this saving malarky...

rkuk

...ok I will try and keep this short.

I have a substantial amount of cash (for me) to start saving more efficiently. this is what I have been thinking after reading on here (bear with me!)

1. Inject maximum lump sum into Mini Cash ISA with NSandI.
2. The remainder of my savings in my Barclays Current a/c (shocking I know) injected into an Instant Access Savings a/c (such as ICICI)
3. Trickle the money from the Instant Access money into a Regular Savers Account (possibly the Llyods one?)

So does this sound correct? I think I read that to trickle the money into the Lloyds a/c that I would need to open a current a/c with them - is this correct? If so could I open it and leave it dormant? Or will i have to change my exsiting current account over with all it's details (total pain in the bum if so) Is it ok to transfer money between these 3 a/c's?

At the moment I have a bit of time to call around and make all this setup happen (if it goes smoothly).

All help aprreciated - as always!

jimclark1967

Hi rkuk, welcome to the boards.

You seem to have the right idea. If I was in your position I would actually switch my current account to Lloyds TSB. Their Classic Plus account pays 4% interest so long as you pay in £1,000 a month. It's a fairly simple process these days as banks are geared up to switch DDs and SOs automatically.

That way you'll have much easier access to the LTSB monthly saver and a better current account to go with it!

JC

chriss1979

Might even be worth looking at the new Halifax high interest current account depending on the amounts youre talking about? Pays 5% interest so might be of interest.

SalsaDanca

Barclays have a regular savings account of their own. It's even better than the Lloyds TSB one, as it pays 10%. You can also get 7% regular savings accounts from Abbey and the Halifax without opening a new current account.

It will take between 3 and 5 days to transfer your money from ICICI back to your current account, so you should consider keeping some emergency savings with the bank where you have your current account. Most banks offer an online savings account that pays at least 4% and allows same-day transfers to your current account. The Barclays online saver pays 4.1%, so you could open one today and put your money there while you're investigating your options and waiting for your new accounts to be opened.

jimclark1967

SalsaDanca wrote:

Barclays have a regular savings account of their own. It's even better than the Lloyds TSB one, as it pays 10%.

True, but all of the advantage of the higher rate is wiped out by the fact that it only runs for 1 year (LTSB is 2 years) and you'd need to keep some money in their current account earning no interest.

JC

Juni_3

Don't fall into the trap of constantly switching accounts to get the best interest rates. Despite people saying that banks transfer DD's and SO's automatically they always (in my experience) mess it up which causes all sorts of financial headaches in the short term.

Ruffler Bank pay very good interest on notice accounts.

jonnyb

rhuk - if you have a very trusted partner then fill up his/her isa allowance with your money as well, if they have not done so. I did that with my girlfriend.

also, people have not suggested the alliance and leicester account.
even if you don't want to move your entire current account and dd's etc. then you can open an account with them - current pays 5% gross on balance up to 2500, their regular saver pays 10%

rkuk

argggggh this is getting more complex!!!! lol all these suggestions (don't get me wrong - I am VERY grateful) but getting confuzzled even more!

I think changing my current accoutn is somethign I will look into in the future, to make things a little bit less confusing. so the question still stands, will I need to open a current account to have a regular savers accoutn in a branch different to Barclays?

I'm off to do a bit more reading up on it all!

Thanks again.

p.s. at the moment I'm free and single so can't throw money into an isa of a loved one...maybe this will make me more appealing to girls heheh :rotfl:

Kazza242

rkuk wrote:

this is what I have been thinking after reading on here (bear with me!)

1. Inject maximum lump sum into Mini Cash ISA with NSandI.

The NS&I mini cash ISA is a very good choice. It pays 5.05% and comes with a guarantee to pay BOE base rate (currently 4.5%) + 0.55%.

rkuk wrote:

2. The remainder of my savings in my Barclays Current a/c (shocking I know) injected into an Instant Access Savings a/c (such as ICICI)

The ICICI account can take a long time to open. In the meantime, you could open a Barclays e-savings account online within minutes and transfer any spare monies into it. Then when the ICICI account is opened you can transfer the money across. Although I recommend leaving some money in the e-saver for emergencies. Transferring money from ICICI to your current account will take from 3 to 5 working days, while transferring from the e-saver to your current account is instant.

rkuk wrote:

3. Trickle the money from the Instant Access money into a Regular Savers Account (possibly the Llyods one?)

It is not always possible to drip-feed a regular saver from a savings account, because some regular savers must be funded from current accounts only. Read the regular savers T&C's to be sure.

rkuk wrote:

I think I read that to trickle the money into the Lloyds a/c that I would need to open a current a/c with them - is this correct?

Yes. That is correct.

rkuk wrote:

If so could I open it and leave it dormant? Or will i have to change my exsiting current account over with all it's details (total pain in the bum if so) Is it ok to transfer money between these 3 a/c's?

Lloyds' 8% monthly saver T&C's do state that the current account must be your 'main account'. However, you do not have to move your DD's, SO's or salary over to it to qualify for the monthly saver. I get around this by transferring over a few hundred pounds each month to my Lloyds current account to fund my monthly saver SO, paying the odd bill and making the odd withdrawal.

If you do decide to open the Lloyds monthly saver and current account, I'd recommend visiting a branch (with ID) to get this done, as it is all done for you there and then. If you have any surplus funds to save, you could open a Barclays 10% regular saver too.

rkuk

Kazza242 wrote:

The NS&I mini cash ISA is a very good choice. It pays 5.05% and comes with a guarantee to pay BOE base rate (currently 4.5%) + 0.55%.

Applied to setup

The ICICI account can take a long time to open. In the meantime, you could open a Barclays e-savings account online within minutes and transfer any spare monies into it. Then when the ICICI account is opened you can transfer the money across. Although I recommend leaving some money in the e-saver for emergencies. Transferring money from ICICI to your current account will take from 3 to 5 working days, while transferring from the e-saver to your current account is instant.

Done that

It is not always possible to drip-feed a regular saver from a savings account, because some regular savers must be funded from current accounts only. Read the regular savers T&C's to be sure.

I will do

Yes. That is correct.

:cool:

Lloyds' 8% monthly saver T&C's do state that the current account must be your 'main account'. However, you do not have to move your DD's, SO's or salary over to it to qualify for the monthly saver. I get around this by transferring over a few hundred pounds each month to my Lloyds current account to fund my monthly saver SO, paying the odd bill and making the odd withdrawal.

If you do decide to open the Lloyds monthly saver and current account, I'd recommend visiting a branch (with ID) to get this done, as it is all done for you there and then. If you have any surplus funds to save, you could open a Barclays 10% regular saver too.

Right - thanks. I will investigate this bit some more, at least I've got off to a start!

rkuk

Hey everyone,

Ok, over the past couple of days my head has been up my bum with trying to pick the best choices of saving. Also added to the equation I have spotted a nice little house that I would love to try and purchase...but think it would be too much to take on at the moment ARRRGGGGGH!

I don't know about others, but being so confused about everything (even with the great help from others on here ) I am more of a visual learner (probably comes from my job). So... I have just knocked this up, to see if I have the right idea about transferring money - but I still have a few questions.



So, from the top,

1. my salary and any extras get slapped into my current account (I don't really want to change this as there are a lot of things to change otherwise - perhaps if my career / potison changes),

2. then I can 'store' any temporary monies in my e-saver as it's easy to manage/instant access if I need anything for emergencies/treats (yey).

3. I then send my lump sum of savings into the instant saver, along with a regular amount each month (whatever I can realistically afford)

4. from here I then transfer a regular amount into another current account

5. finally I continue the drip feeding from the new current account into the regular savers.

So that's the plan, but I think it is more complex than this...(and no doubt I will soon be told :S) The first question i have is, is this possible:

Current account 1 >>> Instant Saver >>> Current account 2 or can i have only one regular account to handle the transactions? if not that would be super - I really like teh idea of a second current account feeding the regular savers, as it can be used JUST for this (and as one is needed by lloydstsb for their regular saver it makes sense to primarily use this)

Also with the Abbey account I hear I have to open a 'bonds' account - I have no idea what a bond is, let alone what to do with it. Can someone help (in simple terms) please.

I can't remember anything with the Halifax account off hand, but no doubt there will be a hidden complication somewhere.

If this method is wrong, I will take the advice and make another one, for example if I have to:

Instant Saver >>> Current account 1 >>> current account 2 >>> regular savers

Also does the date by when I manage my transactions make a huge difference? I get paid on the last working day of each month.

...if anyone is still awake, I mentioned earlier I may want to pull out my savings and invest into a mortgage (another thing I've not looked into before) for my first house purchase. If I do so, I know I will lose all the interest(s) I could have possible made, but I guess that's the chance ya take eh?

Thanks everyone,

p.s. if by producing a diagram helps people more so, I will make it more 'universal' and perhaps could be used as a sticky somewhere? - just a thought.