Regular Savers, a waste of time...

Richard_Cocks

Regular savers are amazing products. They suit banks who like the guarenteed income, and suit anyone who wants to get a good saving habit with generous interest. And I think a worryingly large proportion of people *do* believe that if they put 100 a month into a easy access savings account they'll get the gross interest on 1200 after the year! If you can find regular savers that mature after 24 months instead of 12 then they are an absolute gem, with often fixed rates but easier access than fixed rate bonds and opportunity to add money from a regular income into them! For anyone who is looking to save a regular amount from a salary each month, there is no product better.

triplea35

I am a bit disorganised and have got a short memory!

I opened a regular saver for the wife and I in June with the Halifax putting £500 per month in each. I'm sure they said the interest rate was 10% and said that if we put £5000 each in a Guaranteed Saver Reward the regular saver rate would be increased to 12% so we did. I have some paperwork regarding opening the accounts but nothing with the interest rates on.
I have gone online to look at my accounts and the Guaranteed Saver Reward is showing 6.25% but nothing on the regular saving account.

If I'm right - ( can someone confirm?) then these rates seem pretty good in todays climate.

Is the Guaranteed Saver a Fixed Rate account? and can I put more in it. If so I've got a good fallback option for further savings in the short term.

sloughflint

triplea35 wrote: »

I am a bit disorganised and have got a short memory!

I opened a regular saver for the wife and I in June with the Halifax putting £500 per month in each. I'm sure they said the interest rate was 10% and said that if we put £5000 each in a Guaranteed Saver Reward the regular saver rate would be increased to 12% so we did. I have some paperwork regarding opening the accounts but nothing with the interest rates on.
I have gone online to look at my accounts and the Guaranteed Saver Reward is showing 6.25% but nothing on the regular saving account.

If I'm right - ( can someone confirm?) then these rates seem pretty good in todays climate.

Is the Guaranteed Saver a Fixed Rate account? and can I put more in it. If so I've got a good fallback option for further savings in the short term.

Absolutely.
12% on the RS and 6.25% fixed on the GSR as long as you keep at least £ 5k in there and make no more than 1 withdrawal in a year.
Well worth adding to the GSR if no need to access funds.

RayWolfe

Mr_K wrote: »

Also I'm sure a lot of people don't understand how they work.quote]
The world is full of people who don't know how things work - including you on monthly savers - but that doesn't make them bad or a con. Welcome to MSE where such ignorance may be cured ... maybe?

sloughflint

Mr_K wrote: »

yeah, I understand the point, but there are too many restrictions and inflexibilty for my liking. You're never going to make much more than peanuts out of these accounts.

Also I'm sure a lot of people don't understand how they work. For example, a colleague was saying how delighted she was that HSBC were going to let her have an 8% regular saver. I had a hard time trying to explain why she wouldn't get 8% on the total amount invested...

Please don't be too put off. It isn't necessarily peanuts and only requires a little work to set up.
Take the account triplea35 was talking about. That was a particularly good deal.

If a joint GSR had been opened and funded with £5000, both account holders then drip fed £500 each month from a 6% instant access account ( I wish!) into a 12% regular saver, the equivalent interest rate on the £17 000 is 8.4%.
[ 0.0625*5000 +2*( 6.5*500*0.12+5.5*500*0.06)]

Mikeyorks

Mr_K wrote: »

For example, a colleague was saying how delighted she was that HSBC were going to let her have an 8% regular saver. I had a hard time trying to explain why she wouldn't get 8% on the total amount invested...

But she does get 8% on the total sum invested .. as calculated on a daily basis!

An 8% RS does give you 8% on the funds you put in. But .... there aren't any accounts that give you 8% on sums you intend to put in ... but haven't yet done so!

Also I'm sure a lot of people don't understand how they work.

Hmmmm .....

Mikeyorks

sloughflint wrote: »

If a joint GSR had been opened and funded with £5000, both account holders then drip fed £500 each month from a 6% instant access account ( I wish!) into a 12% regular saver, the equivalent interest rate on the £11 000 is 8.4%.
[ 0.0625*5000 +2*( 6.5*500*0.12+5.5*500*0.06)]

For 'particularly good ' ..... read 'excellent'?

But I think you'll find (?) it's actually 8.4% on £17,000? (£5k in the joint and 2 x £6k in the RSs).

Trust that's the case as (OK the BM 'feeder' has shaded below 6%) that's what I calculated as the return when I set that all up 6 months ago.

It will help .... with every other account turning it's toes up!

sloughflint

There was me thinking I'd just about got away with that little typo.

Mikeyorks

Not on a Sunday night when boredom's set in and every comment is analysed!

Besides .... I remember all the detail from the lengthy 'is it 10% or 12% ??' Halifax thread back in April (ish). Sad isn't it? But it's threads like that that have inflated my interest (both types!) over the years.

Sooler

Mr_K wrote: »

probably another account (low interest) the customer has to open to feed into it or receive the funds at the end,

probably, but no one keeps any money in those accounts

Mr_K wrote: »

guaranteed income each month from you,
a wopping (but largely irrelevant) interest rate they can plaster in the shop window.

10% from the Halifax ... not bad