Investment Guidelines & Disclaimer
India's regulatory framework, risk disclosures, and how to use our tools responsibly.
Updated October 2026
1. Our regulatory position
In India, investment advice is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013. A SEBI-registered investment adviser is allowed to give personal advice that takes your risk profile, income, goals and tax position into account.
What FinPlann is
- Financial planning software.
- Calculators for projections and scenarios.
- An educational and information site.
- A workflow tool for advisers and their clients.
What FinPlann is not
- A SEBI-registered investment adviser.
- A SEBI-registered stockbroker.
- An AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor.
- A portfolio management service (PMS).
- A licensed insurance or tax adviser.
So nothing FinPlann shows should be treated as personal investment advice. For personal advice, go to a registered, qualified professional.
2. How our tools work
Our calculators use standard financial maths. Each one has limits worth knowing.
| Tool | How it works, and what it can't show |
|---|---|
| SIP calculator | Compound growth at the fixed yearly return you choose. Real fund NAVs move with the market. |
| SWP calculator | How long a corpus lasts at a fixed withdrawal and return. It doesn't model a run of bad years early on (sequence-of-returns risk). |
| NPS calculator | Compound growth plus the exit and annuity rules. Real returns depend on your pension fund manager and asset mix. |
| Home loan EMI | The standard reducing-balance EMI formula. Your actual EMI can differ because of processing fees, GST and rate resets on floating loans. |
| Health cover | A suggested cover based on age, city and family size. Premiums and eligibility depend on each insurer's underwriting. |
| Financial planner | Brings your income, expenses, investments and goals together. Projections use the return rates you enter. |
3. Understanding investment risk in India
Every type of investment carries a different mix of risk and return. Roughly, from lowest to highest risk:
| Investment | Risk |
|---|---|
| PPF, EPF, Sukanya Samriddhi | Lowest: government-backed |
| Bank FDs and RDs | Very low |
| Debt mutual funds | Low to moderate: interest-rate and credit risk |
| Hybrid mutual funds | Moderate: depends on the equity share |
| Large-cap equity funds | Moderately high |
| Mid- and small-cap equity funds | High |
Government schemes: PPF, EPF, NPS, Sukanya Samriddhi
PPF: 15-year term, backed by the Government of India. Interest and maturity are tax-free. The rate is reset every quarter.
EPF: mandatory for new joiners earning up to ₹25,000 a month in covered workplaces (₹15,000 before 17 September 2026). EPFO declares the rate each year. Partial withdrawals are allowed for specific needs.
NPS: a market-linked pension account. At normal exit, non-government subscribers can take up to 80% as a lump sum and must use at least 20% to buy an annuity (PFRDA rules from December 2025); government subscribers must annuitise at least 40%. Only 60% of the corpus is tax-free. In the old tax regime there's an extra ₹50,000 deduction under section 124(3) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly 80CCD(1B)).
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: for a girl up to age 10, maturing 21 years after the account opens. Government-backed and tax-free.
Risk note: PPF and Sukanya rates are reset periodically, so today's rate isn't guaranteed for the whole term.
Mutual funds: equity, debt, hybrid, ELSS
Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing.
Equity funds (large, mid, small, flexi-cap, sectoral): returns follow the market. SEBI's riskometer rates them from moderately high to very high risk.
Debt funds: carry interest-rate risk and credit risk. Short-duration funds are lower risk; credit-risk and long-duration funds are higher.
Hybrid funds: a mix of equity and debt; the risk depends on how much is in equity.
ELSS: equity funds with a 3-year lock-in, so market risk applies. In the old tax regime, investments count towards the ₹1.5 lakh deduction under section 123 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly 80C).
Costs: expense ratios and exit loads reduce your returns. Direct plans cost less than regular plans.
Insurance: life, health, ULIPs
Term insurance: pure life cover with no maturity value, regulated by IRDAI. Compare insurers' claim settlement ratios.
Health insurance: policies have waiting periods, sub-limits and exclusions. Hospital costs in India have been rising faster than general inflation, so review your cover regularly.
ULIPs: combine insurance and investment, usually with higher charges than a mutual fund. Returns are market-linked and not guaranteed.
Guideline: most planners recommend keeping insurance and investment separate.
Property, gold and alternatives
Property: illiquid with a large ticket size; returns depend on location and timing. REITs give listed, easier-to-sell exposure.
Gold: often held as a hedge against a falling rupee. No new Sovereign Gold Bonds have been issued since February 2024; existing bonds trade thinly on NSE and BSE. Gold ETFs and gold funds are the usual routes now.
Alternatives: InvITs are SEBI-regulated listed trusts. P2P lending platforms are RBI-regulated, but the loans can default. Crypto isn't regulated as an investment in India; gains are taxed at 30% with 1% TDS on transfers. Keep any allocation here small.
4. Tax on investment gains
The Income-tax Act, 2025 has applied since 1 April 2026; it renumbered the sections but kept these capital gains rates. Rules change with Union Budgets, so check with a chartered accountant for your situation.
| Investment | Short term | Long term |
|---|---|---|
| Equity funds and listed shares | 20%, if held up to 12 months | 12.5% on gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year |
| Funds with more than 65% in debt | Your slab rate, however long you hold (units bought before 1 April 2023: 12.5% after 24 months) | |
| Funds with 35–65% in equity, and gold or international funds of funds | Slab rate, up to 24 months | 12.5% after 24 months |
| Listed gold, silver and international ETFs | Slab rate, up to 12 months | 12.5% after 12 months |
| Physical gold | Slab rate, up to 24 months | 12.5% after 24 months |
| Property | Slab rate, up to 24 months | 12.5% after 24 months, no indexation (resident individuals can choose 20% with indexation on property bought before 23 July 2024) |
| Sovereign Gold Bonds | Slab rate, up to 12 months | 12.5% after 12 months; tax-free at maturity only for original subscribers |
| PPF, EPF, Sukanya Samriddhi | Interest and maturity tax-free (EPF interest on your own contributions above ₹2.5 lakh a year is taxable) | |
Rates apply to units and assets sold from 1 April 2025, and exclude surcharge and cess. Most of our projections show returns before tax; a few calculators, such as SWP, Gold SIP and NRI Property Sale, estimate the tax for you.
5. Your rights as an investor
Under SEBI's investor charters, when you deal with registered intermediaries you can expect to:
- Invest only through SEBI-, AMFI- or IRDAI-registered intermediaries, and check their registration.
- Get a signed agreement from an investment adviser that discloses fees, risks and conflicts of interest.
- Have your risk profile and the suitability of any advice assessed before you're advised.
- Receive regular account statements and portfolio reports.
- Raise a complaint on SEBI's SCORES portal if a registered intermediary doesn't resolve it.
- Take an unresolved dispute to SEBI's online dispute resolution platform, SMART ODR.
Useful links: SEBI · SEBI SCORES · SMART ODR · AMFI
6. When to see a registered professional
Use FinPlann to plan scenarios and understand the ideas. See a registered professional when you're:
- Making a large first investment.
- Choosing between products, such as a ULIP or a mutual fund, or NPS or PPF.
- Planning retirement income, an inheritance or how your estate is passed on.
- Dealing with complex tax: business income, large capital gains or foreign income.
- Investing as an NRI, where FEMA, TDS and tax-treaty (DTAA) rules apply.
- Going through a big life change: marriage, a child, a new job or an inheritance.
7. Standard mutual fund disclaimer
Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing.
Past performance doesn't indicate future results. A scheme's NAV can rise or fall with the securities market. FinPlann is not an AMFI-registered distributor or a SEBI-registered investment adviser; our calculators are mathematical tools, and no product recommendation is implied.