My mother still likes RDs. She says SIP is for people who can watch a graph go red. She wants 5,000 to leave the account on a date and come back bigger after 3 years. We argued about the maturity on the dining table. She did 5,000 times 36 plus some interest from memory. I opened the RD Calculator on the phone.
Thirty six deposits of 5,000 is ₹1,80,000 you put in. That part she got right. The interest part is a bank RD formula, not a SIP 12 percent dream, and not a FD on 1.80 lakh from day one. Money goes in every month. Early deposits earn longer. Last deposit earns almost nothing.
If you dont skip a month, the box below is the picture. If you skip, the picture lies.
Monthly deposit, rate, tenure in months
Monthly deposit is 5000. What leaves your account each month. Not the maturity. Not a yearly total.
Interest rate (yearly) is the RD rate. It sits near FD rates, not near equity. I use 7 as a planning number. Board may say 6.5 or 7.25. I show those.
Tenure is months. 3 years is 36. Same trap as the EMI page. Put 3 and the result is nonsense. Suffix says months.
There is no compounding dropdown here. The site uses a simple quarterly style RD formula. Banks have slightly different day conventions. Plan with this, then check their passbook math.
Hit Calculate. Maturity (approx), Amount you put in, Interest.
This is an estimate, not an official figure.
Most RDs are a fixed monthly amount. You cannot type 5,000 now and 8,000 from month 10 in this box. Start a second RD if you get a raise. That is what I tell people who want a step-up.
Thirty six deposits at 7 percent
5,000 a month, 36 months, 7 percent.
Maturity about ₹2,00,686. You put in ₹1,80,000. Interest about ₹20,686.
So you get a bit over 2 lakh if you stay till end. Mother had guessed 2.1 or 2.2. She was mixing it with a old post office memory and a higher rate year. 20,000 interest on 1.80 lakh over 3 years is not ugly. It is also not a SIP story.
At 6.5 percent, maturity about ₹1,99,122. Interest about ₹19,122. You almost get your 2 lakh, slightly under.
At 7.25 percent, maturity about ₹2,01,474. Interest about ₹21,474.
At 7.5 percent, maturity about ₹2,02,265. Interest about ₹22,265.
Rate moves the last few thousand, not the whole lakh. The heavy number is still the 1,80,000 you saved. RD is a habit machine first, a return machine second.
I also ran 48 months at 7 percent, same 5,000, only because someone always asks what if I continue one more year. You put in ₹2,40,000. Maturity about ₹2,77,418. Interest about ₹37,418. Four years of habit, about 37,000 extra. Still a deposit product. For a 3 year goal, keep Tenure at 36. Dont mix a 48 month result into a 36 month argument.
If 5,000 feels heavy, type 3000 in Monthly deposit, keep 7 and 36. You put in ₹1,08,000. Maturity will sit a bit over that, interest smaller in rupees, same habit idea. I prefer a 3,000 RD that never skips over a 5,000 RD that misses May and June. The calculator will still show the 5,000 maturity if you type 5000. Your passbook will not.
A cousin wanted to put 10,000 a month for 12 months and call it the same as 5,000 for 24. It is not the same stack. Different months, different interest path. Run each plan as its own Tenure. Write both Amount you put in lines. Then pick the one that matches the date you need the money.
If you close early, you usually lose some interest. This box assumes full tenure. Dont start a 36 month RD if you know month 14 is a wedding and you will break it.
Skip a month and the maturity on this page is a lie
The tool cannot mark a missed installment. It assumes 36 on-time deposits.
Miss two months and you put in 1,70,000 not 1,80,000, and some banks treat a miss as a default with a penalty. Maturity will not be ₹2,00,686. I dont have a fake circular for the penalty. Read the RD terms on your bank PDF.
Auto debit from salary account on the 5th is how I keep mine honest. If salary is late that month, keep a 5,000 buffer. Skipping because the month felt tight is how RDs fail. The whole point is the month always feels a bit tight.
TDS can apply if yearly interest crosses their threshold. Not deducted inside this result. Same story as FD.
Dont compare this maturity with a SIP of 5,000 for 3 years at 12 percent. Different risk. Different box. SIP of 3,000 for 10 years is the equity-style cousin. Is 12 percent SIP return a safe assumption if someone is selling you 12 percent on a RD conversation. They are mixing products.
If you have a lumpsum instead of a monthly habit, FD of 2 lakh for 5 years is closer. 2 lakh FD is one shot. 5,000 RD is 36 shots. I use FD for bonus. I use RD for salary discipline.
RD versus the EMI you already pay
5,000 RD plus a 8,500 car EMI on a 40k salary is a choice. Eligibility tool does not count RD as an EMI, which is correct, RD is your money. Your month still feels it as 5,000 gone.
I would not start a 5,000 RD if the FOIR pie is already 45 percent full. Save 2,000 RD instead. Type 2000 in Monthly deposit and run. The habit can be smaller. Pride about 5,000 is how people skip.
If the 5,000 is coming from cutting a useless app subscription and a too-big lunch, good. If it is coming from the emergency fund, bad. RD is not an emergency fund. Breaking it early hurts the interest.
I also tell cousins, 3 years is a nice date because you can see the end. 10 year RD sounds strong and then life happens. You can always start a new 36 after this one matures. This calculator will still be here.
Bank RD and post office RD can differ a little in rate and rules. Type the rate you were actually offered. Dont type a WhatsApp forward rate from 2019.
Fill the RD page, then leave it alone
Monthly deposit 5000.
Interest rate (yearly) the RD rate, 7 if you are only sketching.
Tenure 36.
Read Maturity (approx). Read Amount you put in. The gap is Interest.
If that maturity funds a specific thing, a scooter down payment, a course, a buffer, write the thing next to ₹2,00,686. If you have no thing, you still built 1.80 lakh of saving. That is allowed. Not every RD needs a poster goal.
Dont put years in Tenure. Dont use a SIP return. Dont skip and still quote my 2.00 lakh.
Mother accepted ₹2,00,686. She still likes RDs. I still like that the 5,000 has a date. We both got what we wanted from the three boxes.