Don't chase higher yields, avoid risk and stick to safer categories

Stick to solid banks and shun both credit and duration risk in debt funds

Declining interest rates have got Helen Anthony, 76, a Patna-based retired school teacher, worried. “I have been rolling over my bank fixed deposits (FDs) at lower interest rates for some time now. If this trend continues, I do worry about the impact it will have on my lifestyle,” she says.   

Interest rates are declining, not just in India but globally, as central banks try to support faltering eco­nomies. Bank FD rates have come down. Interest on the one-year State Bank of India (SBI) FD has fallen from 7.15 per cent in Sept­ember 2016 to 5.70 per cent now (6.20