Dhir, Silky2017-03-222017-03-222011http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810005723The present study was undertaken to assess the trends in saving and investment pattern of rural and urban middle class families of Ludhiana district, with objectives; to examine the sources of income and expenditure pattern of rural and urban respondents, to compare their saving and investment pattern, to identify their determinants of saving and to develop a literacy kit for educating them about the saving and investment schemes. The study was conducted on 140 respondents, 70 each from two localities of Ludhiana city and two villages from one block of Ludhiana district. The respondents were selected from the middle class families with an annual income between ` 2 lacs and 10 lacs. The information was collected by personal interview method. Results revealed that agricultural income was the important source of income for the rural respondents whereas income from business was important source of income for urban respondents. The monthly expenditure was highest on food items for respondents from both the categories and it was higher for all the items for urban families as compared to rural families. Forty per cent respondents from rural category and 57.14 per cent from urban urban category were planning the budget. Important determinants of saving both for rural and urban respondents were: their children‟s wedding, education and to meet emergencies like serious illness, accidents etc. The most important saving and investment options were cash, insurance policies, fixed deposits and national saving certificates for respondent from both the categories the major reasons for selection for particular option were; safety, convenience, tax benefit, liquidity and high returns. A large number (33.57%) of respondents were saving between 20-30 per cent of their income where as 61.43 per cent wanted to save between 40 and 50 per cent of their monthly income. Insurance, real estate, gold and bank deposits were the options considered the best by a large number of respondents.enThesis