Instant Access Savings Accounts Article Discussion Area

greyskittles

I'm looking for an account to put £25,000 in. It must be -

instant access
interest paid monthly
a more 'known' brand (eg not icesave or icici)

The best I've found is Tesco finance at 6.25% gross. Are there any others with a similar - doesn't matter if the interest is slightly lower - rate?

Thanks for any help!

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by greyskittles
I'm looking for an account to put £25,000 in. It must be -

instant access
interest paid monthly
a more 'known' brand (eg not icesave or icici)

I like Bradford & Bingley's E-savings, issue 4, minimum balance £1000, which currently pays 6.08 gross/6.26 AER - an easy access online account that's quick and simple to open.

TomJ

TomJ wrote: »

The Coventry First rate has gone up to 6.1% AER (including the first year bonus of 0.85%) today, June 1st.

And yesterday (Aug 1st) it went up to 6.35%, reflecting the July base rate rise.

greyskittles

Moggles wrote: »

I like Bradford & Bingley's E-savings, issue 4, minimum balance £1000, which currently pays 6.08 gross/6.26 AER - an easy access online account that's quick and simple to open.

Thanks, that's better than the ones I've been looking at. For some reason it won't accept my passport ID number though.

shelovestobuystuff

Help,I need advice on saving and thought you all sound like you know a bit about how to grow your money.I am getting married in Nov 2009 and need to save around £9,000 to pay for it:eek: .
I thought I had found the perfect regular saver account but having read the article I am not sure now how to proceed .
I looked at the lloyds tsb regular saver account,8% AER over 12 months,deposit of min £1 max £500 in first 7 days(I have a spare £500 at the moment so would do that)then monthly deposits of max £250(I would deposit the max allowed).It has no penalty for withdrawals and no notice needed either,this would be good for me as I would need to dip in to the pot for wedding deposits now and then;) .
I then read about the CASH ISA,and don,t know if this would be better for me.I am a bit confused ny it all now.
I understand that the ISA appears to have a lower interest rate but when you take into account that its interest is tax free and the regular saver will be taxed then what is best for me?
As I am a low earner,under the income tax threshhold, will I be exempt from income tax on the regular saver account anyway so is that best afterall?
What to do?Regular saver at 8% AER,can I get it tax free because I am a low earner? or CASH ISA at a lower rate but definately tax free???

isofa

If you are a tax payer (which I assume you are), best to use your Cash ISA allowance (3K) first, find the best paying one (NS&I is very good), and try to put away as much as possible. You get the full gross interest rate as it's tax free. But often the ISA accounts aren't as flexible as other accounts, but do check the T+Cs some are better than others!

shelovestobuystuff

isofa wrote: »

If you are a tax payer (which I assume you are), best to use your Cash ISA allowance (3K) first, find the best paying one (NS&I is very good), and try to put away as much as possible. You get the full gross interest rate as it's tax free. But often the ISA accounts aren't as flexible as other accounts, but do check the T+Cs some are better than others!

No,not a tax payer,I have been a lady of leisure for years(stay at home mum),hubby to be has a very good job and has supported us all financially very well on his own.
I am newly self employed since April 2007 and will earn up to the tax free earning limit max in my first year with everything likely to be over that re-invested in the business well before the end of my first tax year:cool: .
Does that mean I can get the 8%AER tax free then?
Basically the £350 a month I want to save is just about my total income from self employment.:D

murphydavid

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

As I am a low earner,under the income tax threshhold, will I be exempt from income tax on the regular saver account anyway

Yes you can be exempt but you must get an r85 form, fill it in, and give it to your account supplier (lloyds tsb). It is then best to follow it up a few days later and get the account supplier to confirm they have recieved and actioned it.

mrscairns_2

LKM789 wrote: »

Following the link to the Tesco instant savings account, the account's interest rates are lower than Martin says in his article. Does this just mean they have been slow at changing their website or does our man get information ahead of time?!

LKM xx

I have also just looked at this, can anyone shed any light? Will I get 6.5% on £40,000 in there as Martin suggests, or 6.25% as the Tesco website seems to say?

Thanks!

mrscairns_2

Hi

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts - we have sold our house and not yet bought again, so we have our deposit which we need to dump somewhere for (hopefully) about 2-3 months. Can anyone suggest what difference this might make to what we do in terms of choosing an account? (compared with planning to save for over a year)

For instance is there an advantage in going for an account with interest paid monthly rather than annually?

Sorry I'm a bit clueless about all this!