 "Credit cards news")
Closing your credit card is not like cancelling an order on an e-commerce website. It has ramifications, such as affecting your credit score. In this week’s lead story, Sanjay Kumar Singh & Karthik Jerome delve into the circumstances in which you should consider closing a card, the procedure for doing so, and the pitfalls to avoid.
The second article, by Namrata Kohli, is about the importance of efficient storage solutions for maintaining a well-organised home. It offers expert advice on planning and implementing these solutions.
If you are looking to invest in a debt mutual fund that carries very little default risk, consider investing in a corporate bond fund, where the fund manager must invest at least 80 per cent of the portfolio in highly rated debt instruments. If you wish to include a fund from this category in your portfolio, look up Morningstar’s review of Nippon India Corporate Bond Fund.
Interest rate rates are at a peak. If you wish to lock into these rates, and want better returns than bank fixed deposits, consider investing in corporate fixed deposits. Go through Paisabazaar.com’s table to compare and select the best option.
NUMBER OF THE WEEK
25-75 basis points deposit rate hikes by SBI
More From This Section
The State Bank of India has hiked the interest rates on fixed deposits by 0.25 to 0.75 per cent age points for retail deposits up to one year. The rate increase, effective May 15, is meant to attract deposits and meet credit demand.
With rates expected to soften later in Financial Year 2024-25, the hike for the retail category (deposits of below Rs 2 crore) is restricted to short-term deposits only. Rates have not been hiked for long- and medium-term deposits.
In retail term deposits, the revised rate is 5.5 per cent, up from 4.75 per cent, for the 46-179 days’ maturity bracket. The new rate for the 180-210 days’ bracket is 6 per cent as against 5.75 per cent. In the 211 days to less than one-year bracket it is 6.25 per cent as against 6 per cent earlier.
Retail investors should shop around for the best fixed deposit rates. They should also keep safety in mind. It is prudent not to allocate a large portion of one’s fixed deposit portfolio to cooperative banks. Even allocation to small finance banks should not exceed 25-30 per cent of the total fixed deposit corpus.
Think carefully before you go for a tenure of more than three years. If you have a horizon of three to five years, it may be beneficial to invest in a hybrid mutual fund. And if you have a horizon of more than five years, go for a pure equity fund.
