Optimise savings through a layered approach | OCBC Singapore
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Optimise savings through a layered approach

Optimise savings through a layered approach

  • May 2025
  • By OCBC Wealth Management
  • 5 mins read

Interest rates have been softening over the past 2 years and investors continue to seek alternative ways to grow their wealth, besides leveraging savings accounts with higher interest rates. Investors can consider a layering approach to make better use of their excess funds. They can divide their funds into three buckets: 

  1. one for immediate needs (i.e. emergency fund),
  2. one for short-term needs (i.e. for the next 6 months), 
  3. one for medium-or longer-term needs (i.e. for the next 6 to 24 months)

For immediate needs, investors can keep between three to six months of their living expenses in a savings account with higher interest rates that offer bonus interest. The bonus interest earned on their account balances is a boon for investors and is one way to further boost their savings.

For short-term needs, investors can consider a time deposit (which offers interest rates higher than regular savings accounts) or a money market fund. As with all investments, investing in money market funds come with some risk. Money market funds are unit trusts that invest in a combination of time deposits and debt securities with less than one-year tenures, including government and corporate bonds, commercial bills and deposits with financial institutions.

For medium-term needs, investors can consider investing in Singapore Savings Bonds, which backed by the Singapore government, making them a lower-risk investment, or a short duration bond fund which invests in government and corporate bonds that will mature in the next 1-3 years. Due to the shorter maturities of the bonds the fund invests in, these bond funds tend to be less sensitive to interest rate changes compared to long-duration bonds, so price fluctuations are less volatile, and they tend to be more liquid compared to longer-term investments.

Layering your monies according to the timeframe which they need it requires some effort, but it can also increase the overall yield of their savings. Investors should consider the pros and cons, as well as their risk appetite. All investments carry varying levels of risk, so it remains important for investors to assess their risk tolerance, time horizon, and investment goals before making an investment decision. Investors can manage risk by keeping a diversified portfolio and time-diversifying fresh investments via dollar cost averaging. Diversification across different asset classes can also help reduce overall risk.

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