At Equity Mates Media, we’ve got two podcasts designed to help new investors and those who are yet to get started. Here’s what we’re chatting about this week…
This week on Get Started Investing, we tell you the best savings accounts available in Australia.
Bryce and Alec share their thoughts on which ones you should consider, and whether it’s actually worth looking at savings accounts now that interest rates are up.
[Listen to the episode here]
Maddy and Sophie from You’re In Good Company are helping you get a raise. In this episode, the girls chat about some fool proof ways to work smarter, not harder, and the best things to say to your boss to get paid what you deserve!
[Listen to the episode here]
Hey, this got us thinking
Interest rates are rising around the world. You’ve probably heard those words too many times over the past year. Here’s how they’ve moved in some of the world’s biggest economies:
- Australia:
- February 2022 – 0.1%
- February 2023 – 3.35%
- New Zealand:
- February 2022 – 1%
- February 2023 – 4.25%
- United States:
- February 2022 – 0.25%
- February 2023 – 4.75%
- United Kingdom:
- February 2022 – 0.5%
- February 2023 – 4%
So this raises the question: Is it time to start looking at savings accounts that give a guaranteed return on your money?
Some of the best savings accounts on offer
- ING Savings Maximiser – 4.8% bonus, 0.55% base
- Deposit $1,000 a month from an external source, make 5 card purchases, and grow the balance in the savings account
- BOQ Future Saver Account (Under 35) – 4.75% bonus, 0.05% base
- Deposit $1,000 every month + make 5 transactions in your linked account
- Virgin Money Boost Saver – 4.6% bonus, 0.05% base
- Deposit $2,000 a month + make 5 purchases with your Go Account in the month
- Macquarie Savings Account – 4.5% introductory, 3.7% base
- After 4 months, converts to 3.7%
- HSBC Everyday Savings Account – 4.25% introductory, 2.55% base
- After 3 months, then it converts to 2.55%
Forget the bonuses and the gimmicks. Best straight up interest rates:
- Macquarie Savings Account – 3.7% base
- Also 4 month intro of 4.5%
- Citibank online saver – 3.35%
- Also has a 4 month intro of 3.75%
A few things to keep an eye out for
- Introductory rates – i.e. 4% for the first 4 months, then 0.04% after that.
- Bonus rates – i.e. deposit $200 a month for a 2% interest rate, otherwise 0.02%
Nothing wrong with either, just be aware and have a plan to manage them.
FYI
A resource that we’re continuously building is our book recommendations page.
Over the Equity Mates journey so far, we’ve had hundreds of expert investors join us on the show. And each time we interview them, we ask for a book recommendation that helped them.
Some of them are investing specific, others are business-based and some are just great all-round reads. You can check out the book recommendation list here.
A few other things to be aware of…
- FinFest is returning in 2023! Make sure you have 11 November 2023 marked in your calendar. FinFest is returning and you don’t want to miss it! Registration is now open, and by entering your email you’ll keep up to date and access early bird tickets.
- Some of the team have been testing out ChatGPT and have used it to build a daily, clue-based, Wordle-like game: Biznerdle. If you want to test your knowledge of listed companies, give it a try.
This is an excerpt from our Get Started Investing Newsletter email. Once a week, for those , we’re featuring some of the most interesting content we’ve come across in this weekly email. No spam, we guarantee.