Term deposits are a low-risk way to invest your money and get a fixed interest rate. They are a safe way to store money, but you can earn more if you invest it elsewhere. Investing in properties or stocks can bring higher returns, but also carries a greater risk of losing your money. A high-interest savings account is a bank account designed to help your savings grow faster.
It usually offers a higher interest rate than other trading accounts. On the other hand, a term deposit is an account that locks and invests your money for a fixed period of time, usually between one month and five years. In exchange, you get a fixed interest rate on your money. Term deposits are generally suited to people who are looking for a lower-risk investment and want secure benefits.
When your term deposit matures, you can choose to withdraw some or all of your money, or transfer it to a new term deposit. An automatic renewal is when your term deposit is automatically reinvested into a new term deposit when it matures. With a term deposit, you cannot make any additional contributions beyond the initial lump sum; nor can you make any further changes until you reach the end of your established term. Generally, there are no fees charged unless you decide to withdraw the funds before the term ends.
It's important to manage your term deposit closer to its maturity date and consider your options, as some term deposits may be automatically renewed at the current rate for that period; this rate may be higher or lower, depending on current interest rates. Generally speaking, the longer the term you can set, the higher the interest rate you'll receive. You can also choose how often you want to receive interest payments - monthly, semi-annually, annually, or at the end of the term (“at maturity”). Products that have a return even two or three percentage points higher than a term deposit represent significantly higher risks.
This is different from a term deposit, where once you've opened your deposit with an initial deposit, you won't be able to add more to the balance until the end of the term. When choosing your term deposit, check what the interest rate is and whether interest is paid monthly, periodically, or right at the end of the term.But at the same time, you can get a higher interest rate if you deposit money in a longer-term deposit. And if interest rates on savings accounts are falling, a term deposit allows you to set a rate for a specific term.
