Interest rates have risen so much since the Federal Reserve started on their aggressive rate hike path, although off a low base. Before 2022, I’ve been so used to ultra-low interest rates on deposits that I didn’t even bother thinking about all the cash I had lying around earning close to nothing. Now, we are in a privileged position with so many options to earn a decent yield on our cash at low or even no risk.
Here are some great options you can consider (sorted from highest to lowest yield):
| Product type | Bank/FI | Interest rate | Tenure | Min amount | Max amount | Last updated | Remarks |
| Savings account | SCB Bonus$aver | 4.88% | N/A | None | $100k | 1-Feb-2023 | Salary credit $3k + CC spend $2k + 3x bill payment |
| Fixed deposit | RHB | 4.10% | 12/24 months | $20k | None | 11-Feb-2023 | |
| Fixed deposit | OCBC | 4.08% | 8 months | $20k | None | 1-Feb-2023 | |
| Cash funds | MoneyOwl WiseSaver | 4.01% | NA | $10 | None | 1-Feb-2023 | 5 day MA as of 27 Jan 2023 |
| Treasury bill | MAS | 3.93% | 6 months | $1k | None | 17-Feb-2023 | Auction 16 Feb 2023 |
| Treasury bill | MAS | 3.87% | 1 year | $1k | None | 1-Feb-2023 | Auction 26 Jan 2023 |
| Fixed deposit | CIMB | 3.65% | 6 months | $10k | None | 11-Feb-2023 | |
| Savings account | GXS | 3.48% | N/A | None | $5k | 11-Feb-2023 | No minimum requirements, no lock-in |
| SSB | MAS | 2.90% | 10 years | $500 | $200k | 1-Feb-2023 | March 2023 issue |
Please share if you know other good options, or if you spot any inaccuracies / more updated info. Things have been changing pretty fast so I may not have the most updated info.
Here’s where I keep most of my cash (which I remember about):
I breakdown our cash into a few buckets:
- Emergency funds – SSB, SCB Bonus$aver & e$aver
- Investment & vacation funds – Tiger Vault, moomoo Cash Plus, MoneyOwl WiseSaver, GXS
- Household & personal expenses – DBS savings, OCBC 360
- Retirement & education funds – CIMB FD
So far, I’ve been trying to minimise cash left in savings account, except SCB Bonus$aver where I plan to credit my salary (been procrastinating on that, oops) and GXS which pays pretty decent interest on Savings Pockets. Longer term funds are locked into SSB and FD. Short term funds are placed into cash funds for liquidity. I don’t have any T-bills now since I prefer not to lock-in the cash and I don’t have any excess CPF OA funds at the moment.
Just a short sharing. If you have any cash sitting idle earning less than 3%, there might be opportunity to optimise your yield on that cash. Hope this helps point you to some of the better ones. Also good to spread it around with various tenures, liquidity, and risks according to your various goals.
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. I am not professional financial advisor nor do I work in the finance industry. Anything I write here is purely my personal opinion. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing into anything. All investments come with associated risks. Best to consult a financial advisor if you’re still unsure.
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