Hi all, we've just sold our house and currently renting. We're looking at keeping our money in a long term deposit account and wondered if anyone might have any good advice or suggestions on what might be available and are we making the right decision?
Best options for investing money
Mary Poppins on 07/11/2012 - 21:20
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Hi Youness, thanks for your response. To answer your questions:-
53 & 44
I suppose ultimately, we would like to be debt free when we retire?
Yes, we have 12yo twins and
(same as answer #2) We don't have any real plans as yet… we were hoping to get some good suggestions from people with experience.
Thanks again!
Since it's house money.. I'm guessing we're talking about around 400-900k
You'll have quite a lot of bargaining power.
Stick with the big banks, they have a LOT less chance of collapse (your money going down the drain)
Check out uBank, they're backed by NAB
http://www.ubank.com.au/ubank/web/general/who-we-are/ubank-n…Plus, our deposits, up to a limit, are guaranteed free of charge under the Government Financial Claims Scheme. Until 12 October 2011, the limit is $1million per customer per financial institution. From 12 October 2011, the limit is reduced to $250,000.00 per customer per financial institution. Your limit is calculated by reference to the aggregate of all your deposit credit balances with UBank and NAB. Read more at FAQ's.
I'm not sure if UBank and NAB will count as one financial institution.
Apparently the deposit guarantee was reduced from $1million to $250k, so you could take a look, pretty much it's $250k deposit completely safe (or backed by the Government anyway).
Otherwise, I suggest you diversify (spread out your amount of deposit to take advantage of the $250k Govt Scheme, i.e. split the amount into several deposits into different banks), and shop around, flashing around your deposit amount should get you some of the branch managers' attention to give you better rates.Don't make rash decisions.
Also if you have a partner, and perhaps kids.. though I'm pretty sure you would know this, if you are SURE your kids (with a TFN) aren't going to run away, could probably open accounts in their names (to make sure you get taxed less from deposit interest income)uBank = highest interest rate offered so far (thanks to them not having a retail store, so they can skimp out on paying consultants and rent)
Thanks for the great advice cwongtech - I wish we had that much to invest (we have less than half of that!)
We have been looking at uBank and also RAMS (they're offering 5 .17% p.a. + Variable rate* Incl. 0.8% p.a. - variable bonus if each month you deposit $200 and make no withdrawals).
I heard that in some places it is now cheaper to pay the mortgage rate than to pay the rent. Perhaps buying another house is a better investment?
dudette… get a financial planner
Do you know how much a financial planner costs? It sounds expensive :-)
Being in the industry I can tell you it varies substansially, also the quality of the advice varies.
Given some of the answers to your previous questions you may benefit from meeting with a planner, most offer the first consultation free. See a few before deciding if you want to go ahead.
There are a few places you can find finanically planners
- "independent" planners these are not owned by a product provider, however can still be aligned to one.
- Bank planners - will push bank products
- Superfund planners - the level of advice will vary from fund to fund, they usually only offer advice on the fund you are in already however they are also usually helpful and tend to not push product as much.
I was looking for a financial planner on this website (http://www.fpa.asn.au/) and found one and decided to give it a try, since the first consultation is free. We talked for about an hour and half and the day after she sent me a quote of $1600, which obviously I can't afford at the moment.
If you have over 250k the Banks will negociate a rate with you, becauses of the amount of money you may find you can go to one and say XXX offered me XXX can you beat it, and they will/or at least match.
You may also find some at call accounts offering a great interest rate if you have over 250k (for example)
Go talk to people in the banks, when they find out how much you have they will do cartwheels for you. (assuming its over 100k)Financial planners, banks, term deposits… Sorry but - LOL!
Join www.propertyinvesting.com and wait for the next "invitation email" to join his USA investing fund. Everything this guy touches turns to money. I'd be very surprised if his current venture results in less than 10% for investors. If I wasn't looking at buying our first home, I would have put at least $200,000 with him in a heartbeat.
When you come back to thank me in a few years, be sure to also send me some money.
Has anyone heard of Firstmac… I literally JUST stumbled upon this company (haven't had time to look into the web site so I have no knowledge on what they are offering) (https://www.firstmac.com.au/Pages/High-Livez.aspx?woo_source…)?
No, but always read the details, that product is an investment in mortgages, the 7.8% is a historical rate.
Thankyou!
Can I ask why you're not investing the capital into buying another house?
Hi Stix, the main reason for not buying another house is because we are renting my Mother-in-Law's house. She didn't want to sell (due the current market) and we needed to upsize. The current plan is for us to rent this property for 2 years (unless we end up buying it or moving somewhere else beforehand).
Best investment advice you can get is free….
No financial advisor will charge you for the first meeting…..Or at least no one that is any good… All the banks, big and small have advisors that will talk to you at no cost….
Speak to at least 3 or more….if you start hearing the same thing from more than a couple of them, than you know you are on the right track…. Then choose the advisor you were most comfortable with…
Please do not do anything without speaking to a properly licence financial advisor… especially if you are betting your family's future on it…
Thank you PiStep… thank you all! we will make a couple of appointments with ANZ and NAB banks (we have accounts with these) and see what they have to say for starters.
Please also make sure you speak to at least one superfund you are currently with.
They are less likely to push a product on you
The info you've provided is so scarce to even begin telling anything.
Basic questions:
What age are you guys?
What are you financial goals?
Do you have dependants?
Do you plan to buy a smaller/ bigger house?
I could keep going on and on…