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Falling interest rates are driving savers to look for other ways to get a better return on their money - but there's a warning that they should understand the risks they are taking.
The Reserve Bank is expected to cut the official cash rate on Wednesday, which is good news for home loan borrowers but not so good for savers.
Households have $80.5 billion in savings accounts and $144b in term deposits. But from interest rate peaks, one-year term deposits have fallen from offering more than 6 percent to 3.5 percent.
Two-year rates have fallen from 5.75 percent to about 3.5 percent. Savings account rates have fallen from an average of more than 4.5 percent for conditional saving accounts including bonuses, according to the Reserve Bank, to less than 2 percent.
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