Where to put £100/month

prowla

Just thinking aloud...

If I were thinking of setting aside an amount of say £100 per month, maybe on a 5-year plan, is there a good place to put it.

Or is it better in a tin under the bed?

ChopperST

Have you filled your ISA allowance?
Do you need instant access?
Are you thinking of saving or investing the funds?
What is your attitude to risk?
Do you have a pension?

Bufger

To continue with Choppers line of thought...

Do you have a mortgage?
Do you have any other savings/Emergency fund?

prowla

Thanks for the responses.

I have a mortgage (so one option is to just put the money into that).
I have a pension and pay an additional amount into it (I am in my 50s).
I don't have savings & emergency fund - this could potentially be that.
I shouldn't need instant access (unless in an emergency).
I don't have an ISA.
I've got a couple of endowments which under-performed, but I left them running as they are due to mature in a a year or two (they'll just go towards the mortgage).

Phew!

Bufger

I think you have two sensible options:

1) Check if your mortgage product allows overpayments that can be drawn back in case of emergency. Your mortgage rate will likely be higher than anything you'd get from a cash ISA so its better if you can reduce that debt saving yourself future interest but the key thing is checking its flexible first.

2) Cash ISA - everyone has an allocation. Try your hardest to fill it each year. If there is an emergency then use the funds if you need to, otherwise count it as another pension fund.

Archi_Bald

Put is into a FlexDirect, or some other interest-paying current account, and then just before the end of the tax year, decide whether to put what you saved into an ISA.

ChopperST

I'd go with a regular saver if I were you.

First direct's latest offering offers 6% with the interest payable at the end of 1 year, I'd use it to build up an emergency fund and transfer the monies at maturity into some for of ISA vehicle and start again with the £100 a month with whatever regular saver is available at that point in time.

jackyann

I have an account that allows up to 3 withdrawals a year (it's not available to newcomers so no point in a link). It pays better interest than most savings accounts, and is available for an emergency.

I would tend to go with paying off the mortgage, as long as you have some emergency funds and/or can ask for a mortgage "holiday".
I'd also see what "off set" accounts you can get - we had one for the last few years of our mortgage and it saved us a lot.

atush

w/o an emergency fund, you really need to start there. In regular savers, then proceeds into a Cash ISA once mature.

Then I would look at S&S isas alongside overpaying mtg depending on the rate. Paying off your mtg, and having savings and investments outside your pension is esp import should you wish to retire early. Even if not, it gives you access to capital