Where should I invest my EPF money for 15 years?

I am 42, have recently lost my job and plan to start my own business now. I don't want to touch my EPF accumulation worth Rs 35 lakh for next 15 years. Where should I invest? Please advice.
- Poonam Bala

Transcript: If you are really convinced that you would not need this money for the next 15 years, then I would advise you to be little venturesome. Just a little bit, not much. EPF money is very good till the time you are employed. But the moment you are out of the job, all the interest income on the accumulated provident fund becomes taxable. It might be a good idea to take your money out of the provident fund because it is entirely fixed income. Only recently, they have started investing little bit in equity. But it is structured in a manner which is not very transparent for EPFO subscribers. It doesn't have NAV or the valuation of the assets on a daily basis like mutual funds or NPS.

So I would say, approach it conservatively. Consider the growth options of Conservative Hybrid Funds which invest around 10 to 25 per cent in equity. All the money that you will take out from the Provident Fund should not be invested at one go. It should be spread between 12 to 18 months even in those conservative vehicles. Even a 5 per cent decline in value could be nerving for anyone who is in a situation like yours. You have recently lost job, planning your own business and seeing a capital loss would not be good. Precisely, there are three things which you need to do with an assumption that you are unlikely to access this money for next 15 years.

1) Take your money out of EPF
2) Invest it in a Conservative Hybrid Fund or an Equity Savings Fund
3) Spread the investment over a period of 18 months

This article was originally published on March 07, 2019.