How many years will it take to accumulate  1 crore by investing in PPF and EPF?
Ever wondered how much time it will take you to accumulate 1 crore by investing either in Public Provident Fund (PPF) or Employee Provident Fund (EPF). If the contribution is the same towards both, you could reach the 1 crore corpus faster with PPF even if EPF offers higher interest rates. An individual can invest up to 1.5 lakh in PPF each year, and it offers an interest rate of 7.1%, the lowest in over 40 years. Let's look at how many years it will take to reach a corpus of 1 core through PPF. As the interest rates are not constant for both, let's look at the calculations based on the recent rates. If you invest 1.5 lakh this year and keep adding the same amount every year, it will take around 25 years to accumulate a corpus of 1 crore at an average 7.1% interest rate. Things work a little different when it comes to EPF. In this scheme, there is no cap on investments - it's a function of salary. As your basic salary grows, so will your investments towards EPF. According to reports, employees' EPF investment for the last financial year will fetch 8.5%. Suppose an employee has a basic monthly income of 50,000. The contribution towards EPF will be 72,000 a year by each employee and employer, which is 12% of the basic income for each. However, while the entire 72,000 will go towards investment from the employee's contribution, the same is not true for the employer. Of the employer's contribution, 8.33% will go towards the Employee's Pension Scheme, and only 3.67% will go towards investment. So, the employer's contribution will be 22,020 a year. If the interest rate and contribution remain the same throughout an individual's career, it will take over 28 years to build a corpus of 1 crore. Send them to mintmoney@livemint.com and get them answered by industry experts)  Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.