New Delhi, June 5 -- There are four ways to effectively invest for your child's future - NPS Vatsalya, the Public Provident Fund (PPF), the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and a plain mutual fund. They may share many similarities on paper, but their differences become apparent when you actually need to access your money.

Let's assume, a parent investing Rs.3,000 every month for 15 years, resulting in a total contribution of Rs.5.4 lakh.

However, the returns for both PPF and SSY will depend on government-notified interest rates.

NPS Vatsalya returns are based on an actual 15-year SIP in SBI Pension Fund. The calculation used the fund's actual NAV performance from May 2011 to May 2026, with roughly 65% of the portfolio invested in equitie...