Fixed Deposits Archives - My Sweet Retirement

What can you invest with 500 dollars? For working adults like us, it is not a feat to folk out a minimum of 5K for a fixed deposit placement. If you have a higher risk appetite, you can invest 5K into stocks or bonds.

What about those that just started out working? Their starting monthly salary is usually lower than 5K. In my opinion, setting aside the minimum amount of S$500 is a good way to get started to grow your savings. If you will like to grow your S$500, below are some of the options that I found.

ICBC Fixed Deposit

Needless to explain, fixed deposits are simple to understand. You lock in your cash with the bank for a fixed time period such as 1, 3, 6, 12 months. Upon maturity, you get back your money with the interests earned.

ICBC is one bank or perhaps the only bank that I found that let you do a fixed deposit placement with only a minimum of S$500.

Based on the above rates, if you decided to do a 12 months fixed deposit placement of S$500 via E-Banking, the interests you will receive upon maturity is S$3.75.

Singapore Savings Bonds

The next option to consider is the Singapore Savings Bonds. The minimum amount is S$500 but you have to pay an administrative fee of S$2 every time you make a purchase of the Singapore Savings Bonds.

The latest issue of the Singapore Savings Bonds (GX20120T) offers you an effective return of 0.24% p.a. if you held it for 1 year. That is a return of S$1.20.

Not too bad already, S$1.20 can buy you a cup of Kopi at the coffee shops.

GIGANTIC or Singlife Account

GIGANTIQ is a single premium, yearly renewable, non-participating universal life plan by Etiqa that gives you a guaranteed return of 2.0% per annum on your first S$10,000 for the first year. Any amount above S$10,000 earns you 1.0% per annum for the first year. The minimum amount to get started is S$50. For S$500 deposited with GIGANTIC for 1 year, the return you will receive is S$10.

Similarly, Singlife is a capital guaranteed insurance savings plan that gives up to 2% p.a. returns. The minimum amount to get started is S$500. For S$500 deposited with Singlife for 1 year, the return you will receive is S$10.

Syfe

If you have a higher risk appetite, you can choose to explore Syfe.

Syfe is a digital wealth manager licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) under a Capital Markets Services (“CMS”) License.

There is no minimum amount to start investing in any of their portfolios.

I hope the above provide enough options for those that can only set aside S$500 but do not know where to get started.

“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die. – Warren Buffet”

Looking for the best fixed deposits in November 2020 in Singapore? If you have 50K, you should read my previous post on Where Will You Put 50K? before you jump straight into Fixed Deposits.

Fixed Deposit or Singapore Savings Bonds?

Forget about the Singapore Savings Bonds. The 1 year interest rate for December 2020 Singapore Savings Bonds has fallen as low as 0.24%, thus any of the fixed deposits promotion below will beat the Singapore Savings Bonds.

The Alternatives – Short Term Endowments

I have shared many other financial instruments that is similar to what fixed deposits can offer. One good alternative is buying a short term endowment plan. Endowment plans guarantee your capital upon maturity which is similar to what fixed deposits offer. Most of the short term endowment plans are on limited tranche basis.

At the point of writing, the 10th Tranche of China Taiping i-Save (1.96% for 3 years) is fully subscribed.

The Alternatives – GIGANTIC, Dash EasyEarn or Singlife

Alternatively, you can check out GIGANTIC, Dash EasyEarn or 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 and Dash EasyEarn.

Nevertheless, if you still prefer traditional fixed deposits, below are the best fixed deposits promotion that I have found for November 2020. The current low interest rates offered by most banks remained unattractive to me.

Among the banks below, I prefer the fixed deposit from DBS given that DBS offer much higher interest rate per annum for a 12 or 18 months placement as compared to the rest of the banks.

DBS is the best fixed deposit in November 2020!

DBS Fixed Deposit (Recommended)

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 0.73%, Minimum Placement: S$20,000, Promotion Valid Until: Not stated

For 12 months placement of S$20,000 at 0.73% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$146.00.

From now till 1st Mar 2021, you also stand a chance to win in the PayNow Monthly E-Gadget Draw when you use PayNow to deposit or pay loans with Hong Leong Finance.

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 0.45% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$45.00.

UOB Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 0.55%, Minimum Placement: S$20,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th November 2020

UOB’s time deposit interest rate remains the same at 0.55% p.a. in November.

For 10 months placement of S$20,000 at 0.55% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$91.67.

Minimum Placement (Fresh Funds)	Tenor	Promotional Rate
S$20,000	10 months	0.55% p.a.

OCBC Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 0.50%, Minimum Placement: S$5,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th November 2020

OCBC’s time deposit interest rate remains the same at 0.50% p.a. in November.

Minimum Placement (Fresh Funds)	Tenor	Promotional Rate
S$5,000	12 months	0.50% p.a.

For 12 months placement of S$5,000 at 0.50% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$25.00.

CIMB Fixed Deposit

Interest Rate: Refer below, Minimum Placement: S$5,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th November 2020

CIMB is offering a promotional rate of 0.35% p.a. for a 3 months placement. This is 0.05% more than the norm. The minimum placement for this promotion is S$10,000. You will receive S$8.75 after 3 months upon maturity of your S$10,000 placement.

If you have S$50,000 sitting in your Fast Saver account, you can opt to put them into this fixed deposit promotion which gives you 0.35% p.a. for a 3 months lock in period since the first 50K in Fast Saver earns you 0.30% p.a.

Standard Chartered Bank Singapore Dollar Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 0.20% to 0.30%, Minimum Placement: S$25,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th November 2020

For 6 months placement of S$25,000 at 0.20% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$25.00.

If you happen to be a priority banking customer, for 6 months placement of S$25,000 at 0.30% p.a., the interest that you will receive upon maturity is S$37.50.

Minimum Placement	Tenure	Promotional Rate	Priority Banking Preferential Rate
S$25,000	6 months	0.20% p.a.	0.30% p.a.

Tag: Fixed Deposits

What can you invest with 500 Dollars?