Ask ET Mutual Funds: Suggest me some good ELSSs and NPS funds

I am a first-time investor in mutual funds. I have been hearing a lot about ELSS of late. Can you suggest any good funds? I can set aside around Rs 10,000 per month for the next five years. Also, if any suggestion on NPS.
--Shivani Gupta

Investments in Equity Linked Savings Schemes or ELSS (they are also called tax saving or tax planning mutual fund schemes) qualify for a tax deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. If you are looking to save taxes under Section 80C, you can consider investing in them. Here is a list of tax planning mutual fund schemes recommended by our analyst.

If you are not looking to save taxes under Section 80C, you can consider investing in one of these SIP portfolios based on your risk profile.

If you are looking for a government-backed pension scheme, you can invest in NPS. However, you should invest only if you are looking to continue with it your retirement. You can only withdraw 20 per cent of the corpus before 60 years and you must buy annuity with 80 per cent of the corpus. You can withdraw 40 per cent of the corpus tax-free on retirement at 60, and the rest of the corpus can be used to buy an annuity or use 40 per cent of the corpus to buy an annuity and withdraw 20 per cent of the corpus after paying taxes. You have three investment options available under NPS. Choose an option that matches your risk profile.



(If you have any mutual fund queries, message ET Mutual Funds on Facebook. We will get it answered by our panel of experts.)