【US rate cuts】The era of high interest rates ends. How should you position to lock in high returns?

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points at its policy meeting in October, as expected, marking the second rate cut this year. Higher-interest fixed deposits in the market may also gradually disappear. At present, high-interest fixed deposits are mostly limited to ultra-short terms (such as 7 days), while interest rates on longer-term fixed deposits are no longer attractive. As a result, many people use savings insurance to lock in higher interest over a long period. If you want to secure a relatively higher return through savings insurance, what options are available in the market, and what should you pay attention to?

Savings insurance can be divided into short-term savings insurance and long-term savings insurance. The former typically has a term of 3 to 5 years and is marketed on the basis of guaranteed returns, while the latter usually has a term of more than 10 years and offers both guaranteed and non-guaranteed returns. In the past two years of high-interest rates, the guaranteed returns of savings insurance often exceeded 4%. However, as interest rate cuts in the United States draw nearer, the guaranteed returns of many savings insurance plans have already fallen below 4%.

We have found that some recent long-term savings insurance products also offer impressive performance for “short-term” use, making them another good option for locking in high interest rates. For example, Blue’s WeWealth “GO Interest Treasure” savings plan, although the policy term is 25 years, even without taking the premium discount into account, the guaranteed breakeven period is as short as 3 years. The policyholder’s expected IRR in year 5 can be as high as 5.65% per annum, allowing for both “offence and defence”.

Taking a plan with a 2-year premium payment term and annual premiums of US$40,000 (approximately HK$312,000) or above as an example, the premium discount can be as high as 16.5%¹, and the policyholder can already receive a total cash value of HK$80,000 upon surrender in year 3. Of course, the policyholder may continue to hold the policy and, by year 5, earn a guaranteed IRR of 3.93% per annum. Together with non-guaranteed bonuses, the expected IRR can be as high as 5.65% per annum. The total cash value is equivalent to 127.8% of total premiums paid, and the overall return is no less attractive than that of other short-term savings insurance products offering only guaranteed returns. However, this limited-time premium discount offer may soon come to an end.

At present, if you take out the Blue WeWealth “GO息寶” Savings Plan through 10Life, you can enjoy an additional 3% first-year premium discount. The promotion is available in limited quantity and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis until fully subscribed² (the IRR in the table above has already factored in the additional 10Life premium discount).

Finally, a reminder: before taking out a policy, make sure you have sufficient liquid funds during the policy term to cover unexpected expenses, especially in the early years of the policy (before breakeven), so as to avoid losses arising from early surrender. If you would like to compare other savings insurance products in more detail or learn about the promotion details, consumers may visit the Product Decoder on the 10Life website, or contact 10Life’s professional advisers. 

Notes:
1. Two-year premium payment term plan: for annual premiums of US$40,000 or above, the first-year premium discount reaches 13.5%, with an additional 3% first-year premium discount when taken out through 10Life; for annual premiums of US$20,000 to US$39,999, the first-year premium discount reaches 10.35%, with an additional 3% first-year premium discount when taken out through 10Life
2. The insurer reserves the right to make the final decision on the promotion and may terminate the promotion at any time without prior notice. 

Further reading: 
[US Dollar Short-Term Savings Insurance Comparison 2025] With US rate cuts and slower time deposit interest rates, short-term savings insurance continues to offer surprises
Prudent financial planning! Four essential steps you need to know when choosing a savings insurance plan
[US rate cuts] How do rate-cut waves affect savings insurance?
 

This article was last updated on: 6 November 2025 
 

This English version of this article has been generated by machine translation powered by AI. It is provided solely for reference purposes. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between this translation and the original Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.