Starting PhD; need to deposit savings for 2 years

enuidx

Hi everyone,

Nice to meet you all I'm a graduate student and will be starting a PhD this October. I've got full university funding for the first two years, but may have to support myself during the third year (my thesis "write-up" year) as the main funding bodies don't seem to pay out for that. Fortunately, I have about £20,000 in savings and I expect I'll need to use that during the final year for living expenses. But how would you advise I invest this over the next two years? I'm afraid I know very little about how to bank money properly (other than the basics!), so any advice/ pointers would be very much appreciated as I think I should make the most out of it. I shouldn't need to touch that sum at all, so I am happy to lock it away for the whole duration.

Thanks!

Eco_Miser

No investing, that's for money you don't need for five years or more. The best savings accounts are currently current accounts. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest#currentaccount

You could just put £20,000 in a Santander 123, but you'll get more by maxing out TSB and Lloyds and Nationwide accounts as well. There are hoops to jump through, not onerous, all explained on many threads on here.

If your total income including interest is not likely to be more than £15,600 in tax year 2015/6 register R85s with the banks and get the interest without tax deducted.

themanfromamarillo

enuidx wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Nice to meet you all I'm a graduate student and will be starting a PhD this October. I've got full university funding for the first two years, but may have to support myself during the third year (my thesis "write-up" year) as the main funding bodies don't seem to pay out for that. Fortunately, I have about £20,000 in savings and I expect I'll need to use that during the final year for living expenses. But how would you advise I invest this over the next two years? I'm afraid I know very little about how to bank money properly (other than the basics!), so any advice/ pointers would be very much appreciated as I think I should make the most out of it. I shouldn't need to touch that sum at all, so I am happy to lock it away for the whole duration.

Thanks!

No advice about where to lock up your money but I would say that in my field (physical sciences) the typical time to a finished thesis is 3.5 years. I got done in 3 but my thesis was just papers stapled together. I'd check with some of the students in the department you are moving into to see the average time students take there and how long your savings may need to stretch for.

enthusiasticsaver

Good luck, my daughter is just finishing off her PhD 5-6 years after starting it but she has been working full time as a research assistant for the last 2-3 years. I would stick the money in a Santander 123 account. I am assuming you get a monthly bursary which should fulfil the income criteria.