FY 2026-27 just started. Your ₹1.5 lakh Section 80C limit has reset to zero. If you wait until March to invest, you will either rush into the wrong product or miss out on 11 months of compounding. Here is a plain-language guide to choosing between ELSS, PPF, and NPS — so you can decide today, not in a panic next February. Why April Is the Best Month to Start Tax-Saving Investments Most Indians do their tax-saving in a frantic rush every February and March. They stuff money into whatever their bank executive recommends and hope for the best. This is not a plan. It is panic. Here is what happens when you start in April instead. If you invest ₹12,500 every month in an ELSS fund from April, your money works for a full 12 months before the financial year ends. The same investment made in a lump sum in March gets only one month of market exposure. Over 10 years, that difference compounds into lakhs. According to SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), ELSS mutua...
Stocks, SIPs, IPOs — everyone around you seems to be investing. But if you are a complete beginner, your very first step is opening a Demat account. And most people open the wrong one, only to realise it later when the charges pile up or the app frustrates them. Here is what you actually need to check before you click that "Open Account" button. What Exactly Is a Demat Account? Think of a Demat account like a bank locker but for your shares and investments instead of cash or gold. "Demat" is short for "Dematerialised," which simply means that your shares are stored electronically instead of as physical paper certificates. When you buy a share of Reliance, TCS, or any company listed on the stock exchange, that share does not come to you in paper form. It gets stored digitally in your Demat account. When you sell it, it gets debited (removed) from your account. Simple as that. As per SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India India's stock...