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Tuesday, 21 September 2021
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Banks are awash with cash and are turning away deposits while reducing rates. Retirees who rely on their savings for income should not expect a respite until at best 2024 and are encouraged to turn to risky assets.
Hybrids are riskier than term deposits but investors are rewarded for the risk. Here is a simple way to consider if the reward is sufficient as the hybrid approaches an expected call date.
With cash and term deposit rates at all-time lows, and fixed interest bonds not much better, investors are looking for ‘bond proxies’ to deliver more income. But is ‘proxy’ a misnomer, and what are they anyway?
Government bonds produced good returns last year, but at the current starting position of lower rates, the cost of defensiveness is probably a limited payoff.
The wholesale market, accessible for retail investors via managed funds (including ETFs and LICs) offers better cash yields than bank term deposits but at a higher risk. This risk can be managed via a diversified portfolio .
Leaving a term deposit to rollover automatically at the end of each term will almost certainly guarantee a worse return than if you read the rollover letter and do some research instead.
Following the recent cash rate cut, it seemed unusual for banks to then increase their term deposit rates, while only passing on a fraction of the cut to borrowers. What's behind this change in bank strategy?
Keeping superannuation savings in term deposits will protect the capital but doesn't optimise the retirement outcome. There are many alternatives that should provide higher sustainable income over the long term.
A recent change to banking regulation has significant implications for term deposits. With 31+ day break or notice clauses becoming more common, a large difference in deposit rates is expected.
Despite rates of only 2-3%, term deposits and cash accounts are still the mainstay of most personal investment and SMSF portfolios. Next time you receive that renewal letter, stop and think about your options.
Both term deposits and managed bond funds can play a role for investors who want relative capital security and reliability of income. Despite their obvious differences, they are really apples and apples.
* Better and cheaper availability of wholesale funding for major banks will reduce retail term deposits rates, as CBA takes its foot off the gas.
Who knew? With some surprise results, the Government is on unexpected firm ground in asking people to draw on all their assets in retirement, although the comments show what feisty and informed readers we have.
The RBA Governor says rising house prices are due to "the design of our taxation and social security systems". The OECD says "the prolonged boom in house prices has inflated the wealth of many pensioners without impacting their pension eligibility." What's your view?
It's a remarkable statistic. In any year since 1875, if you had invested in the Australian stock index, turned away and come back eight years later, your average return would be 120% with no negative periods.
Never stand between Australian households and an uncapped government programme with $3 billion in ‘free money’ to build or renovate their homes. But excess supply is coming with an absence of net migration.
Picking macro trends is difficult. What may seem logical and compelling one minute may completely change a few months later. There are better rewards from focussing on identifying the best companies at good prices.
Some high-quality companies have emerged even stronger since the onset of COVID and are well placed for outperformance. We call these the ‘COVID Opportunists’ as they are now dominating their specific sectors.