Nationwide 5 year fixed rate bond

James_Mass

How long would it be wise to fixed for before interest rates start going up again? Nationwide also do a 6 months e-bond.

ahai1

I changed my mind after I realised that I can open a current account for the sole purpose of opening accounts like the ebond. It is not the full blown one.

I am not totally set on the 5 year one and I may take a shorter period one or a mixture.

I also took a look at the West Brom, Newcastle and Halifax. The thing is they have a higer amount then the Nationwide to put in.

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

Yep, they've gone down the ebond route now, but that wasn't the original intention! (They didn't want another current account, but looks like they've changed their mind!)

Baldur

James_Mass wrote: »

How long would it be wise to fixed for before interest rates start going up again? Nationwide also do a 6 months e-bond.

If we were psychic, we could answer that question reliably - as most of us are probably not, any answers are going to be guesses.

There are other institutions offering a better rate on 6 month fixed rate accounts than Nationwide - http://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables/bespoke/SavingsAccount

Geoffo_M

I reckon we can rely on another 12/18 months before rates might rise again, but as Baldur says, it's all guesswork

amcluesent

>If we were psychic, we could answer that question reliably<

Yep. But whoever wins the June 2009 will need an immediate "austerity" budget; if the Tories win then I'd expect rates to rise to tackle inflation and restore exchange rates

nilrem_2

Just to confirm what others have said, I recently visited Nationwide and opened 2 joint Fixed rate accounts with them, the process was painless and all they looked at was our joint bank statement and the electricity bill, we had no other accounts with them, we definitely did not need to have or open any other accounts.

nilrem_2

James_Mass wrote: »

How long would it be wise to fixed for before interest rates start going up again? Nationwide also do a 6 months e-bond.

None of us have working crystal balls but personally I would suggest that 2 years is fairly safe at the present rates, I would not wish to fix for longer periods TBH.

nilrem_2

ahai1 wrote: »

I am not totally set on the 5 year one and I may take a shorter period one or a mixture.

I think you are wise to reconsider a 5 year fix, I recently took out two Nationwide fixed rate accounts one for 12 months the other for 24 months, I feel that rates may rise in 2 years time, I don't see the interest rates that we are paid (rather than the BOE rate) going much lower and we have seen a few rises recently with some institutions.

ahai1

I may go for the 12 or 24 month e bond. Just for the record if anyone wants less than 6 month United Bank are offering a 3 month notice 3.5 account.

Jake'sGran

Geoffo_M wrote: »

I would be reluctant to commit to 5 years. That's a long time - and interest rates could well be higher by then

I have received my maturity letter from them but would never consider a 5 yr bond. I don't have a Flex account as when I used to save on line with them I noticed that moving cash to savings from the Flex seemed to take longer than a day. In the past they have offered good rates on bonds for long term customers but these days other BS/banks are better. I have just done a bond with Principality BS @ 4% for two years, min £5k, which is better that anything now offered by Nationwide.