Good savings rate for monthly £500?

Charlton_King

I know things are in a state of flux at the moment but is there a consensus as to a table topper for £500/month?

pmorrison_2

You could go for the Halifax Regular Saver account, can pay in £500 per month at a rate of 7%, details of reguar savers here.

Aegis

pmorrison wrote: »

You could go for the Halifax Regular Saver account, can pay in £500 per month at a rate of 7%, details of reguar savers here.

HSBC's is still 8% (or 10% for Premier or Plus customers). I know I work for them, but they genuinely do have high rate regular savers still, even if the rest of their savings products are a bit... well... awful!

Charlton_King

Aegis wrote: »

HSBC's is still 8% (or 10% for Premier or Plus customers). I know I work for them, but they genuinely do have high rate regular savers still, even if the rest of their savings products are a bit... well... awful!

Interesting. So why doesn't Martin mention it here:http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts#best ?

Does it count as a bit of 'hot air, Aegis?

Charlton_King

Ah, I've just discovered the answer.

It's only available to people who have a current account with them into which they pay their salary.

Fat lot of use.

Aegis

Charlton_King wrote: »

Ah, I've just discovered the answer.

It's only available to people who have a current account with them into which they pay their salary.

Fat lot of use.

Yeah, it's only going to be useful if you already use them, but I have no idea who your current account is with at the moment.

Speculator

The two best stand alone regular savers are Barclays & Abbey paying 7.75% and 7.25% fixed respectively. You can pay £250 pm into each.

opinions4u

How long will you be able to save £500 a month for?

This is a substantial sum.

While Regular Saver accounts are pretty good, it may be that you should also consider getting professional advice (reputable IFA) about the best way to take advantage of other investment opportunities going forwards.

1) Building up your cash ISAs may have longer term tax benefits, even though the current rates are slightly less than the net rates on Regular Savers.

2) Building up an exposure to stocks and shares ISAs while the market is low.

3) Reviewing your pension provision - using employer provided top ups and/or government provided tax reliefs could get significantly more value for your money than a short term savings account.

4) Reducing your debts - use the money to pay off loans or reduce your mortgage balance.

It may be that you should do the Regular Saver and then review these options at the end of a year.

In the same position, I'd grab an hour with an expert IFA though.