Investment Plans For Long-Term In India | Top Investment Options In India

`Nowadays, we all desire to experience pleasure without delay. Further, lack of patience leads to consequences. Perseverance is always essential because there are plans and projects which require a great deal of effort and endurance. Further, we need to remain calm to develop our best capabilities by time. This is true even for investments. We always have greed to earn the highest return in the shortest possible time. 

We are in search of the highest return in the shortest possible time. That’s why we look for investment plans, so that we can benefit from them. One of the best ways possible to secure a financial future is to invest. And the bestest way is to invest over a long term. It has always been tempting to chase quick returns from the long term approach. But it is more important to focus on investing for the long term while sticking to your game plan. 

Investors today have many ways to invest money and they choose a level of risk which they are willing to meet their needs. There are always some specific investment plans that help to multiply money, finding investing products can be tricky. Plus, it takes longer than you think to yield desired results. Therefore, you need to successfully grow your wealth. There is only one way to select the best investment plans for a portfolio which is to divide financial goals into buckets: long-term, medium-term and short-term.  

By doing this you can get ideas about time to achieve goals. After this, you need to choose among available options as per your risk. Most importantly, you need to create the best investment plan for yourself.  

Best Investment Plans For Long-Term

Long-term goals need to be picked carefully for best investment plans.You need to go for options which are volatile but they need to have potential to deliver high returns over the long term. 

Direct Equity

One of the best ways is possible to create wealth for long -term goals so that you can invest in equities. 

There are always many examples of stocks which have multiplied investors wealth over time. For example, Indian non-banking financial company bajaj finance delivered an annualised return over 41% in the last 15 years. 

You can put this return in perspective, investment of Rs. 10,000  in Bajaj Finance in Jan 2007 it would become more than Rs. 18 lakh in Jan 2022. It means your investments would have grown x number of times. 

There are so many stocks like the Bajaj brand that have emerged as long-time wealth creators for investors. 

But at the same time, there are many companies which turned out to be wealth- destroyers. Take, for example, Reliance Communications. Its stock prices tanked from 98-99% from their peak in January 2008. And investors in stocks have witnessed an erosion of wealth using these wealth destroyers stocks. 

To sum up, stocks have more potential to multiply money in the long term, the risks of investing in stocks are so significant. 

You can invest directly in stocks of companies. But the real challenge can be to find the right stocks. And there are numerous stocks that are listed on Indian Stock Exchanges, but picking the right stocks is certainly an uphill task. 

Equity Mutual Funds 

One way to reduce risk of avoiding wealth-destroyers is to take professional help and diversify investments across multiple stocks. This is where an equity mutual fund comes into picture. 

Equity Mutual Funds primarily invest in stocks. But, unfortunately you don’t concentrate your money on just 1 and 2 stocks. These funds diversify investments across multiple stocks. 

More importantly, professional fund managers run funds, so that they can invest money only after adequate research. As a result, it can increase your chance of earning good returns. 

Real Estate

It is one of the most popular investment options among indians. Nevertheless, while property investments have delivered stunning returns in the past, it has its own set of risks and limitations. 

One of the major risks with real estate is that you can’t sell it in a short period. And in a rush to sell property, you have to sell at a deep discount.  

Further, even if the money you need is smaller than the property, you will need to sell the entire property to get the money. 

Gold 

Gold is respected throughout the world because of its value and rich history. It has been blended closely into cultures for thousands of years.

Throughout centuries people have continued to hold for various reasons. Societies and economies placed value on gold, conserving its worth. It’s the metal that we fall back on when other forms of currency don’t work,it means it always has some value as insurance against tough times. 

Gold has been a historically important hedge against inflation. Because its price tends to rise when cost of living increases.

Investors have seen gold prices take off and the stock market fail during high-inflation years. It is because when command currency loses its purchasing power to inflation, gold tends to be priced in those currency units and thus it tends to arise along with everything else. 

NPS (National Pension System)

It is a good scheme for anyone who wants to plan their retirement early and has a very low-risk appetite. A regular income in your retirement years will be a timely benefit. Especially for those who retire from private-sector jobs. 

A systematic investment like this is a massive difference in your life post-retirement. In fact, salaried people who want to make most of the 80C can also consider this scheme. 

Benefits of NPS:

  • Returns/Interest 
  • Risk Assessment 
  • Tax efficiency 

ULIP 

A ULIP (Unit-Linked Insurance Plan) is the combination of investment and insurance. Within this plan, they can make premium payments annually or monthly. One part of the premium amount is to provide a life insurance cover and remaining sum that is invested.  

In these plans, investments are subjected to risks associated with the capital market. The policy holders bear the investment risk on his/her investment portfolio. Hence, it is recommended to make an investment choice basis that needs with risk appetite. 

Best Investment Plan for Medium Term 

Medium-term goals are those goals which are 3-5 years away. For example, medium-term goals can be saving for wedding, downpayment of house, house renovation etc. For such medium-term financial goals, you need investment options which can beat inflation by a decent margin, and at the same time, they should not be volatile. Here are some investment options which can fulfil your medium-term financial goals.  

National Savings Certificates (NSC)

National Savings Certificate or NSC is a fixed income investment scheme which you can open with any post office branch. The scheme is a saving bond that encourages subscribers mainly small to mid investors to invest while saving on tax. A fixed income instrument like post office FD is a low risk fixed income product. 

Post Office Time Deposit 

Under small saving schemes, it offers post office time deposit or National Saving Time Deposit Account. It is similar to a bank fixed deposit with few elemental differences. 

Individuals can open time deposit account by visiting the nearest post office or by using the official website or india post app.

Debt Funds for Medium Term

Medium Duration Funds are also known as Debt Funds that lend to quality companies for 3 or more years. The longer tenure loans means these fund returns are subject to the interest rate changes that borrowing companies undergo due to positive or negative economic cycles over time. 

Stock Funds

 

A fund is a collection of stocks by specified themes or categorization such as american stocks or large stocks. A fund company charges a fee for this product but it can be low.


For example, if you buy a stock fund – either ETF or mutual fund, it can be a great option. A stock fund is an excellent choice for an inventor who wants to be more aggressive by using stocks but doesn’t have time to make investing a full time hobby.
 

Dividend Stocks 

When growth stocks are sport cars of the stock market world, dividend stocks are sedan cars – they can achieve solid returns but they are not likely to speed higher as fast as growth stocks. 

A dividend stock is simply that pays a dividend — a regular cash payout. Many stocks offer dividends, but they are more typically found among older, more mature companies that have a lesser need for cash. 

Dividend stocks are popular among old investors because they produce a regular income and best stocks grow over time. So, you can earn more than you would with a fixed payout bond. 

Dividend stocks are popular among old investors because they produce a regular income, and the best stock that grows over time. So you can earn more than you would with a fixed payout of a bond. 

Dividend stocks are good for long-term and hold investors, especially for those who want less volatility who enjoy or need a cash payout. 

While dividend stocks are less volatile than growth stocks, don’t assume they don’t rise and fall significantly, especially when the stock market enters a rough period.  

However a dividend-paying company is usually more mature to provide money and more established than a growth company. So it’s generally considered to be safer. 

If a dividend-paying company doesn’t earn enough to pay its dividend, it will cut its payout and its stock may dive as a result.  

How To Find The Best Investment Plan?

To achieve your goals, you need to carefully build a portfolio of multiple investment products based on your risk profile, investment horizon and return expectations. 

Long-term investments give you the opportunity to earn more than you can from short-term investments. The catch is that you have to take a long-term perspective and you don’t have to be scared out of the market because investment has fallen or because you want to sell for a quick profit. 

And by focusing on the long term — committing not to sell your investments as market dips – you’ll avoid the short-term noise that crashes many investors. 

Investing for the long term means you don’t need to focus on the market all the time the way short-term traders do. You can invest your money regularly on autopilot and spend time on things that really work rather than worrying about market’s moves. 

Bottom Line 

Investing leads you to create wealth for over a long time. But the first step is to learn to think long term, and avoid the market’s daily ups and downs.  

You can invest in any of the above mentioned investment plans/schemes for long-term wealth development. Before you start investing, it is always important to seek advice from a financial expert which helps you to maintain your financial portfolio. You can always search online, or go through market statistics, check historic returns, and also read about other investors’ experiences to come to an end for conclusion. This way you can be able to make informed investments and can get help to meet your financial goals in the short term.