Skip to main content

$500 in 5 minutes (here's how)

A 5m 19s phone call to my bank earnt me an extra $497.73

A 5m 19s phone call to my bank earnt me an extra $497.73

Term deposits can be a good way to save. They often pay more than saving accounts if you are able, and willing, to lock away money for a fixed amount of time.

Specials

Most banks will have a 'special offer' on one of their term deposit rates. For example the 7-month term deposit might have a far better rate than most other lengths. Seems like a good deal.

The Catch

At the end of 7 months the default option is to re-invest for another 7 months. But hang on - what if the 7 months rate is now terrible and the 9 months rate is really good? Doesn't matter. The default will be to invest for 7 months at the new terrible rate.

It's a bit like the lazy tax I mentioned before.

Big money for little work

When your term deposit comes due, take notice. Check out the interest rates for different term lengths - if term deposits are still your preferred option. A branch visit or a phone call is enough to switch you to the term deposit length that now has the best deal.

At the moment the difference can be as much as 0.65% - even just between a 5 and 7 month term. If you've got $40,000 saved, that's an easy $260 difference each year.

After my phone call I'll now make an extra $497.73 this year.

Why I'm talking finance

Money is the key to living a simpler more meaningful life. Working part-time I've had so many people say they wish they could do the same but can't afford it.

Smarter spending and investing wisely can give you freedom and options. You can choose a job you love rather be forced into one for money. You can find yourself out of work for a while and still be OK. If you want to retire earlier than the government pension age you can do so. If you want to work part-time or have time off between jobs you can do that too.

That's why I'm doing a few finance-related posts this year. Subscribe at the top of the page to be alerted to new posts.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My October challenge

Decluttering can be overwhelming. I've been stuck. Shelves and boxes and drawers full of stuff I should go through but not sure where to start. Aaagh - there's so much of it. The solution? So for myself (and for you if you want) I've developed a strategy. I've picked 31 categories in advance. I plan to tackle one item per day of October. If I miss a few that's OK. The point is to overcome overwhelm. To focus on one thing at a time. To move forward instead of being stuck. My favourite way to declutter is to sell online . (I even wrote a  free ebook of tips for selling online). I also like to recycle or upcycle things. Wanna join in? I've chosen categories where I think most people would have excess. If there's a category you have already dealt with, that's cool. Have a rest day - or go even further in one of the previous areas. The list Ok so here's my plan for this October. Bookmark this post or download the picture of my notes. For each category I ...

5 Reasons why we hoard - and they're wrong

"Less is More" is one of the catch-cries of downsizing. Often the fewer things we have the more we value them. So it's a great title for a book that's basically a manual for how to de-clutter your home. The introductory chapter of Less is More: How to De-clutter Your Life gives some great insights into why we find it so hard to reduce our stuff. Here are 5 of them - the last one is one of the biggest for me. 1. The cost of holding on. We were raised by our parents and grandparents and in their day items were expensive and space was cheap. It made sense in those days to hold onto stuff just in case you ever needed it. But today housing is expensive and items are cheap. It's hard to change a habit, but now we save much more by downsizing. 2. Keeping it in the family. For some reason we prefer to give things to those close to us. Again this was viable in the days of big families and lots of children to receive hand-me-downs. But these days we have smaller fa...

20 unplugged ideas

May 1-7 is Screen-Free Week . It's about spending time away from the screen and more time with each other - or doing things we love. It's a great chance to break the work-tired-watchTV-ads-shop-work cycle. This list of twenty alternative ideas is great for screen-free week. It's also a great reminder of things we could enjoy if we're shopping and spending less - and maybe working less and enjoying life more.