Investment for $25,000

W

waitinNJ

Registered Users (C)
Folks,

In this time of uncertainity I do not wish to put my hard earned money in Stocks/Mutual funds etc. But Bank is paying 2% interest.
And it is not good to have it so easily available as I may end up buying a new car which I do not think I need.

Any thoughts, directions.

BTW I do not trust professtional financial advisors out there in the market.
 
Think about CDs (Certificate of Deposits), Money Market A/cs, etc. They'll give you a higher rate of interest than a bank a/c. With the CDs there is a period before which u can take out the money or else you wil forefeit interest.

With MM A/cs you have more liquidity, but generally need a higher minimum to start the a/c.

Check different financial sites:
Hear that ING gives a good rate on CDs and MMs.
Also if you are a AAA member try MBNA bank, it gives more than 4% on M.M. A/c but minimum to start the a/c is $10000.

Thanks
P.S. I am not a financial advisor nor do I claim to be one..
 
180DaysGuy

180DaysGuy

Thanks for the info,

What are my options for long term investment,
I heard about US Govt Bonds etc. .. would they would be better than CDs
 
180:

Where's the 4% MM you are talking about? Can't find it, only 2.3% needs more than 90,000 to start.


NJ:

I haven't checked bond price, but as a general rule, they're high when interest rate is low, which is the case nowaday. They are good if you have a couple of million dollars and want to live off the steady cash flow. Really admire you if that's the case :p
 
consider ICICI

You can consider opening a FD account in overseas banks. These banks are giving decent interest rates. I have found that ICICI is giving the best rates these days for foreign currency accounts.

Check out the rate here:
http://www.icicibank.com/pfsuser/icicibank/depositproducts/fixeddeposits/interestrates.htm

Also, they have
foreign currency account: lower rate, dollar account, dollar interest, no conversion
Rupee account: hight rate (upto 8.25%), rupee account, rupee interest

The good thing about their rupee FD account is that at maturiy you can get the dollars back. Also, these days they have streamlined the money transfer procedure and their website says transfer takes 24 hrs.

I have not opened a FD with ICICI, but would like to know if someone else has opened one while they were here in US.
 
Try etrade bank. I feel their best offer so far is 1 year CD at 2.76%. Longer maturity CDs offer higher yields, but they carry higher risk / lower relative return when interest rate goes up.

Of course, you can go beyond CDs, which are the safest investment type of all, and more appropriate for people approaching retirement age. I don't think it is a bad idea to consult with financial advisors and let them give you a suggestion on asset allocation, from stocks, bonds, cash (CD) to real estate. You may also get some advice on how to diversify globally with assets in Euro or JPY in case dollar drops.

enjoy your freedom!
 
pa0907, the key words are Divercify and asset allocation, But not stocks at all if I lose some more my wife is going to hang me.

tyzh,

I need to find out more on bonds..
and if I would have couple of million dollars!!! I would be sipping margarita on Hawaiian beaches instead of wasting my time on all these GC hasles.
But you know what I am planning to go that way...

Bobby V,

is it safe banking with ICICI ? I am not sure if they have something like FDIC insurance ??
 
ICICI is safe. Event SBI, Global Trust Bank are good.

waitinNJ

The investment in ICICI is safe. Better than that is SBI and if you want a little more Gobal Trust Bank is also good.

But Citi is offering lot of features with that even a bit less interest looks good to me.

I preferred SBI and that one is OK for me. Just my opinion.
 
Stocks bad??

Originally posted by waitinNJ
pa0907, the key words are Divercify and asset allocation, But not stocks at all if I lose some more my wife is going to hang me.

tyzh,

I need to find out more on bonds..
and if I would have couple of million dollars!!! I would be sipping margarita on Hawaiian beaches instead of wasting my time on all these GC hasles.
But you know what I am planning to go that way...

Bobby V,

is it safe banking with ICICI ? I am not sure if they have something like FDIC insurance ??
Click to expand...

The YTD yield on my stocks portfolio is close to 13% :) There are tons of stocks for a bargain out there, my friend. You just have to know which ones to own and for how long.
 
Re: ICICI is safe. Event SBI, Global Trust Bank are good.

Originally posted by Gentle Breeze
waitinNJ

The investment in ICICI is safe. Better than that is SBI and if you want a little more Gobal Trust Bank is also good.

But Citi is offering lot of features with that even a bit less interest looks good to me.

I preferred SBI and that one is OK for me. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

you are right icici is safe.

actually this is a good topic and if it is not too off-topic, i would like to discuss some of the aspects of these banks. i am sure it will help a lot of us (incuding myself of course). i have looked into icici bank FD accounts and i like most things about it. the rates are good, actually in sep/oct the rates were even better, they dropped down on Nov 7th. but i have not had and experience doing business with them.

gentle breeze, how has your experience been with SBI? how long does it take them to balance transfer. i am sure they have a customer service line in US. since you have opened your account have you been to your SBI branch in india. how has been the communication. also are the sbi accounts non-repatriable. did you need a certificate from a CA. what are the things you like about SBI, if you don't mind sharing. may be i will change my mind from icici to sbi. :)

also, gentle, thanks for mentioning GTB, they do have rates up to 8.75. these are the highest rates i can see anywhere.

has anyone used global trust bank and specifically their 'pranaam' deposit?
 
tyzh:

Sorry, I have a AAA Visa Credit card and they had inserted a flyer in the last statement and that showed the last 5 years of APY on the MM A/c. In 2001, they had around 4.48%, while the national average was 2.52%. So I assumed that they would have the same for 2002.

Regarding Global Trust Bank, although this bank was a high-flyer some time back, right now it's not doing very well. In fact I have a friend(from school days) who worked there, and who advised me against opening accounts with Global Trust Bank. Incidentally, couple of months back, he changed his job to ICICI.

Basically it's your decision whether to stay with a Private bank or Public. But on the whole ICICI Bank is right now doing very well in India and also HDFC bank (don't know its rates though).

Another thing, when I opened an ICICI account about 9 months back, the manager told me that the deposits are covered upto Rupees One Lakh Rs.100000/- . Note that it is Rupees and Not Dollars.

Thanks
 
WheresMahGreen

WheresMahGreen


Are you talking about stocks or mutual funds,Stocks can not be trusted anymore even if bargain, see all these scandles and fuzzing the data. How do you trust them.

The problem is - It you think it is the bottom, it turns out it is not.
And I bought the stocks of only well doing ones of past. they are all same -
Lucent Nortel Cisco Oracle Sun AT&T the list is huge...

Again, as I can not keep-up with day to day updates so stocks are out of my reach.
 
Originally posted by 180DaysGuy
Another thing, when I opened an ICICI account about 9 months back, the manager told me that the deposits are covered upto Rupees One Lakh
Click to expand...

180DaysGuy, did you open your account while you were in US?

What do they mean by deposits are 'covered' up to Rs 1 Lakh?
 
180daysguy - question

Even if we deposit $25,000(dollars) we are covered for only Rs one lac???
In case the bank fails(worst case scenario)we lose everything!!!
Does any one know how safe are those NRI deposits in India???

:confused:
 
Citibank says this on its website for NRE/NRO Rupee deposit accounts:
Deposits made with Citibank India and Singapore are not covered by the Deposit Protection Scheme under the UK Banking Act 1987 and are not insured by FDIC or CDIC nor by any insurance corporation outside India or Singapore.

It seems like all banks operate similarly where as their accounts are not FDIC insured outside India, but are safe within India.
 
Hi Guys,

I opened 4 accounts while i was in India earlier this year:
1) 2 FCNR accounts (Foreign Currency Non Resident) accounts: These are dollar accounts and the interest is paid in dollars and the money can be easily repatriated to the US if required.
2) 2 NRE Rs accounts: These are Rs. accounts, basically the dollars that I gave were converted to Rs., i think the exchange rate that I got then was 49+, although I don't recollect exactly. They give a much higher rate of interest, where as the dollar accounts are slightly better than the CDs here.

I opened 4 accounts with me being primary on 2 and my wife being primary on 2. Of course we are joint on each other's. The reason for doing this, is to kick in the 1,00,000 insurance on each of the accounts.

I personally asked the manager about the 1,00,000 lakh insurance and he told me that's the law and advised me to go in for 4 accounts(although the Rs. accounts respectively carry much more than 1,00,000 Rs.)

In such cases you feel that nationalized banks are safer as they are backed by the Govt. of India, so in case they fail, Govt. would pay everybody their dues. Although in my 29 years of existence, I am yet to hear about a nationalized bank failing.:) :) At the same time, interest rates are a bit lower. ICICI gives one of the best interest rates on the market. It's a classic case of higher the risks, higher the gains. Nevertheless, I am reading news stories about how greatly ICICI is doing(?). Worldcom and Enron were also galloping :( :(, God only knows..

Lastly, all my accounts are in the FD format for 3 years and my dad has total authority to operate these accounts. You can nominate any one to operate these accounts, except that person cannot close the accounts and cannot get dollars from the dollar account. The last is treated as foreign currency withdrawal. He/She can withdraw as much as he/she wants, from the Rs. accounts

Thanks
180DaysGuy
 
I don't remember exactly but I think the Rs. 1,00,000 lakh insurance is per entity (i.e. person) and not on the no. of accounts he/she holds. So if you have 5 accounts, each carrying 1 lakh, you will still get covered only for a lakh.

I need to confirm this with the bank..:( :(

Originally posted by 180DaysGuy
Hi Guys,

I opened 4 accounts while i was in India earlier this year:
1) 2 FCNR accounts (Foreign Currency Non Resident) accounts: These are dollar accounts and the interest is paid in dollars and the money can be easily repatriated to the US if required.
2) 2 NRE Rs accounts: These are Rs. accounts, basically the dollars that I gave were converted to Rs., i think the exchange rate that I got then was 49+, although I don't recollect exactly. They give a much higher rate of interest, where as the dollar accounts are slightly better than the CDs here.

I opened 4 accounts with me being primary on 2 and my wife being primary on 2. Of course we are joint on each other's. The reason for doing this, is to kick in the 1,00,000 insurance on each of the accounts.

I personally asked the manager about the 1,00,000 lakh insurance and he told me that's the law and advised me to go in for 4 accounts(although the Rs. accounts respectively carry much more than 1,00,000 Rs.)

In such cases you feel that nationalized banks are safer as they are backed by the Govt. of India, so in case they fail, Govt. would pay everybody their dues. Although in my 29 years of existence, I am yet to hear about a nationalized bank failing.:) :) At the same time, interest rates are a bit lower. ICICI gives one of the best interest rates on the market. It's a classic case of higher the risks, higher the gains. Nevertheless, I am reading news stories about how greatly ICICI is doing(?). Worldcom and Enron were also galloping :( :(, God only knows..

Lastly, all my accounts are in the FD format for 3 years and my dad has total authority to operate these accounts. You can nominate any one to operate these accounts, except that person cannot close the accounts and cannot get dollars from the dollar account. The last is treated as foreign currency withdrawal. He/She can withdraw as much as he/she wants, from the Rs. accounts

Thanks
180DaysGuy
Click to expand...
 
Any more ideas ...what should we be doing with our savings ??

Any more ideas ...what should we be doing with our savings ??
rather than putting them in CD's or savings Accounts ?? any reliable Business ideas ??

I don’t want to invest them in stocks ..as I have burnt my fingers already.
 
I work in the stock market. My best bet for you my dear would be stay away from bonds rightnow. Unless and until you are going for ultra short bond funds. Bond prices are high and are destined to fall as intr. rates go up.
I am a skeptic also, but look at it this way. Go for a mutual fund which has a good track record. Morningstar.com will provide you with analysis for the same. And invest in that right now. I yet have about 50% of my savings including my IRA in the stock market. Simple reason. Things are cheap right now. 1-2 years short term you won't find a big difference iwth the market being volatile, but over the long term you'd be better off. Why? because stocks are fairly valued right now. They aren't cheap but they aren't expensive either. Over the long term you should be fine.
Oh and if you are yet insistent on a deposit in the US. Try DCU bank you need to be a member. www.dcu.org. They are providing 3.26% interest on a 7 month CD right now.
I'm not a financial advisor and my opinion is that of mine alone.
 
Do you own a home. If not consider investing in getting a condo or a house with the interest rates very low it will be a very good investment.

Thanks
 
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