The utility and popularity of any financial instrument can be gauged from the number of its subscribers or investors. Going by sheer numbers, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) or is one of the most popular, the total number of participants in which surpassed 6.62 crore as on June 20, Pension Fund Regulatory and Authority (PFRDA) numbers have revealed.
Atal Pension Yojana is a pension scheme for the workers of the unorganised sectors of the Indian economy. It provides for a guaranteed pension that starts from the age of 60 of any participant. The premium is low since it addresses people at the bottom of the financial pyramid and as in any financial instrument, the sooner one joins the scheme, the lower the premium one has to pay.
Atal Pension Yojana calculator
The APY scheme guarantees monthly pension of Rs 1,000 or Rs 2,000 or Rs 3,000 or Rs 4,000 or Rs 5,000 depending up on the choice of the participant. According to rules, any citizen of India can join the Atal Pension Yojana. The subscriber should be between 18 and 40 years. The only other criterion is that he/she should have a savings account in a bank or a post office. The pension will be paid from the month a subscriber turns 60.
For example, if one joins at the age of 18, one has to invest only Rs 210 a month to get a pension of Rs 5,000 every month. On the other hand, if one joins at the age of 39, one has to invest Rs 1,318 a month.
How to check APY balance?
One can check the balance in APY account online through a few simple steps. One can visit the NPS website and click on APY e-PRAN or Transaction Statement View. The PRAN is Permanent Retirement Account Number which is a 12-digit number that is assigned to each subscriber of the National Pension System (NPS). You will get two options – search with PRAN or without PRAN. Without PRAN one would need to type in subscriber’s name, date of birth and bank account. One has to click submit after choosing the option. One can also check APY balance through the mobile phone app. One can simply type in PRAN details and click on ‘Login’. The homepage will immediately display the investment amount of the scheme.
