8 LOW-RISK Short Term Investments to Park Money during Uncertain Times

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"Where do I invest money for the short-term?" This is a question many of us investors have previously asked ourselves and is even more pertinent now as elections, interest rates and geopolitical instability makes the investing environment a lot more uncertain. In this video, I shall take you through 8 safe & reliable places to park your money in the short run during these unpredictable periods. This includes:
1. Bank Fixed Deposits that offer stable interest rates, the returns are guaranteed & there is good liquidity. Alternately, corporate fixed deposits offered by NBFCs & public sector undertakings and post office term deposits can also be considered
2. High-Interest Bank Savings Accounts offer high liquidity and competitive interest rates
3. Debt Mutual Funds esp. liquid, money market and ultra short duration funds can provide safety and low interest rate sensitivity
4. NPS Tier 2 Accounts provide low-cost, flexible, and liquid options for parking money in the short-term via Class G and Class C schemes
5. Arbitrage Funds exploit price differences in cash and futures markets offering relatively low-risk opportunities and equity-based taxation on returns
6. Conservative Hybrid Funds offer better returns than debt instruments due to the dash of equity (10-25%) in them
7. Equity savings Funds use their one-third allocation to equities and arbitrage to offer equity taxation on capital gains and better returns than the conservative hybrid funds
8. Balanced Advantage Funds or dynamic asset allocation funds use a mix of equity and debt investments to offer potentially higher returns at optimized risk
👉 Video Chapters:
00:00 We Live In Interesting Times
01:15 Fixed Deposits
02:42 High Interest Savings Account
03:28 Debt Mutual Funds
06:21 NPS Tier II
08:16 Arbitrage Funds
09:43 Conservative Hybrid Funds
10:37 Equity Savings Funds
11:32 Balanced Advantage Funds
13:07 Shankar's Viewpoint
#shortterminvestment #uncertainty #shortterminvesting
Disclaimer: I am not a SEBI registered investment advisor or research analyst. I am not registered with PFRDA or IRDA either. The content posted on this platform is purely for educational purposes and none of it constitutes investing or trading advice. Viewers should do their own research and diligence before investing or acting on the information presented. Some of the links I have posted in the video, the description, the comments and other related resources might be affiliate links

[@shankarnath]

👉 Start here with KlarifyLife's TERM GUIDE: www.klarifylife.com/term-guide/start-your-term-guide-journey?

[@Piegon234]

Nice Video, how about parking in P2P lending platform . Which they offer 12 to 14% returns for 12 months

[@vaibhavrana]

Exactly the info that we needed right now!

[@AzadShaik]

An apt video for the current situation

[@vivekvardhan5689]

Great analysis… lage raho bhai Saab doing good job

[@gunaraj6947]

Perfect time, to the point

[@niksfloyd]

Hi Shankar, so are these funds averse of market highs and lows? I mean especially dynamic asset allocation funds can we enter into these with lumpsum at any point in the market or do we wait for a crash or something?

[@ashishasati]

Sir your hard work is showing on video, awesome thanks for valuable knowledge.

[@shankarnath]

So nice of you. You're most welcome 🤗

[@ajayverma1155]

This is one of the videos that I had been waiting for. Thanks for such a lucid presentation... 👌

[@shankarnath]

Most welcome Ajay ji, glad you liked it 😊

[@santoshkumarch4583]

Forever and always ❤ highly impressed

[@shankarnath]

Thank you very much 🙌

[@eleswararaomylangam2806]

Thanks a lot Shankar vry clear and detailed iformation.

[@shankarnath]

You're most welcome 🙌

[@karthikeyanv463]

Thanks for another useful presentation Shankar ❤

[@shankarnath]

My pleasure! 🙌

[@jammi25]

Hi Shankar, many thanks for all the effort you're putting into these videos. They are much appreciated.

[@shankarnath]

My pleasure. Glad you like them! 🙌

[@alokchauhan13]

Your videos always try to help in making decisions. Thanks for your efforts.

[@shankarnath]

Glad to hear that!

[@vijetarvindpatil7579]

Thank You!

[@shankarnath]

You're very welcome! 🙌

[@jamalahmedaad]

Very useful video. Thanks

[@shankarnath]

Glad it was helpful!

[@FifthArima]

quality content!

[@shankarnath]

Thanks

[@nilanjanbiswas7104]

Great video

[@shankarnath]

Thanks!

[@dsaha7700]

Many thanks for your reconcile and in depth single cover details for where to park short term money (6 to 12 months)...

[@shankarnath]

So nice of you. Glad it was helpful!

[@sreerajnair]

Kudos for Another timely video. When market is over valued many people may want to just wait and watch by parking their money. Btw, what’s your opinion on what happens when too much money keeps chasing an already over valued market? When does the bubble burst? Or does it ever burst? because an enormous amount of money keeps chasing the over valued market ceaselessly.

[@mayanktiwari2498]

Good to see sponsors reaching you! And again a great video Shankar!

[@shankarnath]

Thank you 🙌

[@pkprprempavankumar8749]

Thanks for one more brainstorming informative and creative video ji.

[@shankarnath]

It's my pleasure 🙌

[@nabeelyahiya]

Excellent video❤

[@shankarnath]

Thank you! 🙌

[@snehilkamal1919]

Another Great Video As Usual Shankar Sir! U really Provide Plethora of Info for retail Investors Like us..😊❤🙏

[@shankarnath]

It's my pleasure. Thanks!

[@hanumantrao3352]

Again, quite simple! Thanks sir. //Hanu

[@shankarnath]

Most welcome!

[@nitingaoshinde7737]

Shankar sir , very nice video ❤ I am following you from et money and learn lot from you.

[@shankarnath]

Thank you for your kind support 🙌

[@MrAvinash5]

Recently i parked 30% of my funds in hdfc balanced and in quant abosolute fund then stp to small or midcap

[@sanjaykirushnan9601]

Thanks Shankar very helpful. Can you do a video on taxation on profits among different assets classes and investments.

[@shankarnath]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@hsdrdeath055]

Great content. But can you also do more of industry analysis.

[@shankarnath]

Pls watch sector analysis here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4mZc3ebmNOqiLM .. I've covered 12 industries so far

[@Akash-iu6ik]

can you make a video on how to buy corporate bond from secondary market and what to look for when buying

[@shankarnath]

I have something relatable at kzbin.info/www/bejne/pme6m4Khnadkmrs

[@harithv758]

Thanks for the video Shankar. Ideal time to know these concepts! I've a question clarification. How do you do your STPs? Do you withdraw from your exiting MF and then again do a lumpsum to the new MF every month or is there a platform that does it automatically for you? I use ET Money for all my MFs and I can't see the STP option anywhere. Also while doing STP, do you pay the capital gain tax even when you redeploy the capital immediately into a new fund?

[@shankarnath]

Most welcome. 1. It's done automatically & I use the AMC website to effect this 2. Platforms incl. ET Money might not have built this feature as it's a minor use-case (SIP being the more prevalent one). Try myCAMS - they might have it 3. Yes, capital gain tax is payable .. which is why I am moving from using debt funds to using equity savings funds/arbitrage funds to effect the STP

[@qatest-tt6vu]

Another way to park u r short term/ emergency fund in overdraft home loan account from where u can withdraw money any time & also get indirect intrest on extra money parked same as hone loan intrest without worrying about tax...banks like sbi BOB AXIS icici etc provide such facility

[@rsv1503]

Shankar, You don't believe, past few months I repeatedly watched your debut fund videos especially experts take on debt, hybrid funds one. Those videos helped me to take decision and start investing in those funds from April'24. I also parked some in high interest rate FDs and savings account. Thanks for making this useful and helpful video.

[@shankarnath]

Most welcome. I'm glad you're finding my work useful

[@rudraroychowdhury9966]

Great content as always ❤. I've 2 questions on other matter. As you are very active in replying, I thought I may dare to ask. So please reply if you think it's suitable. Often we see on news/YT channels that some 'XYZ' company has 'XYZ'Cr. market share in India, and FIIs/DIIs are buying/selling 'XYZ' shares and so on. My questions are: 1) How/Where to find companies' (in same category) market share (not the share price) in terms of their business doing in India? 2) How/Where to find data of FII's/DII's on buying/selling shares of stocks?

[@shankarnath]

Thanks .. 1. Pls try Tijori finance (platform) 2. You can check large trades on screener.in

[@rudraroychowdhury9966]

@@shankarnath wonderful. Unbelievable... Thanks a ton. I have searched several times in Google regarding market share but didn't find what i was looking for because of the searching keyword... Thanks again. ❤ 🙏

[@PrabhupadaArmy]

PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ON COMPARISON RISK REWARD RATIO comdifferent BAF/DAAFs

[@shankarnath]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@vijayakumarrajuchamarthi2346]

Thanks Shankarnath sir for valuable information. Looking forward for your news letters

[@shankarnath]

So nice of you. The newsletters will restart once I have a better hold of my schedules, thx for your patience

[@smart3883]

hope you watched parking movie, again awesome presentation :)

[@shankarnath]

I didn't like it much the 1st time. I guess it was a case of over-promise

[@iFrozenSkull]

This is a different question not related to short term, but What are your thoughts on investing in Mon100 ETF now that the overseas limit is stopped. The fund will no longer create new units due to this. Would this affect this in the long run? I am confused whether I should be continuing doing SIP on this?

[@dheerajbhagwan6098]

Sir regarding aster dm health care it is being punished so much by the market

[@shilpiburman7102]

Hi Shankar. Thanks for another gem of a video. Had a query regarding term insurance. If I were to get myself a term insurance (in my late 40s) of about 2-3 crores what should be my considerations for selection, duration of cover and payment terms? The premium at this age is obviously high, so wondering how best to cover risk.

[@shankarnath]

Thank you Shilpi. I'm in Bangalore day-after & a podcast is being arranged with Shrehith, the CEO/founder of Ditto Insurance. If we have time, I'll pose this question to him. In my opinion, your term insurance coverage should not some adhoc value but the balance between your comforting retirement corpus and your present networth. For example - 8 crores is what many people I've spoken to need to retire around the 55 year mark. Let's say you're networth is already 7 crores -- then you really don't need more than 1 crore. However if you have accumulated a lot lower, say 3 crores .. then depending on factors like premium you should decide the coverage The second consideration is the tenure (duration) and similar to the above, go for the age by when you think you'll have reached your retirement corpus. So if that age is 60 years .. then keep the tenure to 15 years (assuming you are 47 right now). This again ensures your family has the necessary protection and you aren't overpaying on the premiums Thirdly, with re: payment terms -- I am biased towards "regular pay" i.e. pay monthly or annually. Like in my case, I have my term plans extending upto 70 years but I plan to stop paying premium once I've reached my financial freedom number. Going for "limited pay" would have not given me that option. Hope this helps.

[@shilpiburman7102]

@@shankarnath Thank you for this message Shankar - your detailed response to my query on term insurance has set me off thinking about my retirement goals and expected retirement age. Would be grateful if you manage to squeeze in time for this query when speaking to Shrehith. Looking forward to the podcast now :)

[@shankarnath]

@@shilpiburman7102 Sure, will do

[@dedhiapiyush]

Thanks Shankar. Very informative. If duration is 1 year plus, Gold plus Nifty50 ETFs in 50-50 proportion is also a good option. But yes, it's volatile than any of the methods you described.

[@shankarnath]

Welcome. I've haven't analysed this combo but given the tax factor, I'll be more keen on an instrument with 65%+ in equity. Ofcourse, the combo's heightened risk has to be kept into account. It's not advisable in the context of this topic.

[@szsouvikzs]

I have a query regarding mutual fund. Being a corporate employee I am investing in ELSS fund. Alongside I am investing in a Mid Cap and Small Cap MF separately. Now, I would like to invest more amount. Shall I increase my investment in my ongoing SIPs or invest in a new MF? If yes, shall I go for Flexi Cap fund or something else, where MF overlap is minimal. Thank you.

[@zenithease]

Sometimes over diversifying can lead to unexpected returns. Fix a target CAGR for your total MF portfolio. And if your current holdings are able to get that return than just increase the SIP. Or else you can opt for other MFs. And yes checking if the stocks are not overlapping is an important one.

[@sagek7949]

Thanks a lot ! With your advice, I switched my MF to debt funds. Please can you explain why people say we must never touch MF during uncertain times because we lose the compounding benefit.

[@shankarnath]

Most welcome. I think what people mean is that --- don't redeem your MF units just because the stock market is volatile. This is said to ensure you're not taking decisions based on fear. Your investing decisions should be based on logic. Fear is not logical and neither is transient euphoria

[@sagek7949]

Thank you 😊

[@bharatvarsha7]

i always wait for your video

[@shankarnath]

Thanks 🙏

[@SunWin93]

How STP works ? Automatically or you are asking to do it manually like withdraw from saving and put in pure equity ?

[@ShafiqueM]

STP works automatically

[@SunWin93]

@@ShafiqueM oh interesting . Need to explore this one . Not aware about this

[@kamathsonline]

It would be extremely useful if you could plot these investment options on a similar chart you showed in the Debt section like time, risk, interest etc. If you could add it to the comments or the description, it will be great

[@Daniel03Samuel07]

❤

[@user-ub8qt3od9m]

Shankar please give me a go ahead to put 25% of my retirement corpus into sbi bank annuity for 7 years which allows me higher assured cash flow as it involves principal back like loan emis. 75% then cud be deployed into BAFs for SWP’s after annuities are exhausted. At 65, I feel this way I move with the inflation and leave better legacy behind…awaiting yours

[@shankarnath]

1. Sir, pls never ask/take personalized advice from a social media channel. Even in this case, one doesn't know if this is Shankar who is responding to the comments or someone else from the team. May I request you to kindly consult a fee-only financial planner who can understand your requirements in depth & advice a plan of action. 2. On a generic basis, BAFs have been beating inflation consistently on a 5-year rolling basis. You might want to understand every BAF individually because each of them use a different valuations model (e.g. I've found ICICI Pru BAF more conservative than the others which isn't a bad thing)

[@madhurimadhuri3673]

Need to know if Balance advantage fund is good for retirement SWP. Also if not let me know which fund is suitable for 60 year old and whose 50% portfolio is in Equity stocks.

[@ajayaman923]

Is there age limits for nps schemes? Can American citizen resident of India invest in NPS scheme?

[@shankarnath]

Kindly watch my videos on NPS for more details 1. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoLXZ2SGms58Z5I 2. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqbIg2xjpJx1fck

[@coldstone87]

How did you download NPS details like you showed in the video?

[@shankarnath]

The pension fund company website has these details

[@Dushyantgiri]

Np tier 2 is taxed at as your normal tax bracket

[@coldstone87]

@@Dushyantgiri i was looking for info like avg maturity and other the way Shankar shared. Thanks for info

[@suprobhosantra]

Thanks Shankar for educating us. However I have few questions - 1. How does arbitrage funds behave in the bear market? Do they generate good positive /positive/ negetive returns ? 2. How does equity savings fund returns get impacted due to rate cuts? Also I suggest you to cover a topic in your upcoming video - Timing nifty market crash. I understand timing is very difficult but this will relevant as feds will start cutting rates & yield curve invertion which suggest a recession is coming (based on historical data). Idea is to make an educated guess to reduce some part of equity holdings and keep this as opportunistic buy money. You can also cover a strategy to deploy this money during bear phases based on historical drop % and bear period time duration.

[@shankarnath]

Thanks for the suggestions. Kindly examine the performance of arbitrage and equity savings funds on platforms like valueresearchonline.com .. do note, different schemes have different strategies

[@user-gk6oz8xd9o]

I thought that the Fed rate cut will make the market rally. May be to some extent the rate cut is already priced in. But banks and NBFCs are likely to rally. Also those businesses which are having tough time borrowing, will borrow after the rate cut. Isn't it? Thats what I think, but may be I am wrong.

[@satvik6143]

Sir what about ppf?

[@shankarnath]

PPF is not an instrument where money is parked for the short-term

[@kaushik3995]

​@@shankarnathYes Sir, PPF is a Long-term product. But after 15 years lock-in is over, money can be withdrawn. Moreover it's tax-free. Only issue is Liquidity which is slightly better with the changes made.

[@shankarnath]

@@kaushik3995 Thx for your views. Do let me know your experience of using PPF for parking money for the short-term

[@drsherlock3145]

I was just thinking about options to keep emergency fund and randomly got this video suggestion.

[@CoolDeepSingh]

You are giving so many options. Whats your personaly favourite?

[@shankarnath]

Depending on the circumstances, my favourites change. For instance, if I need money in the next 1 month - I prefer the bank savings account. For SWP, I like equity savings fund. With interest rates likely to come down, I like long duration debt MFs.

[@dewprakash]

thank you Shankarji for this informative video. I had started using Arbitrage fund for short term parking but did know much about Equity Savings MF. It was very helpful. I have question, do you think debt oriented growth MF can be an alternative to Equity Savings MF for parking money and STP?

[@sumantbagade4903]

What is Equity Savings Fund? Is it a type of Mutual Fund?

[@sohamsaha7812]

This is a serious channel. Pl try to keep it that way .

[@Dushyantgiri]

One thing not covered is gold etfs ( this vould have given good option but taxed differently but they are not better compared to fd in long term if you dont consider current bull run and well timed entry for gold.) , This are the funds i explored except equity saving funds, i found arbitrage funds as good for long term vs fds post taxation,

[@zalap.1244]

25-33% May Be In ITBEES OR IT BASED ETF.....

[@roop]

Please include FD options from Small Finance Banks which are giving FD rates of 9+ percentage for Senior Citizens and more than 8.5 percent for non Seniors. These FDs also have DICGC insurance upto 5 lakhs.

[@balajireddy7396]

My humble opinion. Even if you are a risk taker, not everypenny should be put in equity even if it's long term. Many ppl say , longterm means equity which is right only on paper but it's most impractical/unnecessary. Min 30-40% of ur asset should be kept in stable,less volatile instruments like Conservative hybrid funds , Arbitrage funds even for long-term like 10+ years. Remaining amount as per ur risk taking ability. Such setup helps ppl emotionally during bear market and prevents them from redeeming ter funds. Asset Allocation is everything. You should contract your portfolio factoring 2-3 years continous bear market. Somewhere I read an interesting quote. "You make money either by taking huge risk on small amount of money or take small risk on huge amount of money" The above quote will make sense if ur portfolio size is over 1Cr.

[@lokesh009garg]

Sir interest rate from bank fixed deposit is not covered under 80TTA, it covers only the savings bank interest.

[@rajeevroy4383]

A finfluencer recently suggested parking of lumpsum money in an active hybrid fund and do swp amounting to 0.5 % of capital to invest in a growth fudin an equity fund .This will ensue perpetual investment for generations . Slightly off track question but interesting. Please comment

[@shankarnath]

Truly interesting

[@nikhilabhyankar8031]

@1:55 NHAI, PFC etc are not FD's but bonds.

[@anuragsrivastava730]

A Treasury fund is another good option to park for 3 to 6 months, predictable, secure and upfront return.

[@nakulchaudhry2783]

Atleast 80 Lakh to 1 CR should be in FD in Tier 1 cities. Maybe put a chunk of the interest in SIP of a Flexicap or just let it be. The rest investments should start after you have that one safety FD.

[@chaitanyasaikumarnimmala6392]

First

[@sarvan55]

BAF as short term fund is a big NO. Even they were not spared in covid crash all BAFs fell between 16% to 34%. For short term FD/Liquid/Money Market funds is more than enough.No need to complicate by involving equity.

[@sudheerk67]

NPS tier 2 is rhe best if you can put in few hours of work once in 3months. Best tax accretive option that can generate alpha over FDs and Bonds.

[@yashagar4443]

Respectfully disagree sir uncertain times are the best days to accumulate equity

[@chintan2025]

Goldbees

[@yashwani612]

Park your emergency money in baroda bank advantage home loan overdraft savings account

[@prabhasghosh]

Pretty shocking P2P investment doesn't figure in this list😮

[@nikhil.dhawan]

Thats not risk free that’s why

[@ha123461]

P2p has higher risk than stock market, ur giving loan to ppl who don't get loan approval from bank

[@prabhasghosh]

That's a misconception arife amongst the investor class in general.. P2P lending has been demonised like what stock mkts were treated like in the 90s.. it's only where banks don't get to earn a dime as they are weeded out like middlemen

[@lionellawrence5798]

Does Shankar Nath speak tamil 😭

[@pradeep2kedar]

How does it matter ? If u are not understanding what is said, let me know. I can translate in Tamil ❤

[@sanjivgupta2953]

Don't miss Bharat Bonds ETFs

[@CoolDeepSingh]

Why bharat bond?

[@Dushyantgiri]

Nope not right stratrgy bharat bon before 2019 vheck qhat was the volatility..

[@win289]

Great video

[@shankarnath]

Thanks!