Looking to save £50 per month advice

stephen25uk

Hey guys
I am looking to save £50 per month long term but I am unsure as to what the best option would be...any help appreciated

2nd question...we currently save £400 per month with the rbs but the interest is all most non existent.....what are the best regular saver accounts out there
I have tended to do everything through rbs but I know I can do better with other accounts out there.

Thanks

opinions4u

1. Define long term. You could be looking at a regular saver account, a cash ISA a stocks and shares ISA or even increased pension contributions.

2. Start at First Direct.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts

stephen25uk

Long term I am thinking an Isa or regular saver for the £50 per month

For the £400 per month I really need an account that's going to pay me at least some interest as the rbs one pays virtually nothing

Archi_Bald

You need to define what you mean by "long term" - 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc.

Also, how long do you want to keep your monthly savings for - do you need instant access or are you saving for something that happens in a year, two, five years etc ?

stephen25uk

Long term on the £50 per month will be at least 10 years

£400 per month in a regular savings account or similar that I can get to if I need it quickly

Thanks again for the help

Archi_Bald

For your long-term savings, look at this: http://monevator.com/how-to-invest-on-a-budget/

For your £400 a month, you could use a combination of good current accounts (Nationwide FlexDirect, Santander 123, Lloyds/BOS Vantage, TSB Enhance) and Regular Savers (First Direct, Lloyds, TSB, Nationwide).

Vortigern

stephen25uk wrote: »

we currently save £400 per month

"We" implies a couple, so get a joint account with first direct, then each of you could get a regular saver paying 6%. When the reg savers mature, pay the proceeds into ISAs and start new reg savers.

Totton

We used to save a similar amount into the Law Debenture Investment Trust through a savings plan where our monthly dealing cost was 50p. I am not sure that LWDB do this now but it may be worthwhile looking at something like that as many IT's offer something similar.

Doshwaster

When I first started long term savings about 15 years ago I was putting £50 a month into a cash ISA (back when interest rates were about 7%) and £50 into an index tracking S&S ISA. Over the years I have increased contributions and diversified my S&S into a range of funds but an index tracker is a good place to start as a beginner.

A good guide to getting started: http://www.fool.co.uk/Investing/guides/The-Difference-Between-Saving-And-Investing.aspx

rb10

The First Direct regular saver will not be suitable if you are looking to be able to access all the money instantly, as the money is tied up for a year.

Best bet is to fill up a Nationwide FlexDirect account first (a current account, pays 5% interest on up to £2500), then start on a Santander 123 (3% on balances of £3k-£20k).

Both of these are current accounts, so you can use them for salary, ATM transactions, debit card payments etc. Switch all direct debits to Santander to get 1-3% cashback on them.