For many years, Indian depositors looking for security and stability turned to fixed deposits (FDs). It was common practice to roll over FDs at maturity because it was thought that these investments yielded consistent returns. However, this strategy is being questioned in the current financial environment.
The yields on top bank FDs as of September 2025 range from 6.25% to 7.1%. Since inflation has been between 5.3% and 6%, the actual returns from foreign direct investments have diminished somewhat. The fact that their money isn’t increasing quickly enough to keep up with escalating living expenses is now an unwelcome reality for savers.
Given this changing situation, it is critical to investigate more sensible short- to medium-term options that offer flexibility, stability, and higher yields. Bonds stand out among these as a strong option, particularly investment-grade corporate bonds.
Fixed Deposits More Preferred Investing Domain for Indians
For the duration of the investment period, FDs give a fixed interest rate, unlike stocks or mutual funds. Because of this predictability, you can budget and manage your finances carefully because you know exactly how much your investment will increase. FDs are regarded as investments with less risk. In India, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) provides additional protection, up to a certain maximum, which lessens the risk of losing your main amount.
They are therefore a safe haven for your hard-earned money. Many banks now provide flexible options, but classic FDs lock your money in for a predetermined amount of time. While some FDs can be connected to your savings account for convenient access to a portion of the cash, others permit partial withdrawals throughout the duration. You can obtain credit when you need it by using FDs as collateral for loans.
The duration of FDs might range from a few days to several years. Whether you’re saving for a short-term goal like a trip or a long-term purpose like retirement, this allows you to tailor your investment to your specific needs. The method by which you get interest generated on your FD is up to you. You have the option to reinvest the interest for a compounding effect on your returns or to pick monthly distributions to augment your normal income.
Why FDs are Now Consider Old School
The purchasing value of your money may gradually decline because FD interest rates are often lower than inflation. Particularly for long-term investing objectives when you need your money to grow and keep up with inflation, this is an important consideration.
Conventional FDs limit access to your funds for the selected periodebt mud. Partial withdrawals and linked accounts offer some flexibility, but early withdrawals frequently come with penalties that can drastically lower your total earnings.
Not everyone will find this lack of liquidity acceptable. Interest income from FDs is typically taxable, which affects net returns in contrast to other investment options like Equity-Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS). For investors in higher tax levels, this might be a major disadvantage.
Alternatives to FDs
First off, compared to FDs, debt mutual funds offer a balance between moderate risk and the possibility of higher returns by investing in corporate and government debt instruments. They provide some diversity across various debt instruments and are typically less volatile than stocks.
Second, liquid funds invest in highly liquid assets such as certificates of deposit and treasury bills, making them perfect for emergency funds or short-term investment objectives. They may yield marginally higher returns than conventional savings accounts and enable simple access to your money with few restrictions on redemption.
Thirdly, purchase firm stock, which has the potential to see substantial long-term capital growth. But compared to FDs, equity funds are more volatile by nature and demand a higher level of risk tolerance. To withstand future downturns, investors should have a long investment horizon and be at ease with market swings.
Fourth, Recurring Deposits (RDs) help you develop a discipline and saving habit by enabling you to invest a certain amount of money on a regular basis. They can be an excellent choice for gradually increasing a corpus and frequently offer marginally better interest rates than traditional savings accounts.
Quick
Shots
•Fixed interest rates, various
tenures, compounding options, and use as loan collateral make FDs a reliable
investment.
•Real returns are falling as inflation
(5.3%–6%) erodes purchasing power, making FDs less attractive for long-term
growth.
•Premature withdrawals invite
penalties, and interest income is taxable, reducing net returns.
•Debt Mutual Funds offer higher
returns with moderate risk, diversification, and better inflation-beating
potential.
In the past few years, many online mutual fund investment portals like Niyo Money (Goalwise) and Scripbox have come about which have simplified the process of investing for individuals. This has been mainly beneficial for investors and now gone are the days where people don’t have to go bank branches in order to be able to invest in Online Mutual Funds.
However, before you begin investing, you need to do research on which online mutual fund you want to invest in and think about the purpose of the investment and when you need the money back. Based on that, you need to know how much to invest in equity, how much in debt, and how all of this ties in with your financial goals in life. This article will help you choose a mutual fund platformaccording to your needs.
One of the key advantages of investing in a mutual fund is that each investor (even with a small investment) gets access to professional money management and expertise. Also, it would be very difficult for an investor to create a diversified portfolio of investments on his own with a small amount of money. With mutual funds, each investor participates proportionally in the return the scheme generates.
Each unit gets a proportional share of gain (or bears loss) from the fund. There is a portfolio report generated for each investor, which tracks all investments and the returns generated by the mutual fund. Investors can draw their money any time they want, also they can invest small amount.
Goalwise is an online wealth management platform that allows users to buy and invest in direct mutual funds. Goalwise headquarters is in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Goalwise has been a Subsidiary of Finnew Solutions Private Limited since July 2020. Goalwise has received a total of $1Million in funding. Goalwise main competition is Kuvera, Groww, and ETmoney.
Niyo Solutions acquired Goalwise in July 2020. The company plans to launch international and domestic stocks, Robo-advisory, and auto-invest products in the next few months. Now they have started offering zero commission investment.
It is a new age mutual fund investing platform which provides goal-based investing for investors looking to invest in direct mutual funds. With Goalwise one can easily set up SIPs or invest a large amount in the mutual funds chosen by its algorithms. If someone is a first-time investor looking to get started quickly as well as experienced investors looking for planning and automation.
The Goalwise app has features like automation in fund selection and switching, automation in asset allocation based on the goal time horizon. The app is also highly customization to suit the needs of every individual investor.
Company Name
Goalwise
Headquaters
Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founded On
2015
CEO
Swapnil Bhaskar
Annual Revenue
$1.2M
Sector
Consumer Finance & Credit Cards
Brief on Scripbox
Scripbox is an online platform that allows users to invest in mutual funds. Scripbox is headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The founder and CEO of Scripbox is Atul Shinghal, while the investors including Trusted Insight, Omidyar Network, and Accel Partners. Scripbox’s main competitors are FundsIndia, Fisdom, and Groww.
As of August 2019, Scripbox has 413.9 thousand fans on Facebook and 2.4 thousand followers on Twitter. Scripbox is a user-friendly app-based investment platform that makes investment completely hassle-free. One can start a SIP or make a one-time investment with the help of Scripbox. It is a great app for beginners as it also automates most of the investment process through its scientific and unbiased fund recommendation. It is the only app which has algorithm that reduces Long Term Capital Gain Tax at the time of withdrawal. Scripbox also generates capital gain tax statement that will us male tax return or annual IT return. Also they do not charge for services.
Company Name
Scripbox
Headquaters
Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founded On
2012
CEO
Atul Shinghal
Annual Revenue
$1.5M
Sector
Consumer Finance & Credit Cards
Direct Mutual Fund Investment
The mutual fund investment you do with the help of a broker or financial advisor includes an extra 1% which is paid to the broker or financial advisor. So some mutual fund plans are called regular plans. You should read about the expense ratio to learn how your broker, commission agent and distributor agent, and distributor make money when you invest in mutual funds.
With Goalwise, you will be investing only in direct mutual fund plans and will be earning an extra 1% on your overall investment. Scripbox however has an algorithm that creates a basket of ten mutual funds. The firm claims to make mutual fund investment simple and jargon-free for investors with no financial background. It also allows the customer can keep a check on their portfolio from their mobile or computer.
Types of investments provided by both Goalwise and scripbox
One of the challenges of mutual fund investing is to find the right mutual funds to invest in a lot of them are dependent on friends, network, and information on the web to find the right mutual fund. However, the bigger challenge is to know when to get out of a particular fund. Goalwise has a wide fund selection criteria and also tries to solve this problem by using data to suggest mutual funds.
When it comes to Scripbox it has more than 8000 choices in the market with seasoned investors which will give a tough time in deciding which to invest in. The Scripbox algorithms choose to perform mutual funds basis on their historical performance.
Goal Based Investing
Goal-based investing is one of the smartest ways to grow wealth and achieve all your life goals. A lot of the first time users are not aware of goal-based investing and they then focus on growing their money that is what Goalwise is known for as it is goal-based investing. When you tie up your investment with a goal, you are more likely to be happier.
Scripbox on the other side provides growth with the principle of safety. In scripbox money is first invested in liquid funds. A fixed portion from this is then invested each month in index funds. The benefits of this are:
Security and stability similar to FDs
Better taxation than FDs thanks to indexation
Better returns than FDs
Full flexibility to stop or withdraw anytime
Glide Path Strategy
The glide path formula is a methodology by which asset allocation is achieved as your portfolio changes every time. Let’s understand this with a simple example from Goalwise and Scripbox :
In Goalwise: One of your goals is to have 40 lakh for child education in the next 6 years. Based on your risk profile the initial investment will be 60% equity and 40% in debt instruments. All your SIP will be done to get exposure in the 60:40 ratio in the equity debt market.
By the final year, your exposure on Equity: Debt ratio would be 0:100%. This is to ensure your investment is safe from market volatility and you receive your goal amount, despite the market going down. Goalwise automates this process and makes it easier for you to maintain asset allocation based on your goal time frame.
Whereas at Scripbox they have a practical action plan in place to create your child’s college education fund. In Scripbox it starts out with the right Financial Goal where they will help you estimate the amount you will need for your goals taking inflation into consideration. After that, they will create a customized financial plan for your child’s college education.
This plan will be based on the type of college, start date, your current savings, and the potential increase in your income. It will then make the right investments by deciding on the right mix of investments that are suited for the customer’s goals and their personal preferences.
Ease to us
The best part about Goalwise apart from being free is, it requires only a one-time setup. It is a complete set it and forget it kind of system. You can revisit anytime and make changes if required. However, the best thing to do is to set it up once and keep investing.
With Scripbox it is one click investment where one can choose between SIP (systematic investment plan) and OTI (one-time investment) and invest in the recommended top mutual funds in India with a single click. You can stay on track with your investments and also inform you in case you need to change your selection.
Transfer Plans
In Scripbox if you want to invest a large amount in equity, If you want to invest a large amount in Equity, but also want to reduce the impact of volatility, this plan is ideal for you. Instead of keeping your large amount in your bank account, park it in liquid funds which grow 2-3% faster.
And most importantly it is flexible. You can stop, and restart, your STP at any time. In Scripbox the amount is fully invested into Liquid funds. Then, every month, a certain amount is moved from these Liquid funds into Equity funds.
The transfer plan in Goalwise allows you to switch from regular fund to direct fund. With Goalwise, you could track all your external investments and see which all regular funds you have invested in. You can also move all mutual funds investment to Goalwise.
So you decided to start using Goalwise and also move all your funds from other brokers/distributors to the Goalwise platform, you could do that with just a few clicks. If you ever feel you are stuck with your existing mutual fund advisor, a feature like this makes it easier for anyone to take control of their funds.
FAQ
Are the mutual funds picked by Goalwise and Scripbox always the most profitable ones?
Every fund selection process goes through underperformance. As these services use AI, the pick would be the most accurate one. But the stock market is highly volatile, nothing is predictable. There will be ups and downs in the short term.
What is mutual fund SIP?
A SIP or a Systematic Investment Plan allows an investor to invest a fixed amount regularly in a mutual fund scheme, typically an equity mutual fund scheme.
Which one is better Scripbox or Goalwise?
Goalwise provides you a goal-based investing and it takes no commission. There are no hidden charges and no account opening and managing charges as well. This means it is completely free. Other services like Scripbox use hidden charges to get money. So, Neo Money(Goalwise) is better.
How does wealth tech company make money?
They apply hidden charges, account opening, and managing charges. Also the premium plans.
