Putting 800k in "fixed" account is OK to satisfy getting retirement extension?

[Kerryd]

7 hours ago, AbeSurd said:

The terms of 7 or 11 months you refer to, are called by the banks 'promotions' - during which you get an interest rate above their standard rate. At the end of the 'promotion' the account reverts to the standard rate. At Bangkok Bank that has been 0.9% or 1% for a number of years now.

 

What do you mean by a Fixed account that auto-renews? Do you know what interest rate it will renew at?

I kept asking (Bangkok Bank) why they couldn't give me a fixed account that had a 1 year term, instead of all those shorter term deals that required actually opening a new account, transferring the money from the old account, then closing the old account. I pointed out the piles of paperwork they had to do every time, which was bad enough if you just had a single account, let alone 2-3.

 

Then a little over a year ago I went to (again) renew one of the fixed term deposits that had matured. The lady told me that they had a yearly term that would automatically renew each year (at the same rate as far as I know).

I had the option to have the interest put into my savings account or leave it in the Fixed term. 

I don't know if that was actually a new deal, or if it was just the first time they offered it to me. I would like to think that they would have offered it to me years ago as that is what I had been asking for, for years. Opening/transferring/closing numerous accounts a couple times a year is a pain in the @** at the best of times. I also wanted the peace of mind knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about the "3 month" deadline every year.

 

I just checked (online) and it looks like the account auto-renewed at the same 1.5% rate so working as intended.

[moontang]

25 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

I kept asking (Bangkok Bank) why they couldn't give me a fixed account that had a 1 year term, instead of all those shorter term deals that required actually opening a new account, transferring the money from the old account, then closing the old account. I pointed out the piles of paperwork they had to do every time, which was bad enough if you just had a single account, let alone 2-3.

 

Then a little over a year ago I went to (again) renew one of the fixed term deposits that had matured. The lady told me that they had a yearly term that would automatically renew each year (at the same rate as far as I know).

I had the option to have the interest put into my savings account or leave it in the Fixed term. 

I don't know if that was actually a new deal, or if it was just the first time they offered it to me. I would like to think that they would have offered it to me years ago as that is what I had been asking for, for years. Opening/transferring/closing numerous accounts a couple times a year is a pain in the @** at the best of times. I also wanted the peace of mind knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about the "3 month" deadline every year.

 

I just checked (online) and it looks like the account auto-renewed at the same 1.5% rate so working as intended.

There are no guarantees what the renewal rate will be, except highly likely to be lower.  Some banks allow you to do multiple FDs in the same book, as long as there are pages left..but when I stopped doing them with BBL four years ago, it was always a new book.  The last straw was when they had 2.6250 posted on the desk sign, and handed me a book showing 2.5.  I think they do the oddball terms to make it harder for people to shop rates..their own little version of price fixing.  Gotta like their 30 year old computers, though.

[Kerryd]

33 minutes ago, moontang said:

 Gotta like their 30 year old computers, though.

No **** eh ? I remember doing ASCII menus back in the late 80's ! 

I've also asked them why they can't have my information in a file so that when they open a new form (like a wire transfer form or to open/close and account or make a withdrawal/transfer) it automatically enters the same basic information that they put on every form, instead of having to manually enter it each time.

 

(Of course, the ladies at the local branch have no idea and I realize that bringing it up with them is pretty much useless but who knows, maybe 25-50 years down the road they'll finally get around to it !)

[moontang]

22 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

No **** eh ? I remember doing ASCII menus back in the late 80's ! 

I've also asked them why they can't have my information in a file so that when they open a new form (like a wire transfer form or to open/close and account or make a withdrawal/transfer) it automatically enters the same basic information that they put on every form, instead of having to manually enter it each time.

 

(Of course, the ladies at the local branch have no idea and I realize that bringing it up with them is pretty much useless but who knows, maybe 25-50 years down the road they'll finally get around to it !)

I hate to keep plugging CIMB, but unlike BBL, you can do a new fixed deposit in your old book, while standing there at the counter, in about five minutes...I think they will all be under the same account number in your fixed book. CIMB is rooted in Malaysia...kind of obvious, who is more tech savy.  The promos at HBO and others, are simply a bet that you will auto renew at a poor rate.  The 1.5% you mentioned is actually a big improvement as far as competitiveness.  Used to be the rate would drop more than a full percent at auto-rollover day.

Edited October 17, 2018 by moontang

[Kerryd]

1 hour ago, moontang said:

I hate to keep plugging CIMB, but unlike BBL, you can do a new fixed deposit in your old book, while standing there at the counter, in about five minutes...I think they will all be under the same account number in your fixed book. CIMB is rooted in Malaysia...kind of obvious, who is more tech savy.  The promos at HBO and others, are simply a bet that you will auto renew at a poor rate.  The 1.5% you mentioned is actually a big improvement as far as competitiveness.  Used to be the rate would drop more than a full percent at auto-rollover day.

But those "auto-rollovers" weren't renewing the "promotional" rates. Like AbeSurd mentioned, they were "promotions"  and if you didn't touch the account, at the end of the period the rate would drop to the standard rate (of about 1%).
Now that AbeSurd has mentioned it, I think I recall that they were pushing those weird term accounts as "promotions". (Of course, my Thai skills suck and the girls at the branch don't speak a lot of English so things get lost in translation now and then.)
Personally I was mainly concerned with making sure the money was segregated in an account that I wouldn't try to access and that it was there long enough to meet the requirements for the extension. If it made a little more interest that the regular fixed term accounts, it wasn't going to make a huge difference.

 

Like I said previously though (or was that in a different thread) - the interest isn't great but it more than pays for my extensions and re-entry permits every year and I can leave it there pretty much indefinitely without too much worry. (Still need to check it once in awhile though, just to be sure) ????

 

The time and effort I'd need to shop for a different bank, different savings plan and then transfer money and pay those fees as well as deal with the exchange rates, isn't worth the hassle (to me) for the little I might gain, especially when it could end up that I lose more than I make and still have to pay for the extension and permit

[moontang]

A one year renewable would be simple as long as it doesn't renew during seasoning, but 1 year rates are rarely as good as the odd term promotions, and unless you file, 1.5% becomes 1.275%, which doesn't beat YellowBank's 1.3%, and that account doesn't take out taxes on the first 20,000 in interest.  That rate will also move up in the coming months.  But, good idea to keep it seperate, with no ATM, and reduce the number of pages to show the IO.  I am doing that until my first renewal at a new office, then will likely go back to CIMB.  CIMB ATM is the best in LOS, too.

[AbeSurd]

5 hours ago, moontang said:

I hate to keep plugging CIMB, but unlike BBL, you can do a new fixed deposit in your old book, while standing there at the counter, in about five minutes...I think they will all be under the same account number in your fixed book. CIMB is rooted in Malaysia...kind of obvious, who is more tech savy.  The promos at HBO and others, are simply a bet that you will auto renew at a poor rate.  The 1.5% you mentioned is actually a big improvement as far as competitiveness.  Used to be the rate would drop more than a full percent at auto-rollover day.

With a Bangkok Bank fixed account, once the promotion period is over, you can add an additional deposit to the account. Interest is paid quarterly on each deposit in the account.

 

In fact it wouldn't surprise if it was possible to add an additional deposit during the promotion period - but I bet you'd only get the standard rate of interest on it.