Term deposits offer a high degree of investment certainty, but there are other features that make them worth considering. Below are five things you may not know about term deposit investments.
1. You can select from a range of maturity dates. Term deposits typically range from one month to five years. Generally, the longer the time to maturity the higher the rate of interest you can earn on your investment.
2. At maturity, you have the choice of reinvesting the interest earned back into your term deposit or having the interest transferred to your nominated bank account. This allows you to either increase the amount you are investing in your next term deposit or put the interest to work in another investment.
3. Depending on the term you select, you can choose to have your interest paid monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annually, or at maturity. Four of these payment options, depending on your term, can give you access to the interest before maturity if you want to use the money to invest elsewhere.
4. Setting up a term deposit can be as easy as going online. You can use an online application form with electronic verification to open an account, which can be completed in as little as 10 minutes. If you are busy during office hours, an online application may be the option for you.
5. You can link your term deposit to your cash management account for seamless integration at maturity. This allows you to see the status of your term deposits as well as your available funds for reinvestment at maturity. This is particularly beneficial to self managed super funds (SMSFs) to help streamline your accounting, as well as tax returns, auditing and end-of-financial-year reporting.
