A good investment is one that grows your money (capital appreciation) as well as provides tax savings for the investor.
Today we shall illustrate how an investor can get effective returns (tax savings + capital growth) by making full use of both ELSS (Equity-Linked Savings Scheme) as well as RGESS (Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme) in the FY 2012-13 by a 30 year-old male.

Illustration:

For FY 2012-13 (AY 2013-14), a 30-year old male makes the following lump suminvestment, for the purpose of tax savings.
ELSS - INR 1 Lakh;
RGESS - INR 50,000
Total investment made: INR 1.5 Lakhs in FY 2012-13
Investment Term: 5 Years
Average return on investment assumed: 10% p.a.
The Effective Return and Tax Savings are given below:

RGESS not available for individuals in 30% tax bracket;
^ Average return on investment assumed: 10% p.a;
CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) is the rate at which an investment would grow if it grew at a steady rate (in our case, 10% p.a.).

Risks involved:

ELSS and RGESS returns are linked to market returns. So there will be a market risk which cannot be avoided, but high risk also comes with chances of higher returns and chances on benefits in future are quite high when a longer term horizon is considered.

Conclusion:

For FY 2012-13 both ELSS and RGESS would be available for investing and an individual looking for long-term savings can make optimum use of the same.

If you have to choose among the 2 schemes - then ELSS proves to be a better investment in terms of tax savings as well as ease of investment. The mode of investment for RGESS is yet to be announced by the Central Government.

InvestmentYogi.com