Are bank deposits still the WISEST investment these days?

i'm not an economist either and i can't claim to having made wise decisions when it comes to financial matters. i'm still learning and learning some more. hehe i'm not sure if regular bank deposits is the safest and wisest investment. come to think of it, whatever we saved and deposited to the bank... it will just earn us less than 1% per year, as can be witnessed in the philippine scenario. so imagine how much your bank deposits should be and for how many years you need to forget about it just so it could feed you upon your retirement age. -lol- (plus point: accessibility. negative point: bank deposit insurance have a ceiling.) some commercial banks offer great deals on fixed deposit rates and investment schemes but starting amount is pretty high and not for the low to middle-income earners. investments on treasury bonds is a bit higher but the investment period, i heard is longer. (plus point: earns you higher than regular savings. negative point: inaccessibility for a period of time.) before, when i was working with an international ngo project for strengthening financial institutions in the country, we focused on credit unions or locally known as coops. i had a very good experience that made me patronize their products. imagine, my regular savings can earn me between 4%-6% interest rate per annum; time deposits earn me 8%-10% per annum and share deposits (just based on one coop that i have tried) earned me 30% per annum. it was just a small investment because i just wanted to try the difference that we have provided, and the impact of our project to their institution. (plus point: earnings you can appreciate. negative point: regional, coops not operating nationwide.) good returns may involve higher risks. so it's up to us how much we want to earn, at what risk we can afford and up to how long we can be patient. just a balance of things. we can be passive or agressive about it. some would invest on assets that would appreciate over time like real estate. while some, re-invest in business. whatever we decide to do, just do a bit of research first and test the waters. never put all your eggs in one basket. so what i do is dab on little bits here and there... in time, i'd know which one will earn me the most at the level of risk i'm comfortable with. i don't have an inkling about the stock market and i don't wish to learn at this stage. i'm more comfortable in stuff that i know and have experience with. unlike the stock market which is as volatile as the economy and as highly dependent on what's happening in other countries.

bank deposits are not a wise investment. I believe that investing should be easy and fun. Like you, i thought that investing in stock market is really scary and not for ordinary people. Until i found a book by Bo Sanchez "My maid invests in stock market and why you should too." It is very informative book, very simple and easy to understand. I follow the instruction step by step and now i am stock market investor and it felt awesome. You can read or download the ebook by copying and pasting the url below to your browser. http://www.citiseconline.com/loj/MyMaidInvest_ebook.pdf

I think that time deposits are better than savings account.time deposits yield higher interests than plain savings account.just make sure that the money isn't what you will be needing for the next 12 months or 5 years.if you are starting to learn how investment goes,a reputable bank can help you understand more how time deposit goes.choose a bank that has good reputation and has stable financial record.

I believe that there are better investments than putting your money in the bank such as saving bonds or stocks. However, bank deposits are the safest investments, even though you get a low interest rate, as you are insured up to a certain amount. It also gives you the freedom to withdraw your money anytime you please unlike savings bonds where you have to wait a couple years or stocks, which you have to wait for the investment to gain profit.