HALIFAX REGULAR SAVER - ripped off

lipidicman

I have been told to leave my SO, but I have a feeling that you are right that it might breach the terms and conditions! Oh well, I was told by the assistant manager and there will be hell to pay if she is wrong. She's lovely really and looks after us, so I'm not that worried!

Robert_Sterling_3

ED wrote:

Robert_Sterling - Closed down? Halifax's 7% gross Regular Saver is still offered here :

Yes the 6% Account gets closed down. You can start again with a 7% account. In both cases they are not as good as they look at first sight.
What sort of regular saver is it that has to be closed down? Evidently this sort.

deemy2004

Robert_Sterling wrote:

Yes the 6% Account gets closed down. You can start again with a 7% account. In both cases they are not as good as they look at first sight.
What sort of regular saver is it that has to be closed down? Evidently this sort.

Probably the best for > £250 is the derbyshire regular at 5.85% with no end date and a £1k monthly limit.

ED

Indeed, Derbyshire Bdg Soc are better than Halifax at motivating customers to save every month.

Ongoing earning of 5.85% gross is a highly attractive feature of Derbyshire BS's 'Regular Savings' a/c.

One withdrawal is allowed per year (leaving at least £10 balance), so effectively instant access to up to £12,000 after one year. Ideal if saving for a large purchase months or years hence.

A way to win with the Halifax RS account could be :

April '05 - anniversary of Halifax RS, so up to £3,000 + interest transferred-out

April '05 - customer deposits £1,000 into Derbyshire monthly a/c

May '05 - deposit £1,000 into Derbyshire a/c (May payment)

June '05 - deposit £1,000 into Derbyshire a/c (June payment)

July '05 (+ each subsequent month) - customer deposits £10 into Derbyshire a/c (more if it can be afforded)

Walletwatch

That's right, ED, Martin covers it in theory in his Savings fountain article, where he explains that the best way to exploit a RS account to the fullest is by putting in high amounts at the beginning of the year, and then reducing the amount to whatever you can afford in the later stages.

oramgepekoe

My Halifax Regular Saver ended up with £3250 in it (plus interest) cos they allowed you to start it with a £250 cheque and then the 12 monthly payments. It's just matured and the extra didn't cause a problem. I'm going to use the proceeds for my 2005-6 mini cash ISA on 6th April so I'm very pleased with the timing.

System

I am a bit unsure as to what to do with my cash when it matures in May. My first thought was to shove it in my ING Direct account with the rest of my savings and start again, saving £100 a month as i have been up to now. However, i did think it would be nice if i could use the money to plough back into the Halifax account at the maximum amount allowed, but should i put it into ING lose a couple of days interest every month whilst waiting for it to go into my bank account so i can feed it into my Halfax account? Or shall i just leave it in my LLoyds Online Saver which pays 4.75%? (apposed to ING 5%) Any thoughts would be appreciated.

ED

Judi - one consideration is when do you anticipate needing access to most or all of the money currently in Halifax RS a/c?

System

No, i dont need it, only a death in my family would be the only reason i would need to draw from it.

grumbler

Judi wrote:

My first thought was to shove it in my ING Direct account with the rest of my savings and start again, saving £100 a month as i have been up to now. However, i did think it would be nice if i could use the money to plough back into the Halifax account at the maximum amount allowed, but should i put it into ING lose a couple of days interest every month whilst waiting for it to go into my bank account so i can feed it into my Halfax account? Or shall i just leave it in my LLoyds Online Saver which pays 4.75%? (apposed to ING 5%) Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Arithmetic is very simple. If you lose about 45-days (1.5-months) interest on transfers from ING to other bank you lose (before tax)
£250*5%*(1.5/12)=£1.56
If you keep £3000 (average balance £1500) in Lloyds instead of ING you lose about
1500*(5%-4.75%)=£3.75
Difference after tax is less than £2!
Why don’t you have A&L with 5.35% instead of Lloyds and ING?