replacement for halifax guaranteed reserve

ashdale1234

I've been told by the Halifax that my Guaranteed Reserve Account of about £40K, which was a two year investment, will mature in a few weeks and would I like to transfer across to a Halifax Fixed Saver. There's a comparison of conditions which indicates the main difference is early closure on the Fixed Saver gives a greater financial punishment than for the Guaranteed Reserve. I clearly don't PLAN early closure so should I transfer over, or is there a better Halifax option? I already have a "cautious" balanced spread of other investments, bonds and things so I'm not looking to invest the money in them.

moof86

You're quite right, the biggest change is the way the interest penalties are calculated. For the 2 years (if you continue on with that account) is a 180 day fixed penalty. If you close the account before then, you will lose out on some of your captial, anything after the first 180 days and you'll break even at worst. The longer the term, the more days for the penalty.

As far as if there's anything better in the Halifax, not really. They have streamlined their products and the only bonds that are available (not including the fixed rate isa) is the fixed saver and it's online brother, fixed online saver, both which will carry the exact same interest penalties.

If you're not planning to withdrawal, then you'll be fine. But one option to consider is splitting the 40k amongst two accounts, either the same term or different terms. This means if you do need to get a hold of some of the funds, you've got one you can get out first and soften the actual amount of interest taken as part of the penalty.

opinions4u

The Fixed Online Saver usually pays a bit more interest.