What to do with savings??

micwil

Hello

I'm looking for some advice about some savings that I've got. We've been paying £500 into a fixed rate 5% Halifax account for the last year, so we should have about £6000 when it ends in Jan. I'm going to put £3600 into my cash ISA (is that the maximum that you can pay in??) but I'm not sure what to do with the other £2400?

My husband has an ING savings account but I think it's got a bit of a rubbish rate at the moment. We don't really need to get access to the money at the moment, so we could put it in an account where you can't get access to the money.

This is the first time in my life I've actually had any savings, so I want to put it somewhere that I'll get the best interest rates for it and I'm not really sure what to do with it.

Any advice about the best type of account or highest interest rate would be really appreciated

xx

amcluesent

Just look at the listing for the top 90 days accounts. Too bad you missed out on NS&I 3.95%

cornerstone13

Are you intending to carry on with another regular saver ? We have just opened Barclays RS accounts at 4.15% - if you won't be able to save from income into a RS, you could put your excess into the Ing account and then "drip" it into an RS.

Has your husband used his ISA allowance for the year - you could put the excess in his name ? Assume you're both under 50 as at 06.10.09? if you are older, your allowance is £5100 - this will increase for everyone from next April, regardless of age.

There's a number of options for you, but just bear in mind that interest rates are generally low at present - but still better than having your money under the mattress !

Zebra

Have you read the MSE guide to savings?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest

You can check the latest interest rates on site such as Moneyfacts.
http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/money/savings/0/savings-accounts-finder.aspx

micwil

Thanks for the advice. Hubby has used up his ISA allowance for the year, so that's not an option sadly. We'd had the idea about opening another regular saver and drip feeding the extra money in every month, so that's sounding like the best idea at the moment!

Thanks for your help xx

C_Mababejive

What are you saving for..?

Primrose

If you and your husband are both taxpayers, you can both take advantage of your annual £3600 Cash ISA allowance if you're under 50 so your husband could take out an ISA as well. Don't forget that from next April you'll both be able to take out another £5100 Cash ISA when everybody will get the higher allowance so you may want to hold back any surplus savings in an Easy Access account until then. Higher tax rates look almost inevitable going forward, given the state of the country's high debt level, so protecting your savings from tax while you can is never a bad option.