My Sweet Retirement - Personal views on stock investment, money management, life philosophy

Looking for the best fixed deposits in April 2021 in Singapore? The interest rates of the latest issue of Singapore Savings Bonds (SBMAY21 GX21050V) bounced back with an effective return of 1.56% p.a. over 10 years and 0.37% p.a. for 1 year.

Has the interest rates of fixed deposits bounced back as well? Can the interest rates of fixed deposits beat the Singapore Savings Bonds?

Let us check out the best fixed deposits in April 2021.

DBS Fixed Deposit

Interest Rate: Refer below, Minimum Placement: S$1,000, Promotion Valid Until: Not stated

For a minimum amount of S$1,000, you can perform a fixed deposit placement with DBS.

For a 12 months placement of S$10,000 at 1.15% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$115.

If you can afford a longer period such as 18 months, the interest rate is 1.30% p.a. which will give you $195.84 upon maturity.

I have boxed up the period and the corresponding interest rates which I find attractive.

Hong Leong Finance Deposit Promotion

Interest Rate: Up to 0.65%, Minimum Placement: S$20,000, Promotion Valid Until: Not stated

Minimum Placement	Tenor	Promotional Rate
S$20,000	13 months	0.45% p.a.
S$20,000	24 months	0.60% p.a.
S$20,000	36 months	0.65% p.a.

For 13 months placement of S$20,000 at 0.45% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$97.50.

For 24 months placement of S$20,000 at 0.60% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$240.00.

For 36 months placement of S$20,000 at 0.65% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$390.00.

MayBank Time Deposit

Interest Rate: Refer below, Minimum Placement: S$10,000, Promotion Valid Until: Not stated

For 12 months placement of S$10,000 at 0.35% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$35.00.

UOB Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 0.45%, Minimum Placement: S$20,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th April 2021

For 10 months placement of S$20,000 at 0.45% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$75.00.

Minimum Placement (Fresh Funds)	Tenor	Promotional Rate
S$20,000	10 months	0.45% p.a.

OCBC Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 0.35%, Minimum Placement: S$5,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th April 2021

For 12 months placement of S$5,000 at 0.35% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$17.50.

Minimum Placement (Fresh Funds)	Tenor	Promotional Rate
S$5,000	12 months	0.35% p.a.

CIMB Fixed Deposit

Interest Rate: Refer below, Minimum Placement: S$10,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th April 2021

For 12 months placement of S$10,000 at 0.50% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$50.00.

Tenure	Placement Amount	Interest Rate
12 months	S$10,000 to < S$100,000	0.50%
12 months	S$100,000 and above	0.55%
24 months	S$10,000 to < S$100,000	0.70%
24 months	S$100,000 and above	0.75%

For existing-to-bank customers

For 18 months placement of S$10,000 at 0.60% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$90.18.

For 18 months placement of S$100,000 at 0.65% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$977.11.

Tenure	Placement Amount	Interest Rate
18 months	S$10,000 to < S$100,000	0.60%
18 months	S$100,000 and above	0.65%

Standard Chartered Bank Singapore Dollar Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 0.30% to 0.40%, Minimum Placement: S$25,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th April 2021

For 8 months placement of S$25,000 at 0.30% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$50.00.

If you happen to be a priority banking customer, for 8 months placement of S$25,000 at 0.40% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$66.67.

Minimum Placement	Tenure	Promotional Rate	Priority Banking Preferential Rate
S$25,000	8 months	0.30% p.a.	0.40% p.a.

The Winner?

DBS Bank is still the winner of fixed deposits. Whether you opt for 12 months or 18 months tenure, DBS Banks have the highest interest rates of 1.15% and 1.30% for 12 and 18 months placement respectively.

The Alternatives – GIGANTIC, Dash EasyEarn or Singlife

Alternatively, you can check out GIGANTIC, Dash EasyEarn, Dash PET, Singlife whereby there is no lock in period and they offer a higher returns as compared to fixed deposits. Personally, I have signed up a Singlife Account, Dash EasyEarn and Dash PET.

The effective interest rate for May 2021 Singapore Savings Bonds (SBMAY21 GX21050V) is 1.56% if you held it for 10 years. As you can see from the chart above, this is almost like a dead cat pounce as the interest rates for Singapore Savings Bonds jumps from previous month of 1.15% to current month 1.56%.

The minimum amount you can purchase is S$500. If you decide to hold and sell the current issue (SBMAY21 GX21050V) after 1 year, the effective interest rate is 0.37%.

I wouldn’t put my money into the Singapore Savings Bonds as the interest rate is simply too low. What are the alternatives? You can check my previous post on What can you invest with 500 Dollars?

Singapore Savings Bonds Alternatives

You can consider Dash EasyEarn or Dash PET which offers you a return of 2.0% and 1.5% respectively.

Is Singapore Savings Bonds still Useful?

Most of the financial products out there require you to invest using cold hard cash. This is where the Singapore Savings Bonds outshine them. You can purchase the Singapore Savings Bonds using your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) funds.

The interest rate for Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) fund is only 0.05% per annum. You can top up your SRS account to offset your annual taxes and then use the funds from your SRS account to purchase Singapore Savings Bonds to earn a higher interest rate.

Tracking Singapore Savings Bonds via Stocks Café

My favourite website, Stocks Café has allows adding of Singapore Savings Bonds into your portfolio. If you didn’t know, I signed up as a Friend of Stocks Café as my most favourite feature of Stocks Café is the automated tracking of dividends payout.

This is the third year that I continue to use Stocks Café to track my dividends.

Tracking Singapore Savings Bonds via My Savings Bonds Portal

MAS has launched My Savings Bonds Portal where you can track your Singapore Savings Bonds purchases separately from your stock purchases. I have done up a simple guide here. (Read more: Guide to My Savings Bonds Portal)

The Best Fixed Deposits of April 2021