T-Bills vs SSB vs Fixed Deposits vs Cash Management Accounts: What Is The Best Way To Invest Your Cash Savings

After a series of aggressive rate cuts from September 2024 to December 2025, the US Fed has since kept rates on hold at 3.50% to 3.75%. At the same time, the Iran war has added to the economic uncertainty, pushing up energy prices and fueling inflation pressures. With newly appointed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh seen as more dovish, it’s unclear how the Fed might steer interest rates in the months ahead.

For retail investors it may get more challenging to earn an attractive interest rate on our cash savings, especially in a more uncertain interest rate environment.

In general, Singapore investors can put their cash savings in Treasury Bills (T-bills), Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB), Fixed Deposits (FD) or Cash Management Account to earn an attractive interest rate, while still maintaining a very high degree of liquidity.

You can read the full article to learn more about each investment option.

#1 Treasury Bills (T-bills)

Treasury Bills or T-bills are the shortest-term Government securities. In Singapore, we can invest in either the 6-month T-bills (issued every two weeks) or the 1-year T-bills (issued each quarter).

Singapore T-bills are issued in denominations of $1,000, so retail investors can easily buy them, alongside institutional investors. As there is a fixed amount of T-bills allotted during each launch, there is no guarantee that investors will be given the amount of T-bills they have applied for, especially during launches when there is a surge of investor interest (pun intended!). You can see this with the % of non-competitive applications allotted in the table below.

Non-competitive applications are those who apply for T-bills without putting any threshold for interest rates they expect to receive (i.e. they accept the market rate). Putting in a competitive application means you insert an interest rate that you want to earn, otherwise, and if that target interest rate is not hit, you will not be allocated any T-bills.

Read Also: Singapore Treasury Bills (T-bills): What Is Cut-Off Yield, Median Yield, And Average Yield

For those interested in investing in 6-month T-bills, the next issue will be on 2 July 2026:

You can also see in the table above that interest rates have been stable in the past few T-bill launches, as the Fed has paused its rate cuts and maintained a holding pattern in keeping its benchmark federal fund rate in the 3.50% to 3.75% range. The empty entries represent future data.

Interestingly, we can also see that the past few 6-month T-bill launches had a 100% allocation to non-competitive bids. This tells us that the cut-off interest rates were potentially lower than what many were hoping to get when submitting their competitive bids.

Read Also: Treasury Bills (T-bills): What Are They And How You Can Buy Them

#2 Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB)

First issued in 2015, Singapore Savings Bonds or SSBs for short are another type of Singapore Government Securities (SGS). SSBs offer individual investors, both Singaporeans and foreigners, a way to build their long-term savings.

SSBs are launched every month, and individuals can invest in SSBs in multiples of $500 up to an investment limit of $200,000. SSBs have a maximum tenure of 10 years, paying a step-up interest rate for each year that you continue to hold on to the SSB. Alternatively, you can choose to withdraw your SSB at any time, also in multiples of $500.

The latest June SSB issue will offer an average interest return of 2.11% over its 10-year tenure. In the first year, we will receive 1.46% and this will gradually rise to 2.81% by the 10th year.

The average interest rates for new SSB launches have also been on a downward trend:

As we can see in the table above, the interest rates for the SSB in June 2026 are the highest it has been in 2026 – which could be likely due to the Fed pausing interest rate cuts.

We can also see that the interest in SSBs was relatively weak in the early part of the year. For example, from Jan to May 2026, only around two-thirds of the total amount offered was applied for.

Read Also: Complete Guide To Buying Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB)

#3 Bank Fixed Deposits (FD)

Fixed deposits also offer an investment for Singapore investors to lock in the interest rates that they can earn over several months and up to a few years.

Unlike T-bills and SSBs, fixed deposits are not guaranteed by the Singapore Government. Nevertheless, fixed deposits are covered by SDIC or the Singapore Deposit Insurance Company for up to $100,000 per bank per person.

Interestingly, the interest rate for fixed deposits, especially for higher amounts, is 0.05% for all three banks.

As we can see in the table above, fixed deposits do offer an interest rate that is slightly lower than what the Singapore Government Securities are paying.

Read Also: Beginners’ Guide To Best Fixed Deposits In Singapore

#4 Cash Management Account

Cash management accounts are typically offered by digital brokerages and platforms, enabling retail investors access to money market funds and short-term bonds that can potentially earn a higher interest return on their cash.

For instance, wealth platform Endowus offers access to over 400 funds with 100% trailer fee rebates. It also provides a range of curated portfolios, such as its Core Flagship, Income, and Cash Smart portfolios, each catering to different return expectations and risk appetites.

These investments typically carry slightly higher risk compared to Government T-bills and SSB, as well as fixed deposits offered by banks. It is also important to note is that cash management accounts are not all the same. Different cash management accounts may be exposed to different financial products and therefore carry varying levels of risk. Even within a single platform, there may be multiple cash management accounts linked to different underlying funds.

The interest rate paid by cash management accounts may also fluctuate with market movements. In comparison, T-bills, SSBs and fixed deposits offer returns that are fixed over a period of time. For those who prefer guaranteed returns and lower risk, fixed deposit products such as StashAway Simple^TM Fixed and Syfe Cash+ Guaranteed can also be an option. While these may offer returns that are closer to what investors can get from government securities, they can be more convenient since we can invest in them anytime, while also having more tenor options to choose from.

There are currently at least 10 cash management accounts in Singapore that we can invest in. You can read out article on cash management accounts to get a more comprehensive guide to the topic, as well as the interest rates that they provide.

What we can be assured though, is that cash management accounts should pay an interest rate that is relatively competitive. This is because they are exposed to market movements.

Read Also: Complete Guide To Cash Management Accounts In Singapore

There are pros and cons, as well as different characteristics, that we have to consider when we want to invest our cash in the short-term.

If we have a longer horizon, we can and should also consider allocations to stocks and bonds to earn a better return. Having a longer horizon means we can ride our short-term market fluctuations to benefit from longer-term returns – which have historically been closer to 6% to 8% per annum.

Read Also: Guide To Understanding Syfe’s Downside Protected Portfolio S&P 500 Investment

From Oil Shocks to AI Optimism: Markets Face Competing Forces in 2026

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