The effective interest rate for October 2022 Singapore Savings Bonds (SBOCT22 GX22100X) is 2.75% if you held it for 10 years. The effective interest rate dipped by 0.05% as compared to the previous month. Nevertheless, I still consider the interest rate to be attractive!
The minimum amount which you can purchase the Singapore Savings Bond is S$500. If you decide to hold and sell the current issue (SBOCT22 GX22100X) after 1 year, the effective interest rate is 2.60%. There is no lock in period and thus you can sell it anytime.
Year from issue date | Interest % | Average return per year %* |
1 | 2.60 | 2.60 |
2 | 2.60 | 2.60 |
3 | 2.60 | 2.60 |
4 | 2.67 | 2.62 |
5 | 2.74 | 2.64 |
6 | 2.74 | 2.66 |
7 | 2.81 | 2.68 |
8 | 2.89 | 2.70 |
9 | 2.95 | 2.73 |
10 | 2.99 | 2.75 |
*At the end of each year, on a compounded basis.
Singapore Savings Bonds is a good investment to complement your other savings and investments due to the fact that it is near to zero risks.
Singapore Savings Bonds versus Singlife and Dash PET
If you have read my previous post, Singlife will be increasing their crediting rate to 1.5% p.a. for the first S$10,000 from 1st October 2022.
The crediting rate for Dash PET remains at 1.6% p.a. for first S$50,000 and 0.7% p.a. for subsequent years.
Singapore Saving Bonds is the winner here against Singlife and Dash PET!
Singapore Savings Bonds versus Manulife Goal 11
If you hold the latest issue of the Singapore Savings Bonds (SBOCT22 GX22100X) for 2 years, the average return per year is 2.60%.
Singapore Savings Bonds (SBOCT22 GX22100X) is the winner here against Manulife Goal 11 return of S$384 because you will receive a total return of S$497.97 based on S$10,000 invested.
Year from issue date | Interest % | Average return per year %* |
1 | 2.60 | 2.60 |
2 | 2.60 | 2.60 |
Singapore Savings Bonds versus Fixed Deposit
In August, I made a fixed deposit place of 18 months with CIMB at an interest rate of 2.25%.
As shared above, if you decided to redeem this month’s issue of Singapore Savings Bonds (SBOCT22 GX22100X) after 2 years, the average return is 2.60% per year.
Year from issue date | Interest % | Average return per year %* |
1 | 2.60 | 2.60 |
2 | 2.60 | 2.60 |
Singapore Savings Bonds is also a clear winner against SGD Fixed Deposits!
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)