Features of Swavalamban Pension Scheme

• This pension scheme now falls under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana. PMJDY has created a new record as under this scheme maximum number of accounts were opened in a single given day. Most importantly PMJDY offers loads of benefits for poor section of India especially living in rural and remote areas where access to banking was a distant dream.
• Government of India will fund from the grants received
• Target audience: Farmers, wage workers and self employed

Benefits

• Every year Indian Government will make a contribution of Rs. 1000 into the account of NPS account opened between the year 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014
• Post retirement account holder will receive regular pension
• Longer the person invests in the scheme higher is the pension amount received

Now subscribers of this scheme will be automatically migrated to Atal Pension Yojana unless they opt-out.

Eligibility Criteria

• All Indian citizens falling under the category of unorganised sector aged between 18-55 years can apply
• It is only for those who join NPS which is administered by PFRDA
• Minimum annual contribution should be Rs. 1000 and maximum Rs. 12,000

Where is the money invested and is it risky

Accumulated money is invested in Government securities, corporate bonds and equities. However portion of money invested in equities is very small (15%) so the risk of losing money is very low compared to other investment products.

Return on Investment

RoI in Swavalamban pension scheme is not fixed unlike FD, PPF, NSC etc. since these investment products offer fixed interest whereas in case of Swavalamban returns are not fixed as they are directly linked to the market conditions.

What is Unorganized sector

• If a person is not a regular employee of central or state government
• Person does not fall under social security scheme.