A Belarusian's money lay in a bank deposit for 10 years. What happened to it during that time?
Uladzimir's salary has always been close to the national average, but his financial story might surprise you: the man has over a hundred deposits, and recently he withdrew a deposit that had been in the bank for 10 years. Back then, he invested an amount greater than his annual salary, and, as he admits, he couldn't have known exactly what would happen over such a long period. Recently, Uladzimir got his deposit and interest back — the "Onliner" publication told how this story ended.
"2014 — I lost money"
"Let's agree right away: I don't want to appear as a hero of a 'invested - got rich' success story. There's little use in that. Well, someone bought an apartment for $38,000, and now it costs $65,000 — great, one can be happy for them. But what should a reader do today? There's no time machine. The question is always the same: what to do with money now," Uladzimir begins his story. "In any case, the goal is not to give some recommendations to people, but to show how it happens."
Uladzimir started actively dealing with deposits after the 2011 devaluation. His salary was close to the national average, when converted to currency — around $200-300.
A little context on what the situation with deposits looked like: back then, rates in Belarusian rubles reached 50-60% per annum. Now it sounds like fantasy, but it was a reality.
"The exchange rate was creeping up, everyone feared a new devaluation. And against this background, a whole strategy emerged: people played on deposits. On forums, including Onliner, this topic was discussed — I was also active on your forum since 2012."
Uladzimir points out that he was not initially an investor with large capital, and his work is far from the financial sector — nevertheless, he runs a financial blog and shares his experience.
In 2012, he had a successful business trip and immediately received an annual salary or even a little more — this can be considered the moment he started saving.
Then came the 2014 devaluation. The man describes its consequences for his ruble savings succinctly: "I certainly lost money on some things, it was unpleasant."
In 2016, deposits were divided into revocable (can be withdrawn early) and irrevocable (cannot be withdrawn prematurely). The latter, of course, had higher interest rates, but also stricter conditions.
"It became a little more difficult for depositors. And then March 2016 comes, a deposit with 30% interest for 3, 5, 10 years appears.
Before this, everyone generally placed money for a month, three months, half a year, or maybe a year. You think: now you'll go in at 30% — but what if it's 40% in a year?"
As a result, Uladzimir took so-called "placeholders" of 200 non-denominated thousands to the bank — he opened deposits for small amounts to be able to fix the conditions.
"Back then, it was a normal practice: people literally ran around banks, chasing rates."
Then information appeared that additional contributions would be closed, and the man topped up his deposits. Thus, in 2016, the 3-year deposit held 10,200,000 rubles (1020 rubles after denomination), the 5-year deposit held 40,200,000 rubles (4020 rubles after denomination), and the 10-year deposit held 50,200,000 rubles (5020 rubles after denomination).
For simpler understanding, we note that in total this was about $5,000 — more than Uladzimir's annual salary at that time. But at the same time, it was an amount he could risk.
"I didn't invest all my money. And this is crucial: you cannot gamble with amounts whose loss, in case of failure, would simply 'kick you out' of the market or leave you with nothing at all," the man warns. "You should only risk the amount whose loss you can calmly endure."
"A year later I realized how much I had erred"
Since all three deposits were irrevocable, all that remained was to wait for the interest to accrue each month.
"But already a year later I realized how much I had erred: back then, deposits fell to 17%, 15%, even 12%. It turns out that in 2016, everything should have been thrown in for at least 5 years, or better yet, for 10. The best decision then would have been to lock in for the longest possible term, but who knew that?"
How much did Uladzimir ultimately gain? From the 10-year deposit, he received about 14-15 thousand rubles in interest, having invested 5 thousand.
"Previously the exchange rate was 2 rubles per dollar, it became 3 — the currency appreciated by almost 50%. The deposit yielded 30% per annum, which means the effective yield was approximately 25% per annum. That is, even with the weakening of the ruble, the deposit still remained profitable," he says. "Roughly speaking, on the 10-year deposit, I ended up with about 14-15 thousand rubles — this is approximately three times the initial amount. Plus, there was also interest from other deposits — in total, it comes out to more than 20 thousand.
But I'll say right away: this is not some unique story in the spirit of 'got lucky, like with Bitcoin.' Deposits were available to everyone back then, nobody prevented entering at 30%. The other question is that everyone had their own situation."
Unfortunately, this cannot be repeated
Uladzimir emphasizes: we cannot now go back to 2016 with its high rates, nor to 2022, when there was a window of opportunity and interest rates rose again. This story cannot simply be taken and repeated. But there is 2026, and there are also opportunities there — they are just different.
A logical question: where will the interest from the 10-year deposit go? It seems you've already guessed: Uladzimir sends the interest from deposits to new deposits.
"For myself, for example, I've decided: if I see 20% per annum in Belarusian rubles, I go in. Now such rates are almost nonexistent, but there is compound interest (when the income from the deposit is added to the principal monthly and interest is also accrued on it). And many underestimate it.
If you take the same 5 thousand and imagine that a 30% deposit had capitalization and no withdrawal of interest, over 10 years you would get about 97 thousand — almost ×20. But in reality, almost no one does that: you always want to withdraw, spend, hedge somewhere. Therefore, now I try to choose deposits with capitalization and the possibility of replenishment and work over the long term."
Uladzimir practically doesn't consider short-term deposits, because after a year he finds himself back at the same point: money in hand, rates are already lower, and he has to think about where to put them.
— So for myself, I play on a horizon of 3-5 years, sometimes longer. My portfolio is 60-70% in Belarusian rubles, the rest is in foreign currency.
People often ask: what if you need the money? Then I have a counter-question: why are you saving it? First, there should be a goal: a car in two years, an apartment in five, just savings. And then a strategy is built around that. You can create a "ladder": part for one year, part for two, part for three to five years. But, honestly, my experience shows that you often regret not putting it away for a longer term.
— What is your goal then?
— To buy a new car by 2030. A separate portfolio has been collected for it — about 11-12 thousand rubles, a deposit with a yield of about 16%, but due to capitalization, it actually comes out to more than 20% per annum. But such conditions are almost non-existent in banks now.
At the same time, it is impossible to withdraw interest prematurely, but the rate is tied to the refinancing rate: if it increases, the deposit's profitability will automatically increase. Currently, Uladzimir estimates the profitability of his deposit in four years to be approximately 23%.
— Is that so, or am I actually mistaken? We can meet in four years, and I'll tell you.
— Many would say: to save money like that for a long term, you need to have nerves of steel. When the dollar sharply rose or fell, wasn't there any anxiety considering the deposits in Belarusian rubles?
— It's very difficult to predict what will happen with the dollar. Because it's impossible. In 2022, the exchange rate reached 3.6-3.8 rubles, then rolled back to 2.7-2.8. Who could have predicted that? No one.
Sometimes people ask me what I felt at such moments, having a deposit in Belarusian rubles. Nothing special. Because by that time, I had already recouped my investments 2-2.5 times. After that, it's no longer a question of survival, but of additional profitability.
Why do I still stay with deposits? Because I believe it's a simple and clear instrument with minimal risks. Yes, one can look towards bonds, but in Belarus now, the situation is such that a deposit gives a nominal 15%, bonds — 16-18%. The difference is small, I don't go there for 1-2%.
Bank deposits can be used not only as a way of saving, but also as a tool for gaining additional benefit due to rate differences.
"Sometimes a situation arises where the loan rate turns out to be significantly lower than the deposit rate. In such a case, a simple scheme works: deposit minus loan equals benefit," explains the interviewee.
According to him, if a person already has savings, they can place them in a deposit at a higher interest rate, and if necessary — take a loan at a lower rate. For example, this could involve preferential lending programs:
"For example, I have a loan for Belarusian goods at 4% for three years. Meanwhile, deposit rates can be noticeably higher."
As a result, the difference between the rates effectively remains with the person as additional income.
"Not striving for early retirement"
Uladzimir says he uses many financial instruments, he has over a hundred deposits in banks (some are "placeholders" for small amounts), but he doesn't meticulously count every penny, or how the amount of his savings changes every day.
"Whether each of the hundred deposits will pay off or not, I don't know. But I'm looking for the best conditions. We'll see what happens in the market, tax deductions for long-term deposits were recently announced — it will be interesting to see."
Despite a steady passive income, the Belarusian asserts that he leads an ordinary lifestyle and is not chasing after spending money as quickly as possible. He shows tens of thousands of rubles in various deposits in his app — on a phone with a broken screen, but he doesn't worry about it.
"I spend my salary on living expenses. I saved something, did odd jobs (I almost always had two or three sources of income). I could go and buy a car for 20-30 thousand — that's not a problem, but I don't do it."
He also has a currency portfolio, so he buys dollars, but according to his own scheme: automatically $10 every day, without unnecessary worries about exchange rates.
— Some people save money to then go into early retirement, have passive income, and not work. Do you have such a plan?
— If you stop working, then your pension will be lower — and then what? To receive, for example, 3 thousand, you need to have 300 thousand in your account. And even after 5-10 years, that money might not be enough, you need to grow your capital.
So no, I'm not striving for that; I intend to work until retirement. By the way, I also make savings for pension programs.