Money Management

strick206

Hello,

I am wondering if you can help me, i am looking to move my girlfriends money around (she has asked me to do it) so that she maximises her iterest.

She has just over 9000, i am thinking of doing the following...

Firstly to use her 2012 allowance in an ISA, so that is £5640 sorted.

Now with the remaining money, i am looking at a good current account with a competitive interest rate, and then a regular saver account for her.

My questions are basically what is the best way for her to save her money.

1. I have seen the £100 for opening and then £5 a month when you pay in £1000+ with halifax (as a salary). Now is this something that i can put the £1000 in for a day or so and then move it into another account? Or does it have to stay in?

2. Lloyds TSB Vantage account with 4.00% interest (although this is lower when there isnt £5000 plus in.

3. is there another way that i can cycle the money around a couple of accounts maximising interest payments for her?

She will comfortably be able to save £500 a month so a regular saver is certainly a good option in my opinion, happy to be proven wrong though.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Strick

innovate

Yes, you can move the £1K out of Halifax within a day. Some people even do it within seconds.

If you haven't got the Lloyds Vantage & required DDs set up by now, it is probably too late for the 4%. You should still be able to get 3% though, on balances between £3K and £5K.

You haven't mentioned the First Direct Reg Saver, which beats anything interest-rate-wise right now.

Santander 123 current account might be of interest, too. Should still be able to get some Quidco money for opening one of them.

MoneySaverLog

All of the above and First Direct regular saver account, have to have their current account and open up a savings account with a pound in to avoid paying in £1500 a month.

strick206

Thanks for the responses, so to summarise, is this the best method...

£5640 in a Post Office Cash ISA

Open a First Direct Current Account for the £100 a month opening bonus. Pay Salary into this account until you receive the £100

Open a Savings Account with £1 in it to waive the £10 fee

Open a Regular Saver account with first direct at 8% and pay in £300 a month from the FD Current Account

Open a Halifax Current Account and cycle £1000 a month from whichever account the salary is paid into

Open a Santander 123 account and move all direct debits to this account to earn the cashback and also the in credit interest.


So if the above is true, my questions are, do i have to keep the direct debits coming out of the first direct account even after being paid the £100?

Also, it states at least two direct debits and standing orders, does this mean two of each?

Also, to do this with FD, do we need to use the switcher service, and if so can we specify to only switch two direct debits?

The Halifax account doesnt state whether we need to transfer some direct debits to the account, could someone please confirm?

Finally, the Santander 123 account, does this have to be the salary paid in or again can we cycle the money around. Again, regarding the switcher service, can we specify which DD's to transfer?


After all of this should she have any more money that she can use to save, will the Natwest easy access saver be the best option?

Sorry for the long post

Strick

innovate

Yeah, pretty much what you could do, and it's pretty complete in terms of getting at all the current offers. Well researched!

strick206 wrote: »

So if the above is true, my questions are, do i have to keep the direct debits coming out of the first direct account even after being paid the £100?

No you don't

Also, it states at least two direct debits and standing orders, does this mean two of each?

It's two in total - 2 DDs, 2 SOs, or 1 DD and 1 SO - - whatever suits you

Also, to do this with FD, do we need to use the switcher service, and if so can we specify to only switch two direct debits?

To get the £100, you must use the switcher service. Yes, you can specify exactly which DDs/SOs to be transferred. If you don't care about the £100, no transfers are needed.

The Halifax account doesnt state whether we need to transfer some direct debits to the account, could someone please confirm?

If you want their £100 signup offer, I believe you have to go for the full monty and let them transfer everything, and pay in regular money (salary or something similar). If you don't care about the £100, you don't need to transfer anything.

Finally, the Santander 123 account, does this have to be the salary paid in or again can we cycle the money around. Again, regarding the switcher service, can we specify which DD's to transfer?

You need to pay in £500 a month to get interest for balances above £1K. This can come from any source. I would transfer all the relevant DDs myself - - in my experience, you still need to monitor what happens when if you use a switcher service. So you might as well do it yourself. Took me a total of about an hour to transfer everything. Many providers let you do it online or on the phone.Others (like councils) might insist on getting your signature on a form.


After all of this should she have any more money that she can use to save, will the Natwest easy access saver be the best option?

Yep, it's the best instant access account atm. It might not be available for long, so you might want to speculatively open one of them now and put £1 into it.

If you are stuck for Direct Debits, have a look at this https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4168667