Money saved is money earned…right? Not necessarily in the long run. Rising inflation rates can mean that you’re actually losing money by leaving it in your bank account.

If we take my DBS account as an example; the interest rate is a lousy 0.05%. The average rate of inflation in Singapore is projected to increase to 2%. In theory, if I leave $100,000 in my bank account for 5 years, I will have $100,250 after interest. However, this amount of money will have lost buying power. In theory, my money in 5 years will actually be worth $90,622; I will have lost $9,378 just by leaving my money alone! (It has a negative rate of -1.95% when inflation is taken into account.)

While inflation shows an upward trend in the economy, it can be a massive hindrance to our bank accounts! So what do we do? There are a couple of ways to take action today! The first one is to find a savings account that offers you a higher interest rate. Some offer 2%-3%.

The second and most effective way is to put your money in instruments that will get you a much higher rate of return. This is why I feel that investing is key; even if you find something that yields a conservative 4%, your $100,000 in 5 years would be $121,665.

I will be writing about in a future article the benefits of different investment instruments.

Hindsight is bitter sweet; it’s very easy to sit back and relax and leave your money alone…but you will regret it in the long run.