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Saving for a deposit!

pjblink
Posts: 55 Forumite
Hi guys and girls, i'm hoping for a bit of advice really. Me and my partner are saving up for a deposit on a house. We are first time buyers, i have residual cash but my partner does not. I'm a regular tax payer and believe i have about £500 spare a month.
The only debt i have is my Student's loan. Currently sitting at £10,000 - i'm paying back £40 per month and losing about £300-400 a year in interest. I was very tempted to pay this off in the past, but i need cash up front for a deposit.
Currently, this is where i am at:
£3,700 already in a cash isa (Santander) (sat untouched for a number of years)
£6,500 in current account.
I've done a little research, although it all seems to be around Santander's options. I've always been with them (well Abbey!), but i would be willing to look elsewhere. This is what i'm planning to do:
£5100 to go into Flexible Santander ISA @ 3.20%
(am i unable to transfer in my existing ISA with santander?)
If i can't transfer my existing ISA, can i top up my existing ISA with the £1500 i'll have spare having maxed out my new Flexible ISA? Unsure on whether an ISA allowance is per account or per person - i'm assuming per person?
If i can't use this £1500 towards an ISA, where would it best be invested - simply the top paying Savings Account? I'm planning to lock away the money for 12 months.
£5000 to go into Santander First Home Saver @ 5% (Parents willing to lend this money, no interest charged)
£300p/m to go into Santander First Home Saver
I'm unsure if i'll have any extra to the £300p/m, but i may well have up to £200 on top of that. What could i do with that? A regular savings account?
Any help will be much appreciated!!
Cheers,
Patrick
The only debt i have is my Student's loan. Currently sitting at £10,000 - i'm paying back £40 per month and losing about £300-400 a year in interest. I was very tempted to pay this off in the past, but i need cash up front for a deposit.
Currently, this is where i am at:
£3,700 already in a cash isa (Santander) (sat untouched for a number of years)
£6,500 in current account.
I've done a little research, although it all seems to be around Santander's options. I've always been with them (well Abbey!), but i would be willing to look elsewhere. This is what i'm planning to do:
£5100 to go into Flexible Santander ISA @ 3.20%
(am i unable to transfer in my existing ISA with santander?)
If i can't transfer my existing ISA, can i top up my existing ISA with the £1500 i'll have spare having maxed out my new Flexible ISA? Unsure on whether an ISA allowance is per account or per person - i'm assuming per person?
If i can't use this £1500 towards an ISA, where would it best be invested - simply the top paying Savings Account? I'm planning to lock away the money for 12 months.
£5000 to go into Santander First Home Saver @ 5% (Parents willing to lend this money, no interest charged)
£300p/m to go into Santander First Home Saver
I'm unsure if i'll have any extra to the £300p/m, but i may well have up to £200 on top of that. What could i do with that? A regular savings account?
Any help will be much appreciated!!
Cheers,
Patrick
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Comments
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The only debt i have is my Student's loan. Currently sitting at £10,000 - i'm paying back £40 per month and losing about £300-400 a year in interest. I was very tempted to pay this off in the past, but i need cash up front for a deposit.
I would keep the student loan for as long as you can - as you say, it'll be useful for a deposit.
Also note that interest on the student loan is 0% until 31st August 2010. Next years interest rate will be announced in a couple of weeks time. (This assumes that you started uni in or after 2008).Currently, this is where i am at:
£3,700 already in a cash isa (Santander) (sat untouched for a number of years)
£6,500 in current account.
I've done a little research, although it all seems to be around Santander's options. I've always been with them (well Abbey!), but i would be willing to look elsewhere. This is what i'm planning to do:
£5100 to go into Flexible Santander ISA @ 3.20%
(am i unable to transfer in my existing ISA with santander?)
A good move putting £5100 into the Flexible ISA.
You can't transfer your existing ISA into that account, as Santander don't allow it. I would check the interest rate on your old (£3700) ISA, and, if it's low, transfer it elsewhere. There's a list of the best ISAs here. I would consider Nationwide's e-ISA (if you already have an account with Nationwide that has a card) or otherwise Halifax's ISA Direct Reward.If i can't transfer my existing ISA, can i top up my existing ISA with the £1500 i'll have spare having maxed out my new Flexible ISA? Unsure on whether an ISA allowance is per account or per person - i'm assuming per person?
It's per person per tax year. So between 6th April 2010 and 5th April 2011, you can pay up to £5100 into any cash ISA. If you pay this money into the Santander Flexible ISA, then you can't pay any new money into any ISA, with any bank, until 6th April 2011. This does not include transferring from one ISA to another, when this is done by completing an ISA transfer form from the bank that you are transferring to.If i can't use this £1500 towards an ISA, where would it best be invested - simply the top paying Savings Account? I'm planning to lock away the money for 12 months.
Yes, the top paying savings account would be good for this. One year fixed rate bond rates are not fantastic at the moment, so do look into them (see here), but it's possible that the AA's Internet Extra account (instant access, 2.8%) might be the best.£5000 to go into Santander First Home Saver @ 5% (Parents willing to lend this money, no interest charged)
£300p/m to go into Santander First Home Saver
I'm unsure if i'll have any extra to the £300p/m, but i may well have up to £200 on top of that. What could i do with that? A regular savings account?
I am not familiar with the terms of the Santander First Home Saver so cannot comment on that.
If you have excess money that you are looking to save monthly, then do look into a Regular Savings account, there is a list of the best ones here.0 -
Thanks for your reply rb10 that's the confirmation i needed
I've applied for the Flexible ISA, however in it's T&C it mentioned that one of the conditions was:
"I have not subscribed and will not subscribe to another Cash ISA in the same tax year that I subscribe to this Cash ISA"
Does that mean i am unable to open another ISA (my existing Easy ISA looks to only be earning 0.5% if i'm reading right) and transfer that Easy ISA balance over to a better rate? I understand it will not go towards my ISA limit as it's already invested in an ISA, but reading that condition it sounds like i am unable to do that?0 -
I've applied for the Flexible ISA, however in it's T&C it mentioned that one of the conditions was:
"I have not subscribed and will not subscribe to another Cash ISA in the same tax year that I subscribe to this Cash ISA"
Does that mean i am unable to open another ISA (my existing Easy ISA looks to only be earning 0.5% if i'm reading right) and transfer that Easy ISA balance over to a better rate? I understand it will not go towards my ISA limit as it's already invested in an ISA, but reading that condition it sounds like i am unable to do that?
That is a common misunderstanding.
In terms of ISAs, the word 'subscribe' only applies to when you pay new money into an ISA.
As long as you get the banks to transfer your Easy ISA for you, and don't do it yourself, then you will not be 'subscribing' to the new ISA, as this is just a transfer.
Having applied for the Flexible ISA, you can still go ahead and transfer the Easy ISA to another provider.0 -
That's fantastic, thankyou again!
I will go ahead and transfer my Easy ISA over to a Direct ISA!
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Thanks for the advice i am in almost exactly the same position!0
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Yeah don't pay off the loan. I paid off mine... and just then they announced 0% interest! I hated the idea of being in debt at all and I am glad it's gone but I could do with that 10k now! D'oh!0
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I've applied for the Flexible ISA, however in it's T&C it mentioned that one of the conditions was:
"I have not subscribed and will not subscribe to another Cash ISA in the same tax year that I subscribe to this Cash ISA"
I too had an Easy ISA with Santander which has now been changed into the Direct ISA - apparently the account number is going to stay the same so that makes things easier! Only slight concern I have is that the name on my online banking still seems to say Easy ISA so I hope the guy did it right!
I also opened the Flexible ISA at the same time, so you can definitely do have both - as mentioned in another post, moving/changing the Easy ISA doesn't count as 'opening' a new account.
I got both accounts sorted out in literally 10 minutes on Saturday morning at the branch!
:j0 -
I too had an Easy ISA with Santander which has now been changed into the Direct ISA - apparently the account number is going to stay the same so that makes things easier! Only slight concern I have is that the name on my online banking still seems to say Easy ISA so I hope the guy did it right!
I also opened the Flexible ISA at the same time, so you can definitely do have both - as mentioned in another post, moving/changing the Easy ISA doesn't count as 'opening' a new account.
I got both accounts sorted out in literally 10 minutes on Saturday morning at the branch!
:j
Nice oneFinding it difficult to find time to get into a branch, parking etc...so i will be filling out one of their forms and sending it off in the mail. Would be much easier if i could do it online though!!
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