This post came late as I was taking a short break from blogging last week. Coincidentally, at the point of writing this post, Astrea V Pte Ltd lodged their Astrea V Bonds final prospectus today that offers 3.85% p.a.
Even though the interest rate offered by Astrea V Bond is higher as compared to Singapore Savings Bonds, Astrea V Bonds are far more complex to understand as compared to Singapore Savings Bonds. For those that wanted a risk free investment without much thinking involved, I will recommend to buy Singapore Savings Bonds.
For those still keen in Singapore Saving Bonds, the effective interest rate for July 2019 Singapore Savings Bonds (GX19070W) is 2.16% if you held it for 10 years. The interest rate is the lowest for the past 12 months. Nevertheless, as usual, I shall be allocating a portion of my monthly salary into safe haven as the Singapore Savings Bonds acts as a form of emergency fund when the need arises.
If you didn’t know yet, SRS applications for Savings Bonds open from March and individual limit has doubled to $200,000. I personally felt that the introduction of SRS application for Savings Bonds is an excellent initiative as the SRS currently earns a petite interest rate of 0.05% per annum. In March, I have used partial of my SRS funds to purchase the Singapore Savings Bonds for the higher interest.
DBS Multiplier Account + Singapore Savings Bonds
If you hold a DBS Multiplier Account, you can perhaps try the hack I previously wrote about to achieve a higher interest rate payout. (Read more: Earn More Interest With DBS Multiplier Account + Singapore Savings Bonds).
Singapore Savings Bonds versus Fixed Deposits
The interest rate of Singapore Savings Bond is also higher than most fixed deposits that banks can offer for 12 months. (Read more: CIMB Fixed Deposit Promotion Makes Your Money Work, Not You!)
Tracking Singapore Savings Bonds via StocksCafe
My favorite website, StocksCafe has introduced a new feature to allow adding of Singapore Savings Bonds into your portfolio. If you didn’t know, I signed up as a Friend of StocksCafe as my most favorite feature of StocksCafe is the automated tracking of dividends payout.
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)
I can’t totally agree with the SSB being used as an emergency fund parking vehicle. The reason is because we need to wait to be able to access the funds in the event of an emergency. Funds can only be accessed at the four starting days of a month. An emergency can occur on any day of a month.