It’s that time of the yearwhen you receive your Diwali bonus, and withfestive season offers and discounts filling up the market, you may be tempted to go on a shopping spree. While the temptation to shop smart is always around the corner, consider investing your bonus in an instrument like a fixed deposit to grow your wealth steadily. FDs provide a safe environment and promise guaranteed returns, two qualitiesthat are key to buildingwealth. To know how you can maximise your gains by investing your Diwali bonus in an FD, read on.

Pick a reputed issuer offering competitive interest rates

Before investing, compare issuers and shortlist ones that offer attractive returns and an array of lucrative features. For instance, leading financial institutions like Bajaj Finance offer good interest rates that help you accumulate wealth and fulfil your goalson time, alongside a range of otherbenefits. The Bajaj Finance Fixed Depositalso offers a 0.10% additionalinterest rate on FD renewal.

While it’s true that your proceeds increase in tandem with your deposit amount, you can invest even a part of your bonus, if not all of it, as Bajaj Finance allows you to start an FD with just Rs.25,000. Further, to help you forecast your earnings, the NBFC also provides an online FD calculator. Once you enter your investment amount and tenor, it displays your proceedsbased on your customer profile.

To understand better, the following shows how much you will earn when you invest Rs.1 lakhand Rs.5 lakh in aBajaj Finance Fixed Depositfor 5 years.

• As a new customer
   

• As an existing customer
   

Apart from noting your gains,also remember that FDs are immune to market risks and that Bajaj FinanceFDscarry high stability ratings, MAAA and FAAA from ICRA and CRISIL, respectively. Bajaj Finance is also the only NBFC with an international rating of BBB by S&P Global. These ratings speak for the safety of your Diwali bonus, and is the reason why over 2.5 lakh customers have helped create Bajaj Finance’s total book size of over Rs.17,000 crore.

Select a profitable tenor and align your investment to your goals

You can plan for liquidity effectively by investing fora 12 to 60 month tenor, as per your needs. While doing so, be aware that FD interest rates with many issuers, Bajaj Finance included, peak when the tenor length is 36 months or more. So, invest for a longer duration to benefit from both, compound interest and a higher rate.

Considering you are a new customer, here is a table illustrating your returns when you invest Rs.1 lakh with Bajaj Finance for varied tenors.

Decide on a payout frequency after assessing your monetary needs

While your returns are higher when you opt for interest payouts at maturity, you can sign up for regular payouts if you have to finance recurring expenses. Both options are advantageous, and while a payout at maturity ensures a bountiful corpus, regular payouts offer constant liquidity. Consider the tables below to know the difference between the two.

Deposit: Rs.1 lakh

Tenor: 5 years

• Payouts at maturity only

Deposit: Rs.1 lakh

From the above tables, it is clear that if you opt for a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly payout option, you earn Rs.9,069, Rs.8,829, Rs.8,429, and Rs.7,579 less than what you would have earned with payouts at maturity only. So,assess your needs wisely before choosing the payout option.

Avail attractive features and maximise your returns

Premature withdrawals are detrimental to your returns, and to avoidthis, you canmake use of the alternatives provided by Bajaj Finance.The issuer offers a convenient Loan against Fixed Deposit of up to Rs.4 lakh,which you can use to address your urgent needs without liquidating your investment. Furthermore, the NBFC offers amulti-deposit facility, using which you can invest in as many as 3 or 5 FDs using a single cheque. Opt for this facility to choose different tenors, amounts and payout frequencies for each of your deposits. Moreover, you canwithdraw from one deposit prematurely, in case of an emergency, without breaking the other FDs.

You can also avail the convenient auto-renewal facility at the time of opening your FD. Here your investment gets reinvested automatically upon maturity. This way you can invest for a long-term and earn renewal bonuses along the way as too. To kickstart your investment without further ado, all you have to do is fill an online form and authorise a representative to get in touch with you.