Guide to understanding the best investment plan for monthly income in India

Investors are often confused about how they should balance their investments. Which will be better, a short-term monthly return or a long-term with end maturity that prepares them for retirement years? 

Short-term monthly return investments are a supportive income source. Most monthly income schemes accrue returns after a few years of paying premiums or at the term end. You earn and invest.  

If you are investing in monthly income schemes, a few factors should be checked. 

• Financial goals
• Appetite for high-risk, medium-risk, or low-risk
• Investment horizon, the length of time you want to hold the investment portfolio

How to plan the best investment for a monthly income

Investing in traditional monthly income sources like fixed deposits and recurring deposits is the popular choice. Individuals between the age bracket of 25-30 years and upwards who are prepared to invest ?10,000 to create monthly income options can benefit from these mixed alternative investment ideas. 

Monthly Income Plan (MIP) Mutual Funds

This is the most popular investment that has helped investors create significant wealth if they can sustain the risks in the long run. The short and medium returns are comparable to traditional investments like fixed deposits and recurring deposits. MIP is a debt and equity security investment, that assures cash flow while keeping the capital intact. ‘Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal Plan’ IDCW has the option of income at regular intervals rather than reinvesting the profit. So theoretically you can earn regularly from this scheme. However, the reliability factor of this scheme is quite low as fund managers declare distribution only when distributed surplus is accumulated in the scheme. That can be either quarterly, half-yearly or annually. So, if the fund fails to accumulate a surplus it will not declare any distribution. This scheme does not guarantee payments and regular income.

Monthly Income Using SWP

Systematic Withdrawal Plans (SWP) have emerged as better regular income schemes through mutual funds. You can remove a part of the money periodically from mutual funds. By fixing a particular date and amount to be withdrawn, the amount will enter in your account on a monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly basis, depending on your preference. You can also withdraw gains without touching the invested capital. In SWP plans, the unit balance reduces over time. If the appreciation in Net Asset Value (NAV) is higher than the withdrawal rate, the investment value rises. But the effects of falling NAV can be just the opposite. The only assurance is regardless of the NAV of the mutual fund scheme, as an investor you can enjoy regular returns till the chosen term-end.  

Corporate bonds

These are low-risk inflation-beating, short-term wealth-building assets and debt securities. These bonds are issued by companies and the government to build their corpus. In return, investors earn interest payments on the invested sum. This bond is for a short period and bonds rated A+ are the ones that should be chosen for investment. Those lower can entail risk. Corporate bonds are market sensitive, but their volatility is quite low compared to mutual funds. However, these bonds require large investments, so are not ideal for an individual investor. You can still buy these bonds directly when the company floats them, from brokers, banks, or investment platforms.

Asset Leasing

A thriving monthly income scheme and one of the best investment plans for monthly income in India, lease investing is a contractual investment policy. It works on an agreement between a company and the investor, simplified as lessee (user) & lessor (owner). Companies pay regularly to use the assets they need for their business such as vehicles, machinery etc. to investors for a specific period. This investment is mutually beneficial for companies and investors. Companies can grow without holding funds in assets and investors earn from assets. This investment earns monthly fixed income, it sources passive income and if you are choosing this investment from a reliable platform that backs every lease with strong collaterals, your investment and returns are at a lower risk.

Inventory Financing 

Companies need inventories to function. These are raw materials that help companies to produce their finished goods. This asset-backed financing facility for investors allows them to earn by investing in these assets or raw materials needed by the company. The risk level in this investment is low. This kind of investment is mostly invited by startups. Therefore, before investing you should ensure that the company you are backing with your investment can make the expected returns. However, this part is difficult to assess for a general investor, so unless you participate from a legitimate financing platform, it can be risky.

Invest in alternative monthly income plans through Grip

Short-term, low risk and low-investment monthly income is a dream for every investor. Realising this need, Grip has come up with exciting investment opportunities that help ordinary investors think of big income through unconventional means. The income opportunities that present financial opportunities in Grip are not new, however, the platform has tailored the opportunities to generate a win-win income option for all. These financial schemes are a low investment; therefore, many can participate. Companies looking for investors can work with huge funds generated by multiple investors. The returns are high as companies grow. So while you keep investing in traditional and volatile investments with monthly returns, check out these attractive monthly alternative income sources on Grip.