Making that fixed interest.

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John_Phoenix

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So, lets say you cashed out some crypto a while ago, and you've got a couple of scheckles sitting around doing nothing much.

Which interest bearing account would you drop it into and why?

Risk appetite: Basically Zero.
Size of contribution: North of R50000
Timescale: Years

Asking to see what the wisdom of the crowd says.
 
John_Phoenix said:
So, lets say you cashed out some crypto a while ago, and you've got a couple of scheckles sitting around doing nothing much.

Which interest bearing account would you drop it into and why?

Risk appetite: Basically Zero.
Size of contribution: North of R50000
Timescale: Years

Asking to see what the wisdom of the crowd says.
Click to expand...

Since your risk appetite is zero. I would say tyme bank. Best interest rate considering you will have quick access to the cash.
 
beefymoocow said:
Since your risk appetite is zero. I would say tyme bank. Best interest rate considering you will have quick access to the cash.
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Zero risk and we're suggesting a bank that's basically a startup?

afaik there's no deposit insurance in SA. So to my mind a low-risk means one of the old banks at 7% or so.

Or turn it into physical gold - something pretty cool about converting a super-modern currency that could and probably will be gone by the time the grandchildren are born, into an ancient metal currency that predates the USA. Obviously no interest but just a thought.
 
If your timescale really is years, then probably an equity-based unit trust or something. Fixed interest products don't really get you anywhere IMO. The only ones with decent interest rates are African Bank and Tyme, which (as has been pointed out) don't really carry a large level of trust. The big four banks you're going to have to content yourself with a measly 7% or so interest rate.

What I'd do:
if I had a bond, I'd stick it straight in there and forget about it.
if I didn't have a bond but was planning to buy a property in <5 years, probably a fixed-deposit at my bank of choice,
if I had a paid off house already, probably an MSCI World ETF (or a mixture of them) on EasyEquities.

(Alternatively, ABSA's 60-month fixed deposit at about 10% IIRC isn't the worst possible option. But it does lock your money up for 5 years.)
 
If your risk appetite is basically zero, don't put it in a rand based savings account.
 
So was going through the different banks, FNB pretty easy to see an overview, Absa it takes 4 clicks to get anywhere while their interests rates are so crap.

Capitec's one looks okay/best of established at 7.13% for 6 months starting: https://www.capitecbank.co.za/global-one/save/single-deposits-option-fixed-term-savings-plan/
Better than FNB equivalent: https://www.fnb.co.za/invest/fixed-deposit.html
Absa's depends, can sometimes beat, sometimes not, the FNB equivalent: https://www.absa.co.za/personal/save-invest/products/dynamic-fixed-deposit/ if you go the 100/0 route.
For any instant access, don't even bother with Absa.
 
A massive thank you to everyone who has posted so far! Varied strategies for sure! Once this post has run for a week or so, I'll summarise the answers and their implied benefits and drop some charts into this post.

Finding information that speaks to us mere mortals isn't always easy.

Cheers!
 
JayM said:
If your risk appetite is basically zero, don't put it in a rand based savings account.
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But what's the best interest rate accessible to South Africans in dollars/Euro/Yen? The rand would have to depreciate by 7 or 8% per annum over the investment term for a low-interest foreign-currency account to be worthwhile. Hard call to make unless you know the investment term.
 
3WA said:
But what's the best interest rate accessible to South Africans in dollars/Euro/Yen? The rand would have to depreciate by 7 or 8% per annum over the investment term for a low-interest foreign-currency account to be worthwhile. Hard call to make unless you know the investment term.
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USD you can get up to 2%, EUR/JPY is 0%. SA is on a knife edge at the moment - an Argentinian-style depreciation (literally 35%+ overnight) isn't all that unlikely. If that happens, that 7% (before tax) isn't going to help much.
 
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Johnatan56 said:
View attachment 724188
www.africanbank.co.za

African Bank | Fixed Deposit Account | SA's Best Interest Rates | African Bank Investments

SA's Best Investment Rate at 13.33%* on Fixed Deposit Investment. Guranteed Returns on 3-60 Mths Deposits. Manage your Money 24/7 Online. Open in Less than 3 Mins!
www.africanbank.co.za www.africanbank.co.za
All depends on how long you're putting away your money. I'm still not sure whether I trust African Bank.
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That's why I said over 5 years.

I'm pretty sure they are safe now. They seem to be growing, which is a good sign.
 
Method said:
That's why I said over 5 years.

I'm pretty sure they are safe now. They seem to be growing, which is a good sign.
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Doesn't Sarb still own 50% of them too? Until they sell that is.

From the article as I believe it's behind a paywall:
South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) expects to sell its 50% stake in African Bank in a year or two, the central bank’s deputy governor said on Thursday.

African Bank was placed under Sarb control after nearly collapsing in 2014 due to the weight of bad loans. The bank was hived off from African Bank Investments (Abil) when its listed parent began to fail.
Click to expand...
 
JayM said:
USD you can get up to 2%, EUR/JPY is 0%. SA is on a knife edge at the moment - an Argentinian-style depreciation (literally 35%+ overnight) isn't all that unlikely. If that happens, that 7% (before tax) isn't going to help much.
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If that happens, a foreign-currency-denominated account isn't going to help much either, because capital controls will be back with a vengeance, also overnight.

Low-risk to me implies as few intermediaries and regulations standing between the money and the beer (denominated in the same currency) as possible.

OTOH if you want to do the uitlander thing properly, you'll have a foreign-currency account domeciled in that other country, and when Argentina strikes you jump ship. This imo is not a "low risk investment" but rather a fairly expensive (opportunity-cost-wise) hedge.
 
Tomtomtom said:
If that happens, a foreign-currency-denominated account isn't going to help much either, because capital controls will be back with a vengeance, also overnight.

Low-risk to me implies as few intermediaries and regulations standing between the money and the beer (denominated in the same currency) as possible.

OTOH if you want to do the uitlander thing properly, you'll have a foreign-currency account domeciled in that other country, and when Argentina strikes you jump ship. This imo is not a "low risk investment" but rather a fairly expensive (opportunity-cost-wise) hedge.
Click to expand...

You're correct - an FNB Global account (or similar) is higher risk than a foreign domiciled account, but it is instant to transfer from one these accounts to a foreign account because you don't need to clear the funds through exchange control.

Almost any cash savings account, in any currency, is a hedge and not an "investment" - they almost never beat inflation. So kill two birds with one stone - foreign broker account, and keep some cash in it for use at short notice.
 
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