PF Calculator

What is EPF?

EPF is short for Employees Provident Fund. EPF scheme is designed to provide financial support to all salaried individuals after their retirement. It is a corpus towards which both the employer and the employee contribute every month.

EPF is the primary scheme that is part of the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. As per this act, every organization with more than 20 employees must mandatorily register for it. The EPF scheme is backed by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

Under an EPF scheme, an employee contributes a certain portion of his/her salary towards the PF account. The employer has to pay an equal amount towards the PF account. The net amount so contributed every month further provides monetary benefit to the employee post his/her retirement.

EPF acts as a retirement benefit plan with the objective of ensuring a financially independent retirement for employed individuals.

What is Finity’s EPF calculator?r

Employees PF calculator designed by Finity is an online tool that can be used for estimating the EPF corpus available at the time of retirement. To use this calculator, a user has to provide basic details like basic monthly salary, present age, retirement age, annual expected salary increase, PF contribution, and current PF balance.

Once the user knows the estimated PF value at retirement, it is easier to plan retirement. It helps users to estimate whether the PF corpus can meet the different financial needs at retirement. Accordingly, it helps in gauging whether one needs to invest additional funds towards other investment alternatives to cater to various financial needs.

How to use Finity’s PF calculator?

Finity’s PF calculator is a free online tool that helps users in calculating the total PF corpus at retirement. The calculator also aids an employee to gauge the amount of contribution to be made for achieving a specific corpus post-retirement. This can help him/her in setting personal financial goals.

Here is the step-by-step process to use Finity’s PF calculator:

1. Enter basic monthly salary
2. Next, enter present age
3. Enter the expected annual increase in salar
4. Enter employee contribution in percentage format
5. Finally, enter the current PF balance
6. Lastly, enter the expected retirement age and employer’s contribution to PF
7. The calculator uses the current rate of interest being paid by EPF for this calculation.

Once all the fields are filled with relevant data, the calculator automatically calculates total PF investment and maturity value based on the latest applicable interest rate. It also shows the total interest earnings, total employer’s contribution and total of employee’s contribution on the right side of the calculator. All this information provides a holistic view of investment to an employee for better financial decision making.

How does an EPF calculator work?

Let us understand the functionality of the EPF calculator with the help of an example.

Employees’ basic salary + dearness allowance = Rs 15,000
Employees’ contribution towards the EPF = 12% * 15,000 = Rs 1,800
Employers contribution towards the EPF = 3.67% * 15,000 = Rs 550

The total contribution that is made by the employer and employee towards the EPF account of the employee = Rs 1,800 + Rs 550 = Rs 2,350.

The interest rate on PF for FY 2021-22 is set at 8.5%.

To calculate the interest rate applicable for each month, the calculation is:

8.5%/12 = 0.70833%

If an employee joined a firm ABC in April 2019, the total PF contribution for April will be Rs. 2,350. There will be no interest earnings on PF for the month of April.

The net PF contribution for May = Rs 4,700. (Rs 2,350+ Rs 2,350). The employee earns an interest of Rs 4,700 * 0.70833% = 33.29.

Benefits of using Finity’s PF calculator

Finity’s PF calculator gives the exact amount that an employee can accumulate in his/her EPF fund at retirement. This way, he/she gets an idea on the available retirement corpus. It allows one to manage other investments in a planned manner.

One can use the Finity PF calculator to increase contribution towards retirement. If an employee feels that the accumulated corpus at retirement will not be sufficient to meet personal financial requirements, he/she can increase the percentage of contribution to achieve a larger corpus at retirement.

Finity’s PF calculator is very easy to use and reflects the PF corpus amount at retirement within seconds. The calculator is designed to help an individual plan his/her retirement. Those who want an early retirement can increase the percentage of contribution to PF depending on the results shown by PF calculator. It also gives users an idea of the EPF corpus at various stages of retirement.

PF interest rates

The interest rate on PF may be modified every year by the Central Government of India. The government periodically reviews EPF interest rates in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees.

While the PF interest rate may be modified on a yearly basis, it is calculated on a monthly basis. This is why the interest rate is calculated by dividing the annual rate by 12.

Mentioned below is the EPF interest rate for the past 5 years:

Conclusion

With PF contributions, employees get a fixed income once they retire. Employees who are eligible for PF can nominate a family member as nominee. This way, the family members can avail the pension or corpus in case of the employee’s demise. Employees can also get life insurance cover through EPF contributions.