Mutual fund investments are extremely popular in India. Statistics show that mutual fund SIP accounts stood at 7.91 crore until January 2024. However, when investors invest in these flexible schemes, they also look to benefit from a tax-saving perspective. ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Scheme) mutual funds constitute a sub-category of equity funds that helps investors do just that.
Stepwise plan to help investors select the best ELSS funds in 2024:
Investors can adopt the following strategic approach to investing in ELSS funds in 2024 to make the most of their mutual fund investments:
• Listing down investment objectives and carrying out a risk assessment: As the first step, investors must list down their investment objectives. It helps to think of investment objectives in one-line assertions: “I wish to plan my retirement” Or “I wish to save for an upcoming vacation”, for example. Next, the investor must analyse their risk-taking capacity and gauge whether they are a conservative or a non-conservative investor with respect to risk.
• Shortlisting ELSS funds and analysing them: Next, the investor must research ELSS funds online and analyse them. The most efficient way to analyse an ELSS fund is by using a mutual fund SIP calculator. Investors can use these free, online tools to calculate their returns at the end of their investment tenure. These calculators can also help investors know their ideal investment amount. After shortlisting a few ELSS funds, investors must compare their expected returns to further narrow down their search.
• Noting down the expenses of investing in each shortlisted ELSS fund: Since ELSS mutual funds charge an expense ratio, investors must also note down the expense ratios charged by each fund in their shortlist. This will help them further narrow down their list and bring it down to two-to-three funds.
• Considering liquidity concerns: Investors should bear in mind that ELSS mutual funds have a three-year-long lock-in period. These funds offer very less liquidity, and investors should be aware of this feature at this stage. They must accordingly decide on their investment amount. It is at this stage that the investor can select the fund of their choice and make the investment.
• Reassessment: After investing, the investor must keep revisiting their ELSS investment to check if it aligns with their larger investment goal(s). If their ELSS investment does not align with their investment goal(s), they must reassess and make changes. An SIP investment calculator can help investors with this too.
In the five-step procedure outlined in this article, the role of online mutual fund returns calculators emerges as being extremely crucial. Investors must make the most of these online tools since they help them plan for their ELSS investments in advance. The utility of these calculators goes beyond helping investors calculate their returns, since they can also be used to assess one’s risk-taking capacity. Investors can enter different values of investment amounts and tenures to assess their own capacity of taking risks through their ELSS investments.
