20k to invest short-term

Sanoffo

I have 21k sitting in a Halifax online saver (0.2%). I'll need to access this within 4-8months to pay for a house extension but I'm wondering if I can do anything with it in the meantime to maximise gains.

Leave it where it is?
Santander 123?
Premium bonds?

Any advice appreciated :j

xylophone

Is there a Mrs Sanoffo? - You could put a fair bit of that into TSB Classic Plus accounts/ Nationwide Flexdirect accounts.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4919673

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/flexdirect/features-and-benefits

Smi1er

Santander. !!!!!!!!! I mentioned the S word:o


Don't move your banking to them, just the money and the cashback DD's

Ifts

Smi1er wrote: »

Santander. !!!!!!!!! I mentioned the S word:o
Don't move your banking to them, just the money and the cashback DD's

I've never had any problems banking with Santander, have had their 123 accounts for a few years now and alls good. I think back in the day they used to have bad service but id say things have improved since then.

If anything on a few occasions when I was without my !!!!!!! HSBC logging in gadget and could not sign into my HSBC account (main bankings with HSBC 25+ yrs) to set up a new payee - it was my Santander 123 account that came to the rescue so I could move some money. Since then Ive set up all my important payee details on the Santander account too in case I get caught without my HSBC logging in gadget.

Your_Hero

I would say a combination of the Lloyds TSB Vantage account as mentioned previously (I believe it pays 5% interest p.a. on balances up to £4k-5k) and premium bonds.


As you can imagine there are pros and cons for each and ultimately it depends on what you like really.


If you are really savvy and want to squeeze out every single bit of interest there is, then you could open multiple accounts with Lloyds to earn 5% (pro-rata'd for 4-8 months). Of course, this requires a bit of work, and for some the interest earned over the said period is not worth the hassle.


Premium bonds on the other hand is one single solution and easy to manage. But of course, they do suffer from inflation-erosion which in my opinion isn't much harm given the short period you're referring to and not to mention it's quite good fun waiting to see what you "win".

Archi_Bald

Your_Hero wrote: »

I would say a combination of the Lloyds TSB Vantage account as mentioned previously (I believe it pays 5% interest p.a. on balances up to £4k-5k) and premium bonds.

Lloyds Vantage interest rate will reduce to max 1.5% in a couple of weeks from now and is therefore not the best place to put any money into.

Premium Bonds are only suitable if you want a bit of a gamble with very low risk.

eskbanker

Your_Hero wrote: »

I would say a combination of the Lloyds TSB Vantage account as mentioned previously (I believe it pays 5% interest p.a. on balances up to £4k-5k)

You probably need to refresh on Lloyds group offerings - for a start TSB split off from Lloyds last year so "Lloyds TSB" no longer exists! As Archi points out, Lloyds Vantage is reducing interest next month to 1.5%, but was only at 3% in the first place (recently). Lloyds Club pays 4% on up to £5K, TSB has Enhance at 3% on up to £5K and Plus for 5% on up to £2K....

Your_Hero

eskbanker wrote: »

You probably need to refresh on Lloyds group offerings - for a start TSB split off from Lloyds last year so "Lloyds TSB" no longer exists! As Archi points out, Lloyds Vantage is reducing interest next month to 1.5%, but was only at 3% in the first place (recently). Lloyds Club pays 4% on up to £5K, TSB has Enhance at 3% on up to £5K and Plus for 5% on up to £2K....

You are right there, slip of the tongue/finger. Unfortunately, I didn't memorise the names of all the Lloyds accounts either, but I guess it's not too hard to find the one paying the highest interest rate. Nevertheless, the gist is clear.

Sanoffo

Thanks for all replies. I've gone with 20k in premium bonds as I fancy a gamble and it's the easiest in my current (very busy) situation!

:beer:

robatwork

While safe, you do realise that your short term makes this a pretty bad idea returns-wise. If you invested today then you won't even be in a draw until after 1 calendar month ie. 1st August. That's quite some dead time for your cash.....

Sanoffo

All other options seem to require actioning regular transfers and setting up new accounts in various places. Can you advise on any other easier options?