Gold

Gold coins and gold ETFs have yielded returns of more than 20 per cent, since the start of the year. 24K carat gold, which was around Rs 25,000 at the start of the year, is now at Rs 30,000. A superb asset class for returns this year.

Company fixed deposits

At the start of the year, many company fixed deposits were offering an interest rate of near 9-9.2 per cent.

This is solid well managed companies

Sukanya Samriddhi

For the first three months, the interest rate on the Sukanya Samrdhi Account was as much as 9.20 per cent, it has dropped in the subsequent 3 months to 8.6 per cent, taking the average returns to 8.90 per cent tax free returns for the first six months of the year 2016. 

Senior Citizens Saving Scheme

At the beginning of the year the Senior Citizens Saving Scheme was offering an interest rate of 9.3 percent.

It has now dropped to 8.6 per cent, taking the average return to 8.95 per cent per annum.

PPF

Prior to April 1, 2016, the PPF was offering an interest rate of 8.60 per cent. The same has now dropped to 8.10 per cent, taking the average returns to around 8.35 per cent. The post tax yields are very high considering that interest is tax free

Kissan Vikas Patra

With interest rate at 8.67 per cent at the start of the year, the Kissan Vikas Patra has also yielded good returns.

This is much better than most bank deposits.

Bank Deposits

Bank deposits have probably not done as good as the others and the interest income is also taxed. Interest rates at the start of the year were hovering around 8 per cent and have dropped further to 7.5 per cent.