Li Chun 2023 (4 Feb) – When is the Best Date & Timing to Deposit Money?

You might not know it by name, but perhaps you’ve noticed snaking queues at cash deposit machines on a particular day during the Chinese New Year (CNY) period. That date is called Li Chun.

Signifying the start of spring, Li Chun is supposedly an auspicious day for you to deposit money. Fengshui masters even determine specific hours during Li Chun when it’s most auspicious to deposit cash for different zodiac signs.

How did Li Chun come about? And if it’s really so auspicious, when’s the best time for you to deposit cash based on your zodiac sign? Here’s our guide on the why, when and where to deposit your cash on Li Chun 2023.

Contents:

What is Li Chun, and why should I deposit cash on it?
When should I deposit money on Li Chun 2023?
Must I deposit cash in person, or can I do online banking?
“Huat” are the best savings accounts to open for Li Chun 2023?
How else can I grow my money on Li Chun 2023?

What is Li Chun, and why should I deposit cash on it?

Li Chun is a day that signifies the beginning of spring in Chinese culture. Depositing money on Li Chun is said to symbolise the steady flow of money for the year ahead. 

Most years, Li Chun falls on 4 Feb, give or take a day or two. The exact date depends on when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315°. This year, Li Chun falls on 4 Feb 2023.

While feng shui masters now ply us with heaps of advice on depositing money on Li Chun, the origins of this practice don’t lie in traditional beliefs. It reportedly got popular from banks’ marketing gimmicks in the 2000s (perhaps why some feng shui masters don’t believe in depositing money on Li Chun).

Not only is depositing money on Li Chun fairly new, but it’s also a practice that’s pretty localised to Singapore. In other countries such as China, Li Chun traditions include eating spring rolls and balancing eggs upright on flat surfaces—not so much rushing to banks to deposit money.

Image: Tenor

When should I deposit money on Li Chun 2023?

It’s not good enough to simply deposit cash at the ATM on 4 Feb 2023. You need to time your cash deposit perfectly in order to maximise your chances of “good fortune”.

Image: Tenor

The timings differ based on your Chinese zodiac sign. 

Feng shui masters don’t always agree with each other, and everyone has different feng shui masters they trust more. But based on the charts published on several sites, most publications believe Way Fengshui has it right this year. They even recommend certain auspicious colours you can don on Li Chun to maximise your luck for your zodiac sign:

Source: Way Fengshui Group

Must I deposit cash in person, or can I do online banking?

Don’t want to waste time on Li Chun queueing at cash deposit machines with throngs of fellow Singaporeans clutching their own feng shui charts? Yes, you can skip the queue!

According to Way Fengshui Group, it’s also acceptable to deposit your money via online banking instead. That makes sense to us too—since depositing money on Li Chun is a fairly new practice that arose in recent years, the means to deposit the cash should be pretty modern as well. It’s time to embrace E-Chun!

Of course, feel free to physically go down on Li Chun if you want to keep things more traditional. We get it, some of us feel better dealing with paper notes instead of pixels on a screen. Plus, with more people pivoting to depositing money online in recent years, the queues may not even be horrendously bad this Li Chun 2023.

“Huat” are the best savings accounts to open for Li Chun 2023?

Since you’re doing a bit of banking, you might as well review your present savings account to see if there are any better and/or more suitable ones to keep your cash.

That means making sure you’re seeing good returns by depositing your money in one of the highest interest savings accounts in Singapore. 

Here are a few account recommendations: 

Base Interest Rate p.a.0.05%
Max. Interest Rate p.a.2.5%
Min. BalanceS$1,000

Key Features

Up to 2.50% p.a. interest rates

Up to $200 cash credit when you sign up online and sign up for a UOB credit card. T&Cs apply

Low initial deposit of $500

Withdraw cash conveniently without an ATM card using Mobile Banking

UOB Young Professionals Solution is a combination of UOB One Account, UOB YOLO and the unique Sweep feature that allows you to automatically invest your earned account interests and card rebate into a Unit Trust

See all details 

Base Interest Rate p.a.0.05%
Max. Interest Rate p.a.4.40%
Min. BalanceS$3,000

Key Features

Minimum salary credit of S$1,800 via GIRO

OCBC 360 is a savings account with a base interest rate of 0.05% per annum on the account’s balance

You enjoy bonus interest rates when you credit your monthly salary, meet certain deposit amounts such as S$500 monthly increases or S$200,000 total balance, purchase insurance, or invest with OCBC

Increase your OCBC 360 account savings balance by S$500 monthly to enjoy 0.10% bonus interest on the first S$25,000, followed by 0.20% bonus interest for the next S$25,000, and 0.40% bonus interest for the third S$25,000

If your account balance is above S$200,000, you enjoy an additional 0.40% on your first S$75,000 deposited

See all details 

High Interest Rates
Base Interest Rate p.a.0.05%
Max. Interest Rate p.a.3.8%
Min. BalanceS$3,000

Key Features

No minimum salary credit

DBS Multiplier Account is a deposit account with a base interest rate of 0.05% per annum

Bonus interest rates: 1.40% to 3.80% per annum. DBS Multiplier Account 2020 interest rates have been updated as of 1 August 2020

To enjoy bonus interest rates, you need to credit your salary or dividends via GIRO to any DBS/ POSB deposit account that you hold, and transact a minimum of S$2,000 on any DBS/ POSB credit card you hold, DBS/ POSB home loan monthly instalments, DBS/ POSB insurance regular monthly premium, or DBS investments. Your bonus interest rate increases if you transact in more of the above categories

Bonus interest rates for 29-year-olds and below: Credit your income and spend above S$500 via PayLah! to qualify for 0.30% bonus interest rates on your PayLah! retail spend

DBS Multiplier 2020 interest rate updates: As of 1 August 2020, interest rates have been revised for DBS Multiplier account holders with transactions in 1 and 2 categories. Refer to Bonus Interest Rate tab below to see the change in interest rates

Students, NSF, self-employed, salaried or retired individuals are eligible to apply

See all details 

Base Interest Rate p.a.0.01%
Max. Interest Rate p.a.4.88%
Min. BalanceS$3,000

Key Features

Standard Chartered Bonus$aver is a current savings account with a base interest rate of 0.01% per annum on your deposit amount (updated rates as of 1 October 2020)

Bonus interest rates range from 0.07% p.a. for bills, 0.40% p.a. for Standard Chartered debit or credit card spend, to 0.90% per annum for insurance purchase with Standard Chartered

Complete transactions in your Standard Chartered Bonus$aver account from any of these 5 categories to earn bonus interest: Card Spend, Salary Credit, Bill Payment, Insure or Invest.

Base interest will be calculated at the end of each day, and credited at the end of the month

Bonus interest will be calculated at the end of each calendar month, based on the average daily balance of your SGD balances in your Bonus$aver account, and credited in the following month.

Multi-currency feature: Access funds in up to 14 currencies with Bonus$aver account. The multi-currency feature on Bonus$aver account gives you the freedom to shop globally online or offline with S$0 overseas transactions fee*, invest in global markets with just one account and enjoy competitive foreign exchange rates when converting currencies.

See all details 

Base Interest Rate p.a.0.1875%
Max. Interest Rate p.a.3.0625%
Min. BalanceS$1,000

Key Features

Earn up to 3% p.a. on the first S$50,000 of your account with Save Up Programme, when you save, spend, invest, insure or borrow with Maybank.

Earn bonus interest based on the number of qualifying products held:

1 qualifying product: 0.3% p.a. bonus interest

2 qualifying products: 0.8% p.a. bonus interest

3 qualifying products or more: 2.75% p.a. bonus interest

Choice of 9 qualifying products include salary or GIRO, home loans, car loans, investments and insurance.

See all details 

 

How else can I grow my money on Li Chun 2023?

Skeptical that simply depositing money on a designated day will somehow make you richer? There are surer ways to grow your money on Li Chun. Take part in the symbolic “seed sowing” ritual by putting your money into an investment account rather than a savings account.

Some suggestions:

Open a fixed deposit account
Start a regular savings plan 
Check out an insurance savings plan
Fund your robo advisor account
Or go crazy and invest the money!

Image: Tenor

Note that interest rates may change every now and then, so you do need to check what the rates are in February for Li Chun.

In any case, even some fengshui masters aren’t convinced that Li Chun really works. So these investments or a high-interest savings account might give you better odds of, you know, actually making money.

Share this article with someone who is into picking auspicious Li Chun timings to ‘huat’ this year.

The post Li Chun 2023 (4 Feb) – When is the Best Date & Timing to Deposit Money? appeared first on the MoneySmart blog.

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Original article: Li Chun 2023 (4 Feb) – When is the Best Date & Timing to Deposit Money?.

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