As stocks and mutual funds are considered as long term investment options, investors should know the available short term investment options to park their money to meet short term goals. Here is the answer for an queries or questions on short term investment options:
Broadly speaking, savings bank account, money market/liquid funds and fixed deposits with banks may be considered as short-term financial investment options:
Savings Bank Account is often the first banking product people use, which offers low interest (4%-5% p.a.), making them only marginally better than fixed deposits.
Money Market or Liquid Funds are a specialized form of mutual funds that invest in extremely short-term fixed income instruments and thereby provide easy liquidity. Unlike most mutual funds, money market funds are primarily oriented towards protecting your capital and then, aim to maximize returns. Money market funds usually yield better returns than savings accounts, but lower than bank fixed deposits. One can certainly consider to park their money with FMP’s a.k.a Fixed Maturity Plan mutual funds to get better returns than bank fixed deposits.
Fixed Deposits with Banks are also referred to as term deposits and minimum investment period for bank FDs is 30 days. Fixed Deposits with banks are for investors with low risk appetite, and may be considered for 6-12 months investment period as normally interest on less than 6 months bank FDs is likely to be lower than money market fund returns.