What is the tax rate applied to EPFO withdrawals when closing the account? Does the duration of employment affect the taxation on the withdrawn amount? Are there any exemptions or conditions under which EPF withdrawal becomes tax-free?

NPS is good for long-term retirement plans as it offers market-linked returns and tax advantages, which makes it a more beneficial option than PPF or EPF as your income goes up.

If you exit NPS before the age of 60, it affects your money. In this situation, you can take out only 20% as cash, which is taxable, and the remaining 80% as annuitizing, which ultimately impacts your overall returns.

Life insurance is very common in India; overall, 30% of Indians have health insurance. In urban areas, it's approximately 78% of people, and in rural areas, it still lags with only 8-10% of coverage.

The penetration (ratio of life insurance premiums collected to the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country) is low, especially when compared to many developed countries. India ranks 25th in global insurance penetration, which is very low.

There is an insurance coverage initiative stated by the Government of India, which is called Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), in 2015, and more than 17 crore people have enrolled for this scheme.

As a long-term investment in gold, SGBs are very beneficial, as they offer a fixed interest rate of 2.5% annually, and tax-free capital gains are at maturity (after 8 years), which is anyway a better option than physical gold.

SGBAnalyzer's alerts are actually very useful for tracking discounts, premiums, price fluctuations, volatile market trends, and many more.

Even without regular income, buying anything with cryptocurrency is considered a taxable event. You have to pay 30% tax on any gains made from crypto transactions.

Yes, any missing or incorrect information can lead to policy denial or even cancellation. If the insurance agent omitted your medication, inform the company immediately and provide all accurate details in writing. Non-disclosure often results in claim denial.

Investing a huge amount of money in FDs is not a good move from an investment point of view, as it offers safety and guaranteed returns but fails to beat inflation (currently around 4–5%) and may increase your tax liability.

To beat the inflation, it's better to diversify your investment into mutual funds (tax efficient, best for long-term wealth), sovereign gold bonds (SGBs), real estate, or government bonds.

Regalia Forex Plus is ideal for frequent travelers, as it has 0% cross-country markup in USD, which makes it more versatile, and you can spend in AED in the UAE with no need to pay an extra fee beyond the initial USD load rate. The multicurrency Forex card is best for travelers going, and it allows loading multiple currencies (including AED).

So for your UAE trip, I suggest using the Multicurrency card loaded directly with AED might be more straightforward, as you'd lock in the AED rate.

When you use your car for personal purposes or for commuting to/from the office, you are not eligible for any kind of tax benefits.

However, salaried workers in India are eligible to claim tax benefits on a company-leased car, including EMIs and maintenance.

In my opinion, HDFC Millennia offers excellent cashback on online purchases and dining discounts as compared to YES Bank cards, which provide decent cashback with lounge access facilities. HDFC Millennia is basically used by frequent online shopping lovers, and Infinia might already cover premium benefits. BizGrow is for business expenses.

To avoid any kinds of scams, always use reputable platform exchanges like CoinDCX, Binance, or CoinSwitch for USDT purchases via debit/credit cards.

Next, send money to a certified Indian exchange using an exchange wallet or on-chain. Always activate 2FA and confirm the recipient's information.

It gives you a ₹5K pension definitely after you cross 60. It gives you fixed returns, which makes it a suitable option for low-income and unorganized sector workers. It is a government-backed scheme, so it is safe to invest in APY.

Yes, it is taxable since it’s a gift over ₹50,000 from a non-relative. When you convert USDT to Indian rupees, any profit made is taxed at 30% as capital gains under crypto tax rules, plus an additional 4% in fees, as per Indian crypto tax rules.

You can start your investment journey through Zerodha, Groww, Angel One, 5paisa, and ICICIdirect; all of these platforms allow you to buy and sell listed InvIT units just like regular shares. InvIT investments and comparisons are also made easier by the Tata Capital Moneyfy platform.

Groww, Zerodha Coin, ET Money and INDmoney are some great apps that you can use. They have user-friendly interfaces, and these support weekly and monthly SIPs. No Demat account is required.

CRED, BharatPe, and PhonePe are some apps that allow you to manage multiple bank accounts. All these apps follow RBI regulations and are user-friendly.

Contact HDFC Bank customer care, and explain this issue with them.

Yes, Bitcoin can be a beneficial option for a faster and potentially cheaper international transfer to India, and it can bypass the traditional banks and Western Union.

The Indian government still does not regulate Bitcoin because of its volatility and uncertainty in this market. So for now it's still not possible to fully replace the banks' system.

FD offers tax benefits under Section 80C, which allows deductions of up to ₹1.5 lakh. SBI and HDFC banks offer a 5-year lock-in facility. The current interest rate is 5.5% to 7.7%.

So in your case, the interest earned annually on ₹50,000 is fully taxable according to your income tax slab.

You can either use the MakeMyTrip or Skyscanner platforms so that you can compare the flight prices. I would suggest booking the tickets in advance to get the best offers for your trip.

SBI PRIME offers lounge access, Amazon ICICI has cashback on travel bookings, and HDFC Infinia offers low forex markup and lounge benefits.