Should you stay in PVD, or invest the money yourself?

You put part of your salary into your Provident Fund every month, and your employer matches it. This tool asks the real question: what if you skipped PVD and invested that same money yourself instead? Adjust any control on the left — every number and chart below updates live.

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Scenario A Stay in PVD

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Employee + employer contributions, fund growth

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Scenario B Invest it yourself

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Your contribution only, invested on your own

Even so far

—

PVD balance at retirement

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—

Self-invest balance

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—

Gap at retirement

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Employer match forfeited

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Future value if opting out

Break-even return needed

0.0%

To match PVD, self-invest alone must earn this

Winner's growth multiple

1.0×

Balance ÷ money actually put in

📌 Summary

The headline takeaways for your current settings.

Growth trajectory — PVD vs. self-invest

Both balances, year by year. The shaded band shows who's ahead at each age.

PVD balance Self-invest balance

Where the money comes from

Final balance split by source, for each scenario.

Break-even analysis

What self-invest return rate is needed to match PVD?

Real (inflation-adjusted) comparison

Both balances re-stated in today's purchasing power, so the comparison isn't flattered by inflation.

PVD (real) Self-invest (real)

Beyond the math — qualitative differences

Numbers aren't the whole decision. These factors matter too.

	PVD (stay in)	Self-directed investing
Employer match	Guaranteed — an instant, risk-free return on your own contribution.	None, unless your employer explicitly pays the match as cash salary.
Tax treatment	Contributions reduce taxable income; growth is tax-exempt until withdrawal.	Contributions come from already-taxed income; gains may face fees, dividend tax, or capital-gains tax depending on the vehicle.
Investment control	Limited to your fund's policy options (money market, fixed income, balanced, equity).	Full control — any asset class, fund, or strategy you choose.
Liquidity	Locked until resignation, retirement, or fund-permitted early withdrawal (often with tax penalty).	Generally liquid — you can sell and access cash any time.
Discipline	Automatic payroll deduction — contributions happen whether you remember to or not.	Requires self-discipline to actually invest every month rather than spend it.
Fees	Fund management fees, typically low and disclosed by the AMC.	Brokerage, fund, or platform fees vary widely by what you choose.
Risk exposure	Bounded by your selected policy risk level; diversified by the AMC.	Depends entirely on what you pick — can be higher or lower risk than PVD.

Year-by-year schedule

Full contribution and balance detail for every year, both scenarios side by side.

Age	Salary	PVD Employee	PVD Employer	PVD Balance	Self-Invest Contrib.	Self-Invest Balance	Gap (B − A)

How this is calculated

Each year your salary grows by your chosen rate. In Scenario A, you and your employer each contribute a percentage of that year's salary into PVD; the running balance compounds annually at your chosen PVD fund return. In Scenario B, you keep your own contribution instead (same amount, same schedule) and invest it yourself; that balance compounds annually at your chosen investment return, net of any fees/tax drag you've enabled. The employer match is not received in Scenario B unless you've explicitly turned that toggle on.

Fixed from the original spreadsheet: the source file's "investment" column referenced the cumulative PVD total instead of the employee's own annual contribution, and PVD balances were summed with no investment return at all (a static running total). This app corrects both: Scenario B now compounds your own contribution stream at a proper annual rate, and Scenario A applies a configurable — and by default, non-zero — PVD fund return, since real funds are invested rather than held as cash.

Thai PVD contribution limits: both employee and employer contributions are legally set between 2% and 15% of salary.
Break-even return: solved numerically — the self-invest return rate (holding your contribution, tax, and fee settings fixed) at which Scenario B's final balance equals Scenario A's.
Employer match forfeited: shown as a future value — what those forgone employer contributions would have grown to by retirement, at the PVD fund return rate.
Inflation view: the real-comparison chart divides each year's balances by (1 + inflation)^{years elapsed}. The year-by-year table always shows nominal (undiscounted) values.

Not financial advice. This tool is for illustration and planning discussion only. Actual PVD and investment returns vary by fund manager, product, and market conditions, and tax rules change over time. Speak with your fund's registered advisor or a licensed financial planner before making retirement decisions.