Account with reasonable accessibility?

jjlothin

I'm shortly going to be coming into some money (inheritance) and I'm trying to work out where might be the best place to put it, where it's reasonably accessible - given that (a) I may lose my job any minute and might need ready access, and (b) if my job by some miracle becomes secure I might need it for property.

I already have a cash ISA (with Santander), where I can put around £5k of it.

Any suggestions as to where I might put the rest, without tying it up for a year or two or three, would be very welcome! :T

innovate

You don't say how much it is, so it's difficult to suggest where to put what.

Firstly, don't put more than £85K into any single financial institution.

Secondly, if your ISA wasn't opened this financial year, it probably doesn't pay decent interest. Best ISA rates in post 1 of this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/401374

You can put up to £5,640 into your cash ISA before April 6 2013, and £5,760 for the next FY. It doesn't have to be the same ISA for both years. You also want to check whether your current ISA has a bonus rate and when that expires - you would most likely want it to be transferred (by the new provider) to a better interest rate.

Best interest at present for instant access:

• Santander 123, 3% AER on £3K to £20K. Costs £2/mth but you might be able to get this back in cashback. Has monthly deposit requirements which shouldn't be hard to meet.
• Lloyds and BoS Vantage, £3K - £5K. You can have 3 of each, i.e. a home for max £30K. Has monthly deposit requirements which shouldn't be hard to meet.

So that's some £56K accounted for. If you have more to find a home for, check the best rates on comparison sites such as money.co.uk.

You might get slightly better interest if you can fix at least some of your money for a year or 2.

jjlothin

Many thanks for your very helpful reply, Innovate!