Step-up strategy
Starting with a lower contribution and raising it by a fixed percentage every year, so that savings rise with income instead of being postponed until income rises.
This one is not written up yet
The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.
Written up from the same chapter
- Accumulation stageThe working years, in which saving and investment build the retirement corpus — the stage where the ability to take risk is highest and where time, not contribution size, does most of the work.
- Distribution stageThe retired years, in which the corpus built during working life is converted into periodic income — the stage where protecting capital matters more than growing it, because it can no longer be topped up.
- Five-year service testThe rule that makes an EPF withdrawal tax-free: complete five consecutive years of service and the balance is exempt; withdraw before that and it is taxable, with two exceptions.
- InflationA sustained general rise in the price level, which erodes what a rupee buys — and the reason a nominal return has to be deflated before it means anything.
- Permanent Retirement Account NumberThe unique account number issued when an NPS account is opened; it stays with the subscriber for life and across employers, which is what makes NPS portable in a way EPF historically was not.
- PMT functionThe spreadsheet function that converts a target corpus into the fixed periodic saving needed to reach it — the arithmetic behind every "how much should I invest a month" answer.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series X-B← All terms