Savings account from which you can't withdraw money??

judywoody

Not sure if this should be moved to the savings thread?

I was wondering if a product like that already exists?

A savings account from which you can not withdraw (not just being fined) any money for a set amount of time (time determined by the saver who opens the account) and then being fined heavily for not saving the agreed amount on a monthly basis (let's say a 30£ pund fine whenever you don't pay..just as you would if you don't pay your credit card debts) - as an incentive you get a good interest.

I think this would be a good idea for people who can't save ... I am really struggling and I have a savings account that will punish me if I withdraw money but that's only a few pounds interest lost.

Obviously the terms would be decided by the saver himself (lenght of contract and amount that should be saved regularly)

Lokolo

Yes they are called Regular Savers.... but they are usually 12 month period, so end of the 12 months you start a new one.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/regular-savings-accounts/

ses6jwg

I think the focus here needs to be on your mindset, rather than on the products availiable.

You need to sit down and really think long and hard about what your savings goals are.

Some people save for christmas or for holidays.

Others save for that spangly new BMW convertable.

Some people save for their retirement.

Others just save because its something they have always done, and they like the security of having capital behind them.

If you are struggling to "put money aside", perhaps maybe you need to look at where your outgoings are, and then it won't be so difficult to do? Can't you switch from Kelloggs Crunchy Nut down to the Supermarket Own Brand? Do you really need that new Armani jacket?

Freeing up some disposable income will make the whole experiance more enjoyable and less of a "chore".

One tip I always reccomend, is to set up all your bills via Direct Debit to go within 4 days of you getting paid. When they have gone out, see what you've got left and scrutinise your spending. Then I set up a regular saver to go out with all my bills so I do not notice it.

Does work offer a company savings scheme?

Your approach needs to be all encompassing, and not just a narrow view of a set amount of money going into an account each month.

hcb42

just rename your savings accounts on line e.g. Retirement Fund....

I never touch mine! I think my husband thinks it is a Pension fund...not all freely accessible tomorrow if I wanted to go stupid

EarthBoy

judywoody wrote: »

Obviously the terms would be decided by the saver himself (lenght of contract and amount that should be saved regularly)

There are no accounts of any sort, regular savers or otherwise, where the terms can be decided by the saver. Instead, you have to peruse the options on offer and decide on the closest to your requirements. Bonds often come in various versions with contracts of different lengths, but you can't usually pay into them regularly. Normally, it's just a one off lump sum at the start.

Regular savers can be just for 12 months, but many of them are permanent, i.e. Yorkshire BS, Nottingham BS, etc., so you can save with these for as long as you like. You get more interest for regular payments and a limited number of withdrawals, (one with YBS, 2 with Nottingham). More withdrawals than this and you only get a paltry amount of interest

judywoody

Well, we already live a simple life as we both don't earn much money and the money just about lasts long enough to pay our bills and pur food..but we might be able to put aside a tenner a month..it's not much but even this is hard to save sometimes. We hardly buy clothes and already but supermarket own brands stuff. We spend about 150£ a month on food. But we have to pay a few things off, too. HSBC does a regular savings account that sounds good but I think I need an account with them..we'll see.

ses6jwg

judywoody wrote: »

Well, we already live a simple life as we both don't earn much money and the money just about lasts long enough to pay our bills and pur food..but we might be able to put aside a tenner a month..it's not much but even this is hard to save sometimes. We hardly buy clothes and already but supermarket own brands stuff. We spend about 150£ a month on food. But we have to pay a few things off, too. HSBC does a regular savings account that sounds good but I think I need an account with them..we'll see.

If you pay more in interest on what you owe than what you will earn on your savings, you need to focus on reducing that before building a nest egg.