What do I do?

pana37

Hi after checking how much interest I'm getting for my 12k I was shocked. We may need to get the money at short notice 30 days.

The new ISA is coming out soon so we will put 5k each so that leaves me 2k left. with regards of the ISA are we better off sticking the 5k each and if we need the money soon take it out and lose interest/penalty ? Or stick the lot into a easy access saving a/c?

jennifernil

For £12k, 2 x Lloyds Vantage accounts paying 4%.

psychic_teabag

LLoyds vantage current account will give you 4% gross - even after basic-rate tax, that beats the best instant-access ISA's at the moment. Check other threads on the forum for details. Could move the money to an ISA at the end of next financial year if you don't want to miss out on ISA allowance.

Or if you qualify, Santandar have a first-home-saver which pays 5% - initial deposit of up to £5k then must add £100 to £300 per month - could drip-feed from another account. But many people here recommend against Santander.

Otherwise, if you're a taxpayer, may as well go for an ISA over any other instant-access savings account. Otherwise coventry have a 1-month notice account paying very slightly better than best instant-access. But over the short term, might not be worth the bother of setting it up for just a little extra interest for a bit of hassle getting access to the money.

rlzzzz

I'm in a similar position, I've used my full ISA allowance for a S&S ISA and have around 12k in a halifax saving account earning 2.7% at the moment. With these Lloyds accounts I assume I could open 2 and put 7k in each then add and remove 1k each month to continue earning the interest? Is there a limit on how many you can have as I'm saving £1000+ per month so will quickly need an extra account. Or is there something better out there?

pana37

Thanks for your replies. Yes I am a tax payer I don't mind 30 day notice a/c just wondering
If I need to get access to the money from the ISA before the term is up would I be better off with one of the accounts above?

psychic_teabag

rlzzzz wrote: »

I'm in a similar position, I've used my full ISA allowance for a S&S ISA and have around 12k in a halifax saving account earning 2.7% at the moment. With these Lloyds accounts I assume I could open 2 and put 7k in each then add and remove 1k each month to continue earning the interest? Is there a limit on how many you can have as I'm saving £1000+ per month so will quickly need an extra account. Or is there something better out there?

Lloyds T&C allow 3 accounts, but some people struggle to persuade the sales people to actually create them. So you can have £14k across 2 accounts, then when you add £1000 you can split the total to have £5k in each of three accounts, maintaining the 4% interest.

Could also look for regular savings accounts which tend to pay higher rates.

psychic_teabag

pana37 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. Yes I am a tax payer I don't mind 30 day notice a/c just wondering
If I need to get access to the money from the ISA before the term is up would I be better off with one of the accounts above?

Just rereading your original question... since you mention penalties / losing interest, that suggests you were considering a fixed-term ISA rather than instant-access. There's not all that many fixed accounts that offer access, even with a penalty. An instant-access account (ISA or otherwise) would seem simplest if you might need the money. The 30-day account would be okay, but you'd get more in an instant-access ISA.

I think each 0.1% gross rate on £12k gives an extra 3.3p per day (2.6p after tax). You can use that to decide how much effort it's worth going to to secure a slightly higher rate.