New Delhi, Aug. 15 -- The Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) is one of the most popular fixed-income investment options for retirees as it offers government backing, regular quarterly payouts and higher interest rates than most fixed deposits.

The scheme comes with an initial maturity period of five years, post which the account holder can either withdraw their entire accumulated corpus or choose to extend the account in blocks of three years.

Any individual who is 60 years of age or older can open an SCSS account and invest in the scheme.

Individuals between 55 and 60 years of age are also eligible, provided they have retired under a superannuation or voluntary retirement scheme and open the account within one month of receiving re...