There are two basic accounts the savings account and the term deposit or varieties of these. Savings accounts have easy access to your money but very low interest is paid usually around the 2% mark but account keeping fees and ATM withdrawal fees means invariably your interest is in the cents region or nothing at all. Term deposits are another form of investment usually in the medium to long term. The rates on offer are always higher on the longer term i.e. 3 -5 years duration. The higher the % rate offered invariably means the higher the risk involved. So to get the best bang for your dollar you have to look at a few key factors. 1. % Rate. 2. Term. 3. Risk Factor (Is it a well known company? Or one you haven’t heard of before?) 4. Account keeping fees. 5. Tax. 6. Access to your records/ accounts (i.e. internet access.) 7. Availability of cash back in the case of emergencies. You usually find that if you draw it out before maturity there is either a penalty involved or a drastic reduction in the rate of % paid. 8. Always read the fine print on the contracts. It’s no good saying I did not know about that “special clause or condition after the fact. 9.Is there ATM or Branch access to your cash. 10. Are there more viable profitable alternatives available i.e. shares? So whatever you decide to do make sure that you check things out properly and do your homework So obviously there is a bit more to it then just sticking your money into an account sitting back and waiting for the profits to roll in. (Hopefully) Because if you are not careful you could be paying the Bank just for the priveliege of looking after your own money.

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