"THE ONE ACCOUNT" any advice/experiences?????

kershaw39

Hello

I'm looking for advice on moving my accounts/savings/mortgage to the ONE ACCOUNT....... i've search on the site and the forums and its not turning up any results ...... has this type of flexible account been reviewed by martin ??? or money savers ???

Sassers

Hi Kershaw39 - I've been looking all over this site and can't find anything either! The One account is the `one' for me (pardon the pun)...going to start the ball rolling in Jan 07 so I'll let you know how it goes

kershaw39

hello Sassers

I too think it could be the one for me and my family....... but their mortgage shrinker seems a bit OTT it reckons on me paying it off 11 years early ...... i think that assumes me never doing anything except using every spare penny to overpay ???? not ideal to me as i have 2 kids one wife on maternity leave and a life/family to live with and enjoy ....... It would be good if martin reviewed these accounts as ive used his advice on current accounts, mortgages and savings account so far and i seem better off for it

skim

Just in the process of setting up an account too.

Although the interest rate is higher than the other offset accounts it works well for me because they calculate your repayment on the outstanding debt each month & so the amount to pay comes down as I understand it & therefore you reduce your debt quicker.

Because I have quite a substantial sum of savings it means that I'm paying about half the amount I would be paying on a normal mortgage. Also it means I'm not paying 40% tax on my savings which is a bonus.

The only thing is that you will have to be very disciplined in how you spend money otherwise it could be quite easy to spend more than you mean to.

One other thing I'm going to do is put all my monthly spend on my credit card & then pay it all off at the end of the month. This means your wages don't get spent until the last possible moment & therefore you save the interest on whatever you wages are too.

skintlass

Hi, I have a one account and am currently looking for a fixed/discount mortgage to switch to. The one account is excellent if you are doing home improvements and you are disciplined. The reason you have to be disciplined is that if you have an agreed facility (i.e. funds above what you owe on your mortgage) then it is all available to you in your current account so you can spend it very easily.

rebl43

We have a ONE account- best thing we ever did! Would happily recommend it!

Sassers

kershaw39 wrote:

i think that assumes me never doing anything except using every spare penny to overpay ????

This is the only thing that is really scaring me about this account - when I did the mortgage calculator thingy it assumed I'd have a lump sum and an annual wage increase. Well, I don't and I won't unless I jump ship from my current job to elsewhere (fingers crossed, applied for new job waiting for inteview date).

I just evisage pouring all my savings into this account that gets swallowed up to stay within the agreed limits (if you know what I mean).....!

Skintlass and RbL - this is what I find interesting when you hear other people's opinions and experiences. One of you loves the set-up, the other one wants to switch....It makes me think this one account only suits people in certain circs.....

Well,I will give it a go in Jan 07. The thing is if I change to the one account and effectively remortgage to £55k, get this new job and sell my car I WILL BE DEBT-FREE and beaten my snowball calculator by a heck of a lot of years!

love Sas

skim

I had a couple of IFA's come around to find me a decent mortgage & I told them my financial situation & that I'd looked at the OneAccount.

The first IFA has never got back to me so I guess he couldn't offer anything better.

The second seemed amazed at how you could quickly pay off a mortgage if you are as disciplined with money as we are. He told us "well, you obviously know what you are doing so I suggest you would be better off arranging a mortgage yourselves."

I would say that this type of mortgage is no good if you can't manage your money & is not for you if you can not save money or have no savings.

rebl43

Yes, there is a big chance that if you are not disiplined you could reach the end of the mortgage term and still owe all of the original amount!:eek:

kershaw39

whats the money for nothing challenge ???????

rebl43

See this thread.........
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=271716