Where now for safety?

lostinrates

I've posting on avings bard, but I think they are understandably tied up w/iceland. Besides I've cone to understand you lot.

I'm terrified frankly. not one institution has escaped rumour free and I don't now wher to put our money. I need to resolve this quickly to get it:

a. back in my name not dh's
b. under 50k in each account
c. prepare fr a payment in november.

I still have no isas, that was on my to do list, but I don't really understand isas and trying to make decisions about things you don't understand is difficult. But dh has, shiuld he just take his limit for the cash one and hpe for the best?

The rest....well, I'm tempte to bring it all home and sleep on it...but realistically, where would yo guys go with it? To stay in my name and each acc under safety threshold I need 4 accounts.

PasturesNew

I stuck mine in instant access accounts with the highest rates, that I had heard of/have buildings in most towns, ensuring they weren't in the same banking group.

I also took out a cash ISA with a Barclays branch as last March that was the highest paying one. It was my first ISA. Never had a bean to my name before this year.

I don't want to lock stuff up longer-term, I am not sure what bonds etc are all about. I certainly chose not to invest in a shares ISA in March as I told the advisor I thought stocks would take a hammering and stocks/shares are a long-term investment. I am not in it for the long-term, at some future and random point I will have a house to buy of indeterminate cost.

So I just kept mine simple, so I understood what I had.

dopester

I've long had over £50K with HSBC. Maybe not the smartest move on the principle of staying under compensation scheme limits. If they go under, I pay the price, but I don't worry about it. I lose a months interest when I come to withdraw.

This is probably about 14 months old now... and I wouldn't know if anything else is hidden off HSBCs books... but I like how they don't rely on one particular market for their business and investment, and on the whole, are run by intelligent switched-on people. Certainly I'll accept lower interest for lower risk to savings capital.

chewmylegoff

lostinrates wrote: »

I've posting on avings bard, but I think they are understandably tied up w/iceland. Besides I've cone to understand you lot.

I'm terrified frankly. not one institution has escaped rumour free and I don't now wher to put our money. I need to resolve this quickly to get it:

a. back in my name not dh's
b. under 50k in each account
c. prepare fr a payment in november.

I still have no isas, that was on my to do list, but I don't really understand isas and trying to make decisions about things you don't understand is difficult. But dh has, shiuld he just take his limit for the cash one and hpe for the best?

The rest....well, I'm tempte to bring it all home and sleep on it...but realistically, where would yo guys go with it? To stay in my name and each acc under safety threshold I need 4 accounts.

i'm not too worried - as long as you have your cash in a big high street bank you're unlikely to lose it. all of mine is in citigroup. i haven't bothered splitting it up into £35k parcels (or now £50k parcels). if citigroup starts to show signs that it is about to go under i would move it.

as bad as the icesave thing has proved for people, i simply can't believe that so many people had money in there - and i certainly can't believe that people had sums in excess of £50k in there - there have been signs for months that the icelandic banks were on shaky financial ground. the CDS rates for the icelandic banks (the measure of how risky other banks perceive them to be) has been sky high for months. people only saw the 0.01% extra interest they could earn and didn't bother to consider whether it was worth the additional risk they were exposing themselves to. if anyone had been reading the news properly they would have had their money out months ago, or at the very least by the end of last week.

as far as cash ISAs are concerned, definitely open one. they are simple enough - like a normal account but you pay no tax on the interest. you can transfer the ISA to a different bank if you want to at a later date. not using your cash ISA allowance means you are just paying unnecessary tax to the government. just open an ISA with a major high street bank - safest to have it with a big name at the moment in my view, rather than trying to chase the best return.

lynzpower

There is nothing to fear from cash ISas, they are simply savings account up to 3600 that you can have where the interest isnt taxed. You have this tax free allowance every year.

Co-operative/ Smile have not been seen on the danger lists. They give relitavely poor rates but if you tie in a bond for 2 years they are offering 6.29%. IIRC

Co-op have not overlent on mortgages , being ethical, as I say thier rates have been a bit lame, but I personally think they are safer because of this.

Curently I have
bit in Smile ( holiday/ Xmas savings)
Under 10 in KE
few K in a Heritable bond ( 60 day notice_)
ISAs filled for this year ( OH is in the co-op at the mo, Im with ruffler on a 30 day notice) You get slightly better rates if you are not bothered about having instant access (30-60 day notice is OK for us, if we have a few K in instant access)

Am looking for a new savings account for next month, Ive been putting upwards of 800 in KE for a few months now, but not likely to continue to put in there for the time being.
We have S&S Isas from prev years that are performing badly the managed one is better than the index linked one, and you need to hold onto your seat if you dont like losing money on these Ive lost over 2k on my S&S index linked isa so far. It WILL recover at some point though so im holding off cashing them in , but have had to take the view that the money is written off and not phone the bank every 5 minutes to get them to tell me my new daily loss :eek:

You sound quite a lot like me LIR? Confuzzled Im no expert but this combo is how im sleeping at night

lostinrates

lynzpower wrote: »

There is nothing to fear from cash ISas, they are simply savings account up to 3600 that you can have where the interest isnt taxed. You have this tax free allowance every year.

Co-operative/ Smile have not been seen on the danger lists. They give relitavely poor rates but if you tie in a bond for 2 years they are offering 6.29%. IIRC

Co-op have not overlent on mortgages , being ethical, as I say thier rates have been a bit lame, but I personally think they are safer because of this.

Curently I have
bit in Smile ( holiday/ Xmas savings)
Under 10 in KE
few K in a Heritable bond ( 60 day notice_)
ISAs filled for this year ( OH is in the co-op at the mo, Im with ruffler on a 30 day notice) You get slightly better rates if you are not bothered about having instant access (30-60 day notice is OK for us, if we have a few K in instant access)

Am looking for a new savings account for next month, Ive been putting upwards of 800 in KE for a few months now, but not likely to continue to put in there for the time being.
We have S&S Isas from prev years that are performing badly the managed one is better than the index linked one, and you need to hold onto your seat if you dont like losing money on these Ive lost over 2k on my S&S index linked isa so far. It WILL recover at some point though so im holding off cashing them in , but have had to take the view that the money is written off and not phone the bank every 5 minutes to get them to tell me my new daily loss :eek:

You sound quite a lot like me LIR? Confuzzled Im no expert but this combo is how im sleeping at night

Yes, I'm confuzzled alright...what a great word.

re access...we've been keeping most of our money with instant access, just in case we see somewhere we want to buy...(house pices, any one remember those, lol) but also because, like many, DH felt that something was rotten in the state of banking...just not how otten it was...so we wanted flexibility to withdraw. Life is relatively good for us these, but its been hard work and determination thats seen us build a decent pot..like most people. we don't stand to inherit fortunes, or pla on a lottery win but w have big dreams and a strong desire to do something honest with it. Like the vast majority of people; we really don't want to lose it.

I have felt that a high interest account has been only a way to preserve it, not see it grow but retain its spending power, in the period of inflation we have seen. Now I feel if we can retain most of it I'm grateful.

Thanks for the ISA stuff: it helped. DH has a S and S ISA and well as the cash one. Its seen a loss so huge it pecentage terms that I can't stand it- basically its a write off, but its a fun connection to the markets. I also want to throw a very small some into the maket at some point (I haven't been racing for ages and I always liked the thrill of the Tote). I have found a scheme which I feel comfortable with and which I can put a peanut in...ok a Monkey, and try and understand the that market by worrying about the monkey. But I mentally feel thats money pent on education not and investment.

The co-op eh? Never really looked into them.....hm.

Thanks peeps, I feel somewhat talked back into a state I can deal with this in.

johnycoldears

I have a cunning plan...

I'm going to change my name by deed pole to Nathanial West. Then every time I run out of money I'm going to pop round and see Gordon with the begging bowl.

Should tide me over the whole crisis.

neverdespairgirl

lynzpower wrote: »

Co-op have not overlent on mortgages , being ethical, as I say thier rates have been a bit lame

"bit lame" has it over "lose the lot" at the moment, I agree (-:

Snooze

lostinrates wrote: »

I'm terrified frankly. not one institution has escaped rumour free and I don't now wher to put our money.

The best place for your money at the moment is in a water/fireproof box buried/hidden somewhere with the boundaries of your property. That's where mine is and all my accounts are empty except for a few quid.

Rob

lostinrates

Snooze wrote: »

The best place for your money at the moment is in a water/fireproof box buried/hidden somewhere with the boundaries of your property. That's where mine is and all my accounts are empty except for a few quid.

Rob

I don't have property, lol!

In all seriouness I have considered withdrawing all and holding it in cash, even just as a short term measure to steel myself to reenter, but I'm worried, for varous reasons about that too.

Snooze

lostinrates wrote: »

I don't have property, lol!

Well there's no need for property actually. I have in the past buried valuable items in woods and also hidden them in undergrowth in the corners of farmer's fields, just over the wall from a quiet country lane. All work just as well as long as you do it when no-one's around, obviously. Certainly safer than having them in bank & savings accounts at the moment imho!!!!! :eek:

Rob