Term deposits

[johnnyhoward]

My brother's thinking of getting a term deposit as he has trouble saving and wants to lock some money away where he's got no way of touching it.

He's only putting away about $5,000 but I'm wondering can you add more to the deposit at a later date? He's applying for the 1 year term with ING paying 7.75% - are there any other banks offering this high a rate of interest?

If not, is there anything else of higher risk that should be perhaps looked into, like an ASX 200 fund (BankWest offers such a fund with an average of about 13-15% pa)

 

[rdangelo]

My brother's thinking of getting a term deposit as he has trouble saving and wants to lock some money away where he's got no way of touching it.

He's only putting away about $5,000 but I'm wondering can you add more to the deposit at a later date? He's applying for the 1 year term with ING paying 7.75% - are there any other banks offering this high a rate of interest?

If not, is there anything else of higher risk that should be perhaps looked into, like an ASX 200 fund (BankWest offers such a fund with an average of about 13-15% pa)

With term deposits you can only add to them when it matures (i.e the end of the 1 year term)

I'd go with a shorter term, at a lower rate, so you can keep adding to it. Depends how much you are planning to add to it, and in a year, with interest rate hikes, it will be more than 7.55%, its around 7% now. In a years time or so you could be getting a better rate than when you re-invest.

 

[year of the roo]

The comparative rates of term deposits to that of online savings accounts are so slim that I cannot understand why you would get a term deposit. You can add to an online account at any time and there are no fees.

 

[Almost Famous]

A term deposit isnt going to stop him accessing the money is he really wants it. You can still get the coin but you forfeit most of the interest.

 

[GeneralDisarray]

BankWest Telenet Saver account 7.20% calculated monthly
http://www.abetterdeal.com.au/TeleNet_Saver/index.asp

They also have a Regular Saver account which is 8% but you can't add more than $500 per month (which is what you may want anyway)
http://www.bankwest.com.au/regularsaver/

I plan on getting a Telenet Saver account shortly. I'm going to deposit most of my current Commonwealth account into it and then set up direct deposit so everytime I get paid (fortnightly), $500 is added to the Telenet Saver

 

[johnnyhoward]

BankWest Telenet Saver account 7.20% calculated monthly
http://www.abetterdeal.com.au/TeleNet_Saver/index.asp

They also have a Regular Saver account which is 8% but you can't add more than $500 per month (which is what you may want anyway)
http://www.bankwest.com.au/regularsaver/

I plan on getting a Telenet Saver account shortly. I'm going to deposit most of my current Commonwealth account into it and then set up direct deposit so everytime I get paid (fortnightly), $500 is added to the Telenet Saver

Is there a maximum opening deposit for the Regular Saver account?

I see BankWest also offer a kids' account - 10%pa, but I think there's a limit of $50 a month or something

 

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

Is there a maximum opening deposit for the Regular Saver account?

IIRC it's also $500.

Another thing with the regular saver at bankwest is that after 12 months all you funds are moved from it to your other Bankwest account, which means the most you can have in there is $6000 (12 x $500).