Published : 13 years ago, on 19/04/2012

Savings products/ instruments are apt for earning good interest rates depending upon the time one decides to keep it. However if the instrument not chosen wisely can lead to low yields, says advisors. Short term investment schemes might not appear fruitful. The trick is to be patient and rely on the longer duration schemes and expect a revival in the interest rates as per the bank’s policy announcements.

Identifying instruments which offer you with the maximum yields on interest rates might not be difficult with the flamboyant spread of various options available, esp. the online savings and money market accounts.

As per the experts there are a few places you can accumulate your cash expecting good yields.

1. Money market deposit accounts: before you invest in money market accounts (or MMAs), research the various schemes available. Find out the schemes with at least 100 highest yields. If the search is done systematically, you should come across a list of banks offering the best yields in the market.
2. There are different online sites available to help you with your research on MMAs and online savings. You can rely on bankrate.com, money-rates.com, bankaholic.com, etc.
3. Once you have already decided to open an account (either MMA or online savings) with a bank, confirm some details with the bank. These are: Annual percentage yield (APY), if there is any introductory rate and rate term. What is the minimum opening balance? How much is the fees if there is no balance and what should be minimum balance to avoid any fees? If there is any monthly service fees involved. What is the number of withdrawals allowed each month?
4. You might come across some banks offering exceptionally high yields. These are usually the ones which want to expand their business and increase deposits. But in the long run, these banks end up dropping their interest rates by huge margins. So you need to be carefully choosing such plans with such banks.
5. The safest and low-risk category plans are usually given by the government owned banks.
6. You can avail the opportunity of transferring your cash from your savings account to fixed deposit account. The process in called ‘Sweep-out’. Make sure you maintain a threshold limit for your savings account to avoid any fees.
7. Similarly if you fall short of money while withdrawing it from your savings account you can avail the facility of ‘Sweep-in’ from the linked fixed deposit account to your savings account. However during Sweep-in the interest rate attached to the initial fixed deposit is dropped from its original value.