estate ….

    which is more sensible to own a flat or to own an equalent value land or to own a fixed depost at 9 %pa ?

    in my home town kochi…. we have an extra flat value currently stands at 50+ L …
    if we give flat to rent in current circumstances we can get a return of 12,000 – 18,000 tops… proposed metro station is close to it and after 3 years when metro work is done i hope there will be consistant demand and i hope prices will go up …

    is it wiser to sell the flat immediately and invest in POMIS and MIP and mutual fund worth 50L and get 35,000 per month ??

    thanks in advance 🙂

    or is it wise to invest 50 L on property or another upcoming flat who jus started project ?????

    1. If the development plans are there, better go with real estate options

      1. vimal says:

        thankyou bro

  7. Rajendran says:

    Thanks foe the clear and Informative article.

    1. Thanks Rajendran !

  8. Chandra Mohan says:

    Hi Manish wonderful article. Thanks for updating investors knowledge like me. I am in Doha and would like to know if you can suggest Financial Advisor. Thanks Chandra.

    1. Chandra

      there are lot of advisors today .. can you tell me what exactly are you looking for , If you are fine with online financial planning , then we are also one option, you can see what we provide at jagoinvestor.com/services .

  9. sachin says:

    Please tell me best 5 MF for SIP 1000/month in each for next 5 years
    Also best 5 shares for long term investment atleast for 5 yrs i can invest it in lumpsum 1 lac i.e. 20k each.

    please reply

  10. Ankit Ashok says:

    Thanks, helps.

  11. Ankit says:

    Hi Manish

    First up, congrats on your fantastic blog. I must say I have learnt a lot from it.

    I have a seemingly unrelated question here..
    I was looking at the past performance of “DSP Blackrock Top 100 Equity fund” (G). What got me wondering is that I find its performance not too bad relative to most large cap funds. But it has a CRISIL rating of “average buy”. What I want to know is, what is it that they see as trouble with this fund (and hence if I should be wary if this fund “.

    Now the relation to this present post – I am trying to build a portfolio for my parents. In that, I want to keep about 40% in large cap equity fund, for capital appreciation. And rest in debt with monthly interest feature.

    That is all the more reason that I choose a correct large cap fund. Would appreciate any help in this regard

    1. Ankit

      All I would say is dont think too much about ratings here .. ratings is too complicated and involves a lot of factor from the rating agency . Use ratings only as filtering mechanism and not a selection machanism

      Manish

  12. Prashanth says:

    Manish,

    You are doing a great Job. If people follow your investment. They can save themselves a lot of trouble/agony of being fooled by any selfish agent. No agent recommeds Term Plan because it provides the least incentive to them. Keep up the good job. Regular investments is the best and only safe way to create wealth. You can start with as less as Rs.100.

    Prashanth

  13. kc says:

    hi manish
    i want to invest rs 60,000pa to get rebat through section 80c in which should i invest,i m planning one child plan and rs 10,000-15000pa in some tax saver MF.
    kindly advise me

    1. KC

      You can invest in HDFC tax saver fund

      Manish

  14. rajat says:

    Where can i see and compare the performance of all the mutual funds??

    1. Rajat

      Valueresearchonline.com is a good place

      Manish

  15. Niranjan says:

    Hi Manish

    Nice post where you’ve summarised many options that one can resort to for generating regular income. Quite informative, please keep it up.

    I wanted to know which are the options for # 4, long term govt bonds of 25-30 years with half-yearly pay-out. How can one proceed with this, any info on this option, this looks very good post retirement source of income and also guards against interest rates going down too much in future like in developed countries.

    Please advise on investing options for these long term govt bonds > 20 years. thanks

    Niranjan

    1. Niranjan

      there are designated banks and places where you can buy it , read this article a bit : http://www.prlog.org/10085780-want-to-invest-in-indian-government-bonds-learn-more-about-rbi-bonds-and-bond-market-of-india.html

      Also you need to start a conversion in our forum : jagoinvestor.com/forum to know more about this

      manish

  16. shefali says:

    i ve 5 lakh to invest . but i can not invest them in white. where i can invest.

    1. yogesh Mahajan says:

      I planing to invest 50000/- PM for retirement plan, my age is 45 years please suggest plan.

      1. All you should do is put money in Mutual funds.

  17. Rahul says:

    Hi Manish,

    What a blog you have here..& quite a following, I must say.
    Request your comments on my selection of Mutual Funds for SIP investment, starting Dec 2011 onwards. Please suggest if the funds I have shortlisted for SIP are good enough or not recommended…

    I am 29 years old. Plan to invest INR 12K each, in all these funds…

    HDFC TOP 200 FUND- GROWTH Large Cap
    Fidelity Equity Fund (G) Large Cap
    IDFC Premier Equity – A (G) Midcap & Small cap
    SBI Magnum Emerging Busi (G) Midcap & Small cap
    ICICI Discovery Fund Midcap & Small cap
    HDFC EQUITY FUND- GROWTH Multicap
    Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund Infrastructure Fund
    ICICI PRUDENTIAL TECHNOLOGY FUND- GROWTH Technology Fund
    RELIANCE PHARMA FUND- GROWTH Pharmaceuticals
    Reliance Gold ETF Gold
    AIG World Gold Fund (G) Gold

    1. Rahul

      thats too much … Just pick any 3-4 , thats all .. go for

      HDFC Top 200
      IDFC Primier
      Benchmark Gold ETF

      Manish

  18. Raj says:

    Manish,
    You are doing a very good job. Thanks for educating.
    I am planning to put FD, I did some research and found that there are few reputed private banks like Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited give 10.25% for >1yr <2 yrs. After maturity it will not be taxable. If this is true then it will be best option comparing to other investments considering the interest rate. Correct me if I am wrong.
    Raj

    1. Raj

      Interest from FD is always taxable , who told you that its not .

      Manish

  19. raja says:

    hi manish

    i have an uncle retiring with a kitty of 20 lacs.he is looking for rs20000 income monthly (imean like a salary) to support his lifestyle risk free and tax free.what would be ur advice.he want it completley risk free and wants the income to be paid in to his bank monthly just like his salary.

    any suggestions or comments welcome

    1. Raja

      In that case he should do a FD with monthly interest payout . Incase he is more than 60 yrs old, he can also put some money in Serior Citizen Saving scheme .

      Manish

      1. raja says:

        what is Serior Citizen Saving scheme?

  20. Best Credit Card in India says:

    Hi Manish, nice post. I am personally a big fan of positive cash flow investments in real estate. Commercial real estate if picked up diligenlty and rented out, have the potential to put cash in your pocket, in addition to paying out the mortgage for itself. In India, due to the high cost of housing properties and rising interest rates, it is difficult to find such opportunities for apartments. But in commercial, with a little bit of research, one can find such oppotunities.

    1. Yea .. i agree to it .. common man does not even consider or know about this option

      Manish

    2. Abhijit says:

      Great news…any tips to find the right & budget commercial property which can give you returns?

  21. Saurav Sinha says:

    As usual, a very informative article Manish.

    Does dividend payout option in case of SIP in a mutual-fund give same % to all the investors; say 10 guys invest different amount via SIP route in a MF by Dividend payout option & the MF declares x% dividend in 2011, so all these 10 guys will get x%? And the cash received will be based on the no. of units which depends on how long 1 is invested in this MF right?

    1. Saurav

      Yes , all will get x% only , but it will not depend on how long have you been invested , it will only depend on how many units you have , So if I bought just 1 month back and hold 1000 units and you hold 1000 units from last 10 yrs, still we get same dividend . So its declared like 10% dividend , which means 10% of the face value or NFO value , so if NFO price (face value) was Rs 10 , the dividend will be Rs 1 per unit .

  22. sreeram says:

    Hi,

    Can u tell me the ways of investing in G sec..

    Agencies which provide this service..

    Any other material/ links on how to invest in G Sec i India

  23. lokesh says:

    for me as a 25 year guy, i don’t find attractive any of the items listed above, as most of them need initial capital investment.
    however, i have an 11th item
    for age group: 5 to 15: Study
    for age group: 15 to 25: learn
    for age group: 25 to 45 or upto retirement (as per choice): earn regular income by working hard (salary or business) and accumulate (through MF SIP or Recurring deposit)
    for age group post-retirement: put accumulated wealth into regular income plans (listed above by manish)

    So, for me the best regular income plan is WORKING HARD!!!

    1. Lokesh

      Anyways you need a lumpsum investment , no matter what

      Manish

  24. Pearlie says:

    Hi Manish,
    Thanks for the informative post. I have been looking for something my parents can invest in and this post proves very useful 🙂
    Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn’t FMPs also qualify as a good investment option? Also, for schemes such as POMIS, MIP and SCSS, how should investments be made? Can they be done online? Or via a savings/demat account?
    Thanks,
    Pearlie.

    1. Pearlie

      There are atleast 20-30 more ways to create an income apart from these 10 ways , FMP’s are very much in same lines, but i dont think you get FMP with dividend option ,so you need some internal features in those to give you regular income .

      Most of the govt options like POMIS and SCSS needs atleast one round of physical appearance to open up the account

      Manish

  25. Rakesh says:

    Manish,

    Nice post, good explanation. No.7 and 10 are my favorites.
    I also earn from Dividends from Shares and MF but the dividend received is negligible.

    Rakesh

    1. Rakesh

      Did you choose the company based on good dividends record ? Because if you choose them correctly and diversify across 10 stocks, then you should be able to get it on regular basis

      Manish

      1. jazeel says:

        hi, Manish,

        how we can understand what company pay good dividend ? and how to diversify in to 10 stocks ?

        Regards
        Jazeel

        1. You will have to search for it , you can also discuss it here – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/forum/

  26. T S Ashok says:

    Nice Article. Incase if a person invests Rs.15L in POMIS and if he wants to take 1L after 5 years for some expenses like foreign tour.. is it possible?

    1. TS Ashok

      maximum you can invest is 4.5 lacs in POMIS and you can do premature withdrawal

      Manish

    2. lokesh says:

      TA Ashok

      I will advise you to do Bank fixed deposit instead of POMIS:
      1. no limit on deposit amount of fixed deposit (tax implications are there if interest earned p.a. is >10000)
      2. if you need urgent money in future, Post office is not advisable, as post office will give you cheque drawn at nearest S.B.I. which will be credited to your bank account and then you will be able to get cash.
      3. Banks can give you overdraft/demand loan within minutes on your fixed deposits.
      4. with bank you will be able to do RTGS to any bank account in world.

      1. Lokesh

        Just to correct one point . Tax implications are always there in FD , even if you earn Rs 10 , just that TDS is cut above 10,000

        Manish

        1. lokesh says:

          yes, you are correct….

          manish, is there any way, i could know which are today’s comments on any article on this site?

          1. Lokesh

            There is a feed for comments, you can subscribe to it and see it daily : http://feeds.feedburner.com/JagoInvestorComments

            1. lokesh says:

              hurray, i am now everywhere at jagoinvestor now…. thanks for the link…

  27. Srinivas says:

    Informative post.

    The returns can be improved by investing in these through HUF. Accepted, one has to create a HUF and strengthen it beforehand to make use of the same. If done, HUF can imcrease returns by reducing tax outgo.

    1. Srinivas

      Yes, but also note the internal issues which you can face by creating HUF , read all the comments

      Manish

  28. Shobha says:

    Hi Manish,

    Just a thought, for a Rental Income and Risks involved (Commercial Property vs. Residential Property in India) am not able to fine any good data.

    Any Plan of writing an Article around this 🙂

    Regards
    Shobha

    1. Shobha

      Not sure on this … WIll have to look at it . Dont you have any pointers or access to some article on this ?

      Manish

      1. Shobha says:

        Hi Manish,

        Actual most of articles I have read presents return from Real Estate without classifiying it as Residential and Commercial Property returns.

        Hence was just checking from Personal decision Perspective, what would make more sense to buy. If you have any pointers that would be great. 🙂

        Thanks and regards
        shobha

  29. Shobha says:

    Hi Manish,

    Very good article for Indian scenario. Have been seeing some advice for USA Scenario and from Rediff, frugaldad etc. but not too relevant in our scenarios. Thanks.

    Keep up the great work.

    Regards
    shobha

    1. Shobha

      GOod to hear that you liked it from indian perspective. Would like to hear what did you read from US perspective and why it didnt fit Indian scene

      Manish

      1. Shobha says:

        from Indian Perspective we dont have too many Govt, Semi Govt managed schemes like in USA (SS, Roth (IRA), Medicare) etc. Plus our Market returns are still much better.

        So we mostly have to plan for our requirements by relying on Financial advisors, reading and so on. Thanks a lot for your Blog by the way, even with my education in finance I hardly had applicable Financial Knowledge, now I am learning…:-)

        regards
        Shobha

        1. Shobha

          Looking forward for more interactions with oyu . keep readng

          Manish

  30. Manish – Once can also invest in company deposits that are rated higher (eg: Tata Motors NCDs). While the risk of default is not ruled out it is likely that if Tata Motors goes bankrupt their fixed assets will yield the principal back while at the same time the returns are higher than FDs.

    1. Anand

      True … But i guees company FD would be more secure than NCD ,as they might get higher priority while payment incase things go wrong

      Manish

  31. Dharmesh says:

    Hi Manish,
    As usual, a nice and very information article.
    I do agree with Manikaran to consider the tax implication for all 10 options suggested before making a decision.

    Atleast from retirement point of view, I think POMIS & SCSS seems to be the best.

    1. Dharmesh

      Yes .. I agree , but most of the things look very same form tax point of view , at least you can categorise , also it would look different depending on the tax slab of a person .

      Manish

  32. Hi Manish!!

    Nice post once again. Just want to add here is that before opting for any of the above option along with risk, one should also consider the taxation part. Like almost in all the Risky options suggested above the regular income(or not so regular) part is tax free except the rent, and on the other side all the safe investment options give taxable income, which inturn reduces the net amount in hand. this is what I call ” risk in safe Investments”.
    So the main point to note here is zero onto your goal and the amount you need for your monthly requirements and diversify the options depending on safety and taxation.

    1. Manikaran

      Yea true ,. i agree with you ., For simplicity point and because of changing tax scenario , I choose not to add tax element . But a person has to consider the taxation into this .

      The article main focus was to make people aware of different option at first , choosing among them now is a investor choice and he has to do further work 🙂

      Manish

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