Where should mother put £300,000?

shanjar

Hi - I'm new to this wonderful site and this is my first posting.

My mum's just sold her house and has a £300,000 cheque in her hand. She intends buying a property within the next three to six months. Where should she deposit the money where she can get a decent rate of interest but be able to withdraw a substantial amount when she finds her new home?

All suggestions welcomed with many thanks.

mary

A suggestion only:

Either Ing Direct 4.5%. Pay in the whole lot. Once up and running, it's very easy to operate. Transfer money on a Monday, it's in your current account on a Wednesday. No limit on how much you can transfer daily.

Or Coventry First 5.1%. Pay in £294,000. Reserve £6,000 if you will be needing the money in 6 months time. In order to get the 5.1% rate, you have to pay in £1,000 monthly.

RickHoughton

I'll look after it for her
Other than that, I dunno much about banks

Chadsman

There is plenty of room under my mattress.

Alternatively put £3k in a cash ISA. For how long is your mum prepared to tie up the money? ...and what is your mum's attitude to risk? Also consider putting money in a pension or a shares ISA.

EdInvestor

Chadsman wrote:

Also consider putting money in a pension

I wouldn't do that.

Once you put money in a pension you can never get most of it out again.

Some people don't seem to know this rather important fact.

cheerfulcat

shanjar wrote:

My mum's just sold her house and has a £300,000 cheque in her hand. She intends buying a property within the next three to six months. Where should she deposit the money where she can get a decent rate of interest but be able to withdraw a substantial amount when she finds her new home?

Hi, shanjar, and welcome to MSE. Your mother might consider a money market account. Most banks and some building societies offer these. They are fixed term accounts with ( usually ) a decent rate of interest but the terms can be very short, as short as one week ( possibly even one day, I can't remember for sure ). They can normally be rolled over though the interest on the new term may not be the same as that on the old. The interest on deposits greater than £50,000 is paid and rolled over gross but of course it will have to be declared and any tax due paid.

HTH

Cheerfulcat