NPS versus retirement mutual funds: The pros and cons

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Adhil Shetty, CEO & Co-Founder, BankBazaar.com, says that in any equity scheme which gives you the kind of return which an ELSS, or NPS in equity, giving, post tax, they are giving anything between 10% and 12%, I would say these are good returns. You are beating inflation irrespective of tax saving.

Let us begin with the basics. NPS versus retirement mutual funds. How would you like to define both of these investment instruments where you get a tax benefit?
Adhil Shetty: NPS has got a great regulator in the PFRDA. It is a very structured retirement savings scheme. So, typically, you are saving until you retire. At the age of 60, you get a lump sum and after that you start getting every year annual payout as an annuity. So, it is very structured.

Mutual Funds are far more flexible and ELSS might have a lock-in of three years. But after three years, you can sell it when you want. You can invest more when you want. So, far more flexible. Sometimes people want that very structured savings saying once I put it in, I want it there. I do not want to be tempted to take it out. Other people want flexibility. So, I think each has its own role to play in pension planning.

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What happens when you start putting money aside for tax saving purposes? A lot of time only tax saving