A Fixed Deposit (FD) locks a single lump sum for a chosen term. A Recurring Deposit (RD) takes a fixed amount every month instead. The same two products exist almost everywhere under different names: a Certificate of Deposit (CD) in the United States, a fixed-rate bond or fixed saver in the UK, a GIC in Canada, and a term deposit in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
This calculator uses quarterly compounding, the convention Indian banks follow, so the numbers match what your bank's own certificate will show. Elsewhere compounding may be monthly or annual — if your bank quotes an effective annual yield (APY or AER), enter that as the rate and the result will line up.
Why does the post-tax return look so low? Deposit interest is added to your income and taxed at your slab. At 30%, a 7.25% deposit nets roughly 5% — at or below typical inflation. That is why deposits are best treated as safety and liquidity rather than growth.
What about TDS? Banks deduct 10% TDS once annual interest crosses ₹50,000 (₹1,00,000 for senior citizens). TDS is not an extra tax — it is adjusted against your final liability when you file.
Do senior citizens get more? Usually 0.25–0.75% above the standard rate. Enter that higher rate directly.
Deposit insurance. Deposits are insured by the DICGC up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank.
United States — CD. Certificates of Deposit run from three months to five years, quote an APY (already compounded), and are FDIC-insured to $250,000 per depositor per bank. Early withdrawal forfeits some interest.
United Kingdom — fixed-rate bond. Quoted as AER, protected by the FSCS up to £85,000. The Personal Savings Allowance leaves the first £1,000 of interest untaxed for basic-rate taxpayers, £500 for higher-rate.
Canada — GIC. Guaranteed Investment Certificates are CDIC-insured to C$100,000 and can be held inside a TFSA or RRSP, where the interest is sheltered.
Australia and New Zealand — term deposit. Australian deposits are government-guaranteed to A$250,000 per account holder per institution.
UAE, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Conventional fixed deposits and Islamic Murabaha deposits both exist; the Gulf has no personal income tax on the interest.
Tax note. The tax fields on this page appear only when India is selected, because those are the rules we model. Everywhere else the result is pre-tax — check your own country's treatment.
Is a recurring deposit's return really lower than the rate suggests? No — but the naive comparison is wrong. In an RD your first instalment earns for the whole term and your last for one month, so a simple gain-over-total-deposited figure badly understates it. This calculator solves the true annualised yield instead.
FD or RD? An FD if you already have the money, an RD if you are building it up from monthly income. For the same rate and term, an FD earns more in absolute terms simply because the money is invested for longer.
Deposit or equities? Different jobs. Deposits protect capital and guarantee a nominal return; equities aim to beat inflation over long periods and can fall. Compare the two in the Advanced Inflation calculator.
