How to save £60k

Careful_ly

Prof_FrinkProf wrote: »

So with this account you are limited to depositing £400 per month?

Yes, you are limited to £400 per month, but in addition to the 5K in the Club account.

Prof_FrinkProf

Thanks for your help everyone, I will let you know how I get on!

Prof_FrinkProf

Hi all, just wanted to revive this thread as it's getting closer to the Lloyds Vantage accounts being closed (July I believe) and I wanted to double check my savings plans with the knowledgeable people on here.

I've spotted the TSB Plus Account is available, limited to two per customer but gives you 5% interest, so I've added these to my list too.

Below is the order I will deposit my growing fund of £60k in:

TSB Plus Account 5% £2,000
TSB Plus Account 5% £2,000
Club Lloyds 4% £5,000 - With two Direct Debit's to trigger interest rate
BoS Vantage 3% £5,000
BoS Vantage 3% £5,000
BoS Vantage 3% £5,000
Santandar 123 3% £20,000- With two Direct Debit's to trigger interest rate
Halifax ISA 1.55% £26,400

This now gives me a saving ceiling of £70,400.

I will also apply for a Halifax Reward Plus account if I'm eligible, this should pay me £100 for switching and a further £5 per month. I believe the interest rate on this account isn't fantastic, so I'll just keep a £100 float in here to fund the two direct debits and prevent me from going overdrawn.

Due to only having three direct debits at the moment (phone, broadband and dentist) on my Lloyds Current account, and potentially needing six to trigger the interest on the Club Lloyds, Santandar and Halifax accounts. I plan to add a further three direct debits with £1 charity donations, but when I switch from my Lloyds current account to the three new accounts that require 2x direct debits each (Club Lloyds, Santandar 123 and Halifax Reward Plus) can I choose to only switch two of my direct debits to each account at each time?

Also do the payments into each of these accounts need to be from my employer or will they accept bank transfers that I can do online from my other accounts?

Thanks

mel48rose

Glad you have revived this thread, has made interesting reading and has answered a few dilemmas for me too.

organic_wanabe

If you open a Santander 123 account then why not also put the £26,400 into the 123 Direct ISA Saver (Issue 7) paying 1.7% (Not that it is a great deal more than the Halifax). The Santander ISA rate is variable and falls after 12 months. However, as it is easy-access you can move it at any time.

badger09

Instead of the DDs for £1 charity donations I'd suggest setting up an Internet Savings a/c with Tesco which you can use to pull £1 (or more - the monthly interest perhaps?) by DD from each of the accounts which needs a DD

You could also add the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver, so another £400pm @ 4%

guitarman001

Your situation (OP) is almost identical to mine (you just have a bit more money!). HOLD THE PHONE.... I have two TSB Plus accounts (5%) and three Vantage accounts with them (the name may have changed). Are you saying the Vantage part on them is going to be stopped???
To be honest I am not even sure about keeping my money in 3% account because after higher rate tax that comes down to just 1.8% which is pretty poor.
The government/banks want me to either pile into shares or buy a property... both of which I don't think will do well in the short/medium-term (well, housing anyway!). I refuse to, but the alternatives are truly rubbish.
I have about 9-10 different accounts and it's so much hassle keeping track of it all.

Prof_FrinkProf

organic_wanabe wrote: »

If you open a Santander 123 account then why not also put the £26,400 into the 123 Direct ISA Saver (Issue 7) paying 1.7% (Not that it is a great deal more than the Halifax). The Santander ISA rate is variable and falls after 12 months. However, as it is easy-access you can move it at any time.

Thanks for the suggestion, I probably do that once I have the Santandar 123 account up and running.

badger09 wrote: »

Instead of the DDs for £1 charity donations I'd suggest setting up an Internet Savings a/c with Tesco which you can use to pull £1 (or more - the monthly interest perhaps?) by DD from each of the accounts which needs a DD

You could also add the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver, so another £400pm @ 4%

So if I set up one of these two Tesco accounts, I can set up a Direct Debit, debiting £1 off one of my accounts and that'll count as a direct debit? Do you have to set these DDs up when applying for the account, or can it be done online once the account is up and running?

badger09

Prof_FrinkProf wrote: »

So if I set up one of these two Tesco accounts, I can set up a Direct Debit, debiting £1 off one of my accounts and that'll count as a direct debit? Do you have to set these DDs up when applying for the account, or can it be done online once the account is up and running?

Once the Tesco account is up & running, you can set it up to pull by DD from several accounts if you want. I'm using it as a monthly DD on 4 accounts at the moment.

The interest rate isn't brilliant, but on a few £ a month that doesn't matter to me. I dislike the Tesco online banking with a vengeance, so avoid using it, but that's a small price to pay

innovate

A couple of observations:

• 1.7% in a normal savings account is 1.36% after BR tax, and 1.02% after higher rate tax
• money in the Halifax ISA is losing value every day since the interest rate doesn't even match inflation
• there is no account called Halifax Reward Plus. If you mean the Halifax Ultimate Reward: it costs £15 a month, for some services you may or may not value. If you are just after the monthly £5, you just want the normal Halifax Reward account, without the Ultimate bit
• as badger09 already said, look to Tesco for your DDs. They have two different savings accounts, both of which allow money to be pulled in by DD. All present current account requests for DDs can be met with the TWO (not just one) TESCO savings accounts.
• guitarman001, calm down. The TSB Enhance still pays 3% to qualifying existing account holders. But new applications are no longer taken
• unless you need all of your cash in the next 5-10 years, you could most likely do a lot better with funds, possibly in an S&S ISA.