A few questions about banking

jp2031

Hi there; im not an experienced Banking user; I am a full time student with not much cash after all.

Anyway; I popped into my bank (RBS) today and asked if they had an account i could open, where it would stop me from taking money out of it in a period of say a year. The woman whom i was talking to me said there was no account that could do this; I'd need to simply open a seperate current account or savings account, and not touch the money.

I dont have that great of a willpower to put money in my bank and leave it there. These days its so simple to transfer money from my ISA account to my Current account allowing me to spend spend spend!

Does anyone know of a bank which would be able to put an account like this in place, where I cant touch my money that has been deposited for a period of time; Its to save up for next summer.


Also, my fiancee and I are looking to opening a joint bank account to save our money up. We are looking for something that money cant be withdrawn from without both of us being present; Someone has suggested to us we use the Post Office savings account?


She is in debt with Halifax, and is afraid that if we open a bank account under her and my name, the money will be taken by Halifax to pay off her debt; is this possible? Even if we open a bank account with a different bank?

Many thanks
:j Jp :j

Consumerist

Have you thought about a 1-year fixed-rate term account. You can't normally touch the money during the term, which could be from 6 months to 5 years, depending on the bank and rate available. You can look here for some options.

If you open another account with Halifax (or any bank in the same group) then they may take money from one account to pay off the debt in another account. If, however, you open an account with another bank, Halifax will not be able to access it.

If there is any possibility that your fiancee may run into difficulty with her Halifax account, you might be wise to keep separate accounts because a financial association may be created through a joint account. This means that any default on her credit record will affect yours as well.

Hope this helps.

zppp

Consumerist wrote: »

Have you thought about a 1-year fixed-rate term account. You can't normally touch the money during the term, which could be from 6 months to 5 years, depending on the bank and rate available. You can look here for some options.

If you open another account with Halifax (or any bank in the same group) then they may take money from one account to pay off the debt in another account. If, however, you open an account with another bank, Halifax will not be able to access it.

If there is any possibility that your fiancee may run into difficulty with her Halifax account, you might be wise to keep separate accounts because a financial association may be created through a joint account. This means that any default on her credit record will affect yours as well.

Hope this helps.

Halifax is not owned by RBS, it is owned by Lloyds.

RBS + Natwest = Royal Bank of Scotland
BOS + Halifax + Lloyds = Lloyds Banking Group

Consumerist

zppp wrote: »

Halifax is not owned by RBS, it is owned by Lloyds.

My understanding of the OP's post is that his fiancee is in debt to Halifax. I made no reference to RBS so I don't quite understand the point you are making..

jp2031

Consumerist wrote: »

If there is any possibility that your fiancee may run into difficulty with her Halifax account, you might be wise to keep separate accounts because a financial association may be created through a joint account. This means that any default on her credit record will affect yours as well.

Hope this helps.

Should I avoid a joint account with her all the time, and just get the post office account, or would it be safe to get a joint account after her debt has been paid?

Thanks

Consumerist

jp2031 wrote: »

Should I avoid a joint account with her all the time, and just get the post office account, or would it be safe to get a joint account after her debt has been paid?

In general terms, if there is a financial association between you then any default on one account will reflect on both of you when a bank considers offering credit to either or both of you. e.g. a mortgage.

Joint accounts are a question of personal choice but if there is any danger of either of you running into difficulties with your credit record then it would seem wise to keep separate accounts. Why not have separate accounts until you marry then consider your options again.

As for an account which will prevent you from gaining access to your savings, if a term account is not suitable (which requires the deposit up front) then it's really down to you to make it as difficult as possible to get at it. eg perhaps a postal notice account. Whilst it won't bar access to your money, it might give sufficient pause for thought. If you open the account in your name, then give your fiancee the stationary for withrawals. Be inventive.

BTW - Congratulations on the engagement. Good luck to you both.

CLAPTON

seems totally bizarre to me

I would have thought that it was better for you to address the issue of why you can't trust yourself to save without withdrawing the cash.... whatever will you do in the future if you have responsibilities like mortgage, children etc and yet haven't learnt to manage your finances?

and you OH? what sort of debt is she in... and wouldn't it be better to look to sorting this out as asap rather than saving for next summer

Joe_Bloggs

The role of willpower in saving money is paramount. If you don't have it you won't. In my view there has to be a goal or a consequence for not saving to make saving a preferred course of action.

Trying to 'save' money while you are in debt is can of worms. It could be seen as a way to build up an amount to splurge, if you manage to save whilst building up a debt.

I could be wrong and probably am.

J_B.

Consumerist

Well, they may be shooting from the hip but CLAPTON and Joe_Bloggs both raise points you should be taking on board.

It's a cardinal rule elswhere on this site to pay off debts before putting spare money into savings.

You have both already made a major promise regarding your future lives. Why not make some promises regarding your finances, if only to consult each other before spending and to pay off debt before saving.

Edit
Referring to one of your questions in the OP, you may find this MSE atricle of some interest.

zppp

jp2031 wrote: »

Anyway; I popped into my bank (RBS) today and asked if they had an account i could open, where it would stop me from taking money out of it in a period of say a year.

Consumerist wrote: »

I made no reference to RBS so I don't quite understand the point you are making..

Apologies, meant to quote the OP, as shown above.

jp2031

CLAPTON wrote: »

seems totally bizarre to me

I would have thought that it was better for you to address the issue of why you can't trust yourself to save without withdrawing the cash.... whatever will you do in the future if you have responsibilities like mortgage, children etc and yet haven't learnt to manage your finances?

and you OH? what sort of debt is she in... and wouldn't it be better to look to sorting this out as asap rather than saving for next summer

Your right; i really need to trust myself to save without the need of a separate account... Im going to start putting money in my ISA account every month.

Right now, we are both students; but she put herself in debt last year and didnt tell me about it till reciently; she was in overdraft of £1000 and she couldnt keep up with the payments, but she says she is sorting it out now, and it should be paid off by the end of this year.

I should have mentioned actually to some of you; the debt is not our debt, its hers;
Our finances are totally seperate, but at our engagement party reciently, we were given a lot of cash presents which we wanted to deposit. I will keep it in my ISA account for the time being, and once she is out of debt we will see from there.

Thanks for all your replies, its appreciated