Where to start with £30,000 needing to earn interest

Carolinemjs

I have recently come into some money and would like some advice on the best way to maximise the amount of interest it is possible to receive. I'm new to ISA's and have just applied to the Leeds for their top rate 5yr fixed rate at 2.85%. However i'm struggling to know what to do with the remaining £30,000. I earn less than £1000 a month so need access to some funds to top this up but it seems I can't apply for any of the high interest current accounts because I don't have sufficient money going into an account each month.
What are the options please?

Thank you,
Caroline

ColdIron

The money 'going into an account' means just that, it does not need to be salary or income. You can just transfer the £500, or whatever, from a different account and move it straight back out again, job done

Scarpacci

(ETA: Oops, beaten to it by ColdIron).

The money going into high interest current accounts does not need to be "new money" or your wage. If you have £30,000 you have enough to fill up these current accounts and cycle money through each month. You simply send the required amount out of your high interest account to your regular current account and then send it back. It's perfectly acceptable and I would wager the vast majority of people using the accounts do just that. You don't need a new £500/750/1000 a month.

The only other requirement to be aware of is the accounts that require direct debits. You may have to work a little to achieve this - unless you already direct debits you'd be willing to move - but it's easy enough to find one or two easy direct debits to meet this requirement. PayPal, for instance, is a common one you can set up. Some savings accounts allow a direct debit to be set up to a current account, though these seem to becoming rarer. You could also set up a direct debit to a charity if you feel like giving a little. Some accounts, such as the TSBs, do not require DDs at all.

StevieJ

I suppose opening a Santander 123 current account cold take care of £20k of it , at least in the short term, earning 3% gross.
http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/

jimjames

If you're happy tying the money up for 5 years do you need access to it? If not then an investment ISA may be worth it for some of the money.

TickersPlaysPop

You can open 2 Santander 123 accounts per person.... Lloyds also allow multiple accounts at a higher interest than Santander 123.

Best to read the Savings and current account sections of this website.

Archi_Bald

TickersPlaysPop wrote: »

You can open 2 Santander 123 accounts per person.... Lloyds also allow multiple accounts at a higher interest than Santander 123.

Hang on sunshine. You can now open 1 sole 123 current account, and one joint one. That is 3 123 accounts between 3 people. Interest gets paid at various rates on balances between £1,000 to £20,000. Max interest rate is 3% AER, and the accounts have a £2/mth fee (which some people may be able to neutralise etc with the DD cashback the accounts offer).

You can argue whether Lloyds allow multiple accounts at a higher interest rate than Santander 123 - you can open 1 sole Club Lloyds account, and one joint one. No more multiple useful lloyds current account snce the demise of Lloyds Vantage yesterday. Interest gets paid at various rates on balance between £1 to £5,000. Max interest rate is 4% AER. Lots less potential from Lloyds than from Santander if you have lots of money. May be more if you have a bit less money, if you see what I mean.

Both Santander and Lloyds have minimum monthly deposit requirements. Santander also has DD requirements.

TickersPlaysPop wrote: »

Best to read the Savings and current account sections of this website.

Agreed.

On a general note: the concept of getting interest from current accounts, as opposed from savings accounts (incl ISAs) has been around for quite a few years now. It is always worth reminding people of it, especially at times when the whole world seems to go ISA, or NISA, crazy.

TickersPlaysPop

Sorry! I am a bit out of date on the latest 123 rules... Sorry folks.... Like I said best to read the savings and current account pages on this website...

Archi_Bald

TickersPlaysPop wrote: »

Sorry! I am a bit out of date on the latest 123 rules... Sorry folks.... Like I said best to read the savings and current account pages on this website...

I am really sorry to constantly chip in with amendments to your posts but I have to do it again......it is pretty much irrelevant what is posted on MSE (this includes my own posts) when it comes to terms and conditions of any bank accounts. The only thing that counts is the T&Cs of the provider.

It is fine to quote the current terms on a forum but if you aren't absolutely certain of your facts, may be just don't post them, or at least post them with some caveats. There are always numpties who will act based on what they read on the internet, not based on the T&Cs they confirmed as accepted. They won't have any legal comebacks to you, but would you want to be mislead by people on Internet forums?

TickersPlaysPop

To anybody reading this.... please look both ways when crossing the road... before jumping over walls check the other side first.... Make sure you eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day... don't smoke.... Don't Drink too much.... Don't trust salespeople who come to your front door ..... I'm sure I can't put everything into this post.... So please refer to ....

https://www.common-sense.com

Oh yes.... And apologies in advance to all

Carolinemjs

I would like to point out that to open a Santander 123 you have to have an income to enter and you also have to enter monthly outgoings. This is a problem for me as my outgoings are more than my income and are being covered by drawing from savings.
I haven't looked into the other accounts yet.