Options other than Term Deposit/Savings Account

[milt1968]

Even allowing for a moderate risk acceptance, equities are pretty much ruled out with a 2.5 year time frame... therefore debt instruments become the main alternative.
If one wishes to UP the risk/reward above bank term deposits then finance company debentures come into consideration. THey will offer higher interest rates but of course there is increased risk of capital loss which can be mitigated by reviewing the issuers profile and selecting accordingly.

Thanks peat, will look into it.

[Lizard]

Im not looking for a particular level of risk. I am looking for something with a better return than a 4% term deposit with my bank.

Maybe have a look at the Rabodirect Managed Fund platform?

If I was starting over, I think I would leave 30-50% in higher interest cash a/c and split the fund portion across at least 4 funds from different managers and only buy one holding every two-three months (spread timing). Also select from different geographical areas and/or investment strategies (value? growth? index? equities? bonds?). Then I would re-balance between cash and funds (and between the individual funds themselves) every three to six months... that way, if the market goes down, I would theoretically have a good chance of buying more at the bottom and making back any losses, without having to use any expertise in market timing and/or stock-picking.

Of course this doesn't carry any guarantee that I would do better than term deposit or wouldn't lose money... it just removes some of the volatility from a portfolio of fund assets. With a longer time horizon, keeping so much in cash would probably dampen my returns though.

[milt1968]

Back in the term deposit it goes..

[Banksie]

Back in the term deposit it goes..

Lol - did you manage to get more than 4% though? You should be able to get around 5% for your amount and time period.