£10k Warchest (Investment Options)

just4kix

Hi,

I have £10k in reserves sitting around for emergencies. Not going to add to it as I'm comfortable with the total. I'd like to put to work as it's been sitting around for some time doing nothing.

"Work" defined as anything greater than 3%.

Not willing to lose the capital and must be liquid (48-72hrs at most).

Best suggestions?

jimjames

If you don't want to take any risk then it isn't really putting it to work.

Just get the best paying accounts you can which at the moment starts with TSB paying 5%. Lots of threads on the forum about it.

If you aren't saving other money for long term then it might be worth putting some into pension or investments.

PenguinJim

£4,000 in TSB Classic Plus at 5% interest, £2,500 in Nationwide FlexDirect at 5% interest, and £5,000 in Lloyds Club at 4% interest.

gkerr4

the above poster - i 'think' these are all current accounts and the values are the max amount that attract the highest rate of interest.

its the highest 'safe' return, but a lot of work surely? - that all have to be operated as a current account don't they? so minimum paid in each month, minimum number of DD's setup on the account and even at month 1, the interest paid would not be compounded as no interest is paid above the maximum threshold - so you'd need to move the interest payment 'out' to another account to make most efficiency?

sounds a lot of work! - with just 10k it would attract maybe £15 a month? i can't be bothered to do the sums, but seems a waste of anyones time to me!.

Voyager2002

PenguinJim wrote: »

£4,000 in TSB Classic Plus at 5% interest, £2,500 in Nationwide FlexDirect at 5% interest, and £5,000 in Lloyds Club at 4% interest.

Giving a return of about 40 pounds a month before tax: well worth the fifteen minutes per month of work shifting money between accounts.

bowlhead99

gkerr4 wrote: »

the above poster - i 'think' these are all current accounts and the values are the max amount that attract the highest rate of interest.

its the highest 'safe' return, but a lot of work surely? - that all have to be operated as a current account don't they?

sounds a lot of work! - with just 10k it would attract maybe £15 a month? i can't be bothered to do the sums, but seems a waste of anyones time to me!.

Well, you said you wanted to "put the 10k to work". What you really meant was you wanted to find an account where for no risk and no effort someone would magically give you a return of over 50% higher than inflation. That account does not exist.

If you averaged 4%+ on the current accounts suggested, for a year, on £10k, that is £400. Do you want the £400 or don't you? It met the objective of being greater than the 3% you'd asked for. Granted, if you are earning £110k a year and on a marginal tax rate of 60%, it's only about £13 a month. Gross, it's £33 a month. If you'd wanted a bigger return than a return bigger than the 3% you asked for, you should have said. Of course if you did, we'd say you can't do it without some risk and/or hassle.

If you don't want to mess around with multiple current accounts at multiple banks for the very best rates, and I must admit i don't either, just stick it all in the Santander 123 current account. They pay you 3% on up to £20k. One standing order a month and one out again from your normal bank account will take care of minimum deposit requirements. You might even like to do all your banking there, they give cash back on bills etc.

It is 3% and with some cashback on your utility bills would qualify as "something over 3%", and better than return you're currently getting while £10k is "doing nothing". If that still doesn't work for you, you're out of options.

jimjames

gkerr4 wrote: »

the above poster - i 'think' these are all current accounts and the values are the max amount that attract the highest rate of interest.

its the highest 'safe' return, but a lot of work surely? - that all have to be operated as a current account don't they? so minimum paid in each month, minimum number of DD's setup on the account and even at month 1, the interest paid would not be compounded as no interest is paid above the maximum threshold - so you'd need to move the interest payment 'out' to another account to make most efficiency?

sounds a lot of work! - with just 10k it would attract maybe £15 a month? i can't be bothered to do the sums, but seems a waste of anyones time to me!.

"I'd like to throw away £150 a year" is probably not the most sensible suggestion on a money saving forum especially when the time over a year is no more than a couple of hours.

The kind of attitude that small sums don't matter is why so many people complain that they can't save yet can afford to buy a Costa coffee each morning at £2 per day (£500 per year). For the average person making some small changes that take a few minutes would really pay off especially when they probably spend more time on Facebook or social media. If you're a millionaire then £15 a month probably is of no significance but if it's the kind of amount of money that you wouldn't just hand to a stranger in the street then it's worth a little effort. And how many people would just give away £15 to someone without thinking - because that is what you're effectively doing.

just4kix

Thanks for the replies.

Although slightly laborious, the multi account split suggestion is definitely creative. Will give it some investigation.

gkerr4

wow - lots of views here!

I haven;t done the sums - impressed if it is £40 / month from it. but i still wouldn't bother - not with that amount of current accounts - my time is more valuable than that - for the record, i'm not the OP I was simply commenting.

I have a santander account - well, my wife has as it saves me being taxed - its kept at the £20k mark and that pays approx. £40 / month + a few quid in cash back (usually about £6 but then minus £2 for account fee). But that takes minimal effort - it gets the minimum paid in (£500) and the DD's aren't that month so at the end of the month i login and move it to somewhere else.