Basic Savings Advice

sgx.saint

Hello.

Looking for some straight forward savings advice.

I'll start with a brief overview of my financial circumstances.

I'm 32 years of age and I have no debt aside from a small mortgage of circa £64,500K at a fixed interest rate of 2.78%.

I currently have £1000 saved in a Nationwide cash ISA at a rate of 1.75% gross.

I am looking to save between £50 - £100 per month and this may rise to £150 after a period of six months.

I currently also put £10 a month into a local credit union savings account but intend on accessing this cash around Christmas to use towards Christmas presents.

I was just wondering whether I should continue to use my cash ISA as the primary saving pot or whether my money would be better saved elsewhere or spread across different accounts?

I appreciate compared to some it is perhaps not a significant amount to save however I'm still keen to maximize the returns.

P.S. I appreciate overpaying the mortgage is also a consideration however I'd be keen to build up some cash reserves first before attempting to look at that as an option.

Thanks

AndyT678

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts#tsb

bigfreddiel

What are you saving for?

Do you mean saving or investing?

Then, ditto, what are you investing for?

Do you have a pension?

Are you happy with 1.75%?

How much risk are you willing to accept?

Answer those and we can all help you.

Cheers fj

sgx.saint

Thanks for the replies.

I'm saving to give myself between three and six months emergency funds, should anything unexpected occur such as job loss or boiler breakdown.

I'm open to investing and\or saving with a small risk attached, not looking for high risk.

I'm not happy with 1.75% but I guess I've always just thought that with only £1100 currently saved that the interest rate won't make a massive difference because I'm not currently saving huge volumes.

I do have a company pension.

Eco_Miser

sgx.saint wrote: »

I'm not happy with 1.75% but I guess I've always just thought that with only £1100 currently saved that the interest rate won't make a massive difference because I'm not currently saving huge volumes.

£1000 at 1.75% is £17.50, £1000 at 5% is £50. £32.50 isn't much, but you'd be nearly tripling your interest.

You should also look at Regular Savings accounts for your monthly savings - the best are the best interest of any bank account. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/608697

Anthorn

I agree with looking at regular savings account and here you need to shop around to get the best deal. Nationwide's offering is not worthy of consideration unless you are saving a comparatively large amount every month since the interest is based on the monthly balance increase and not the balance itself.

If you are interested in switching current accounts you could get a good deal by switching for example to Norwich and Peterborough Building Society Gold Classic current account and taking the related 4% AER Gold Savings Account. The advantage of this current account is a minimum monthly deposit of only £500 per month and free overseas Debit Card transactions.

Just two alternatives to the more usually recommended interest paying accounts such as TSB, Tesco Bank, etc. As I said shop around.

colsten

Anthorn wrote: »

If you are interested in switching current accounts you could get a good deal by switching for example to Norwich and Peterborough Building Society Gold Classic current account and taking the related 4% AER Gold Savings Account. The advantage of this current account is a minimum monthly deposit of only £500 per month and free overseas Debit Card transactions.

You do not need to switch your current account in order to get access to the N&P 4% account. You just need to open a current account with them, and naturally you can have more than one current account. Note that even if you wanted to switch, N&P do not participate in the 7-day guaranteed current account switch service.

In any case, there is capacity for £800 a month in 6% regular savings accounts before you have to go to a 4% one.

Anthorn

colsten wrote: »

You do not need to switch your current account in order to get access to the N&P 4% account. You just need to open a current account with them, and naturally you can have more than one current account. Note that even if you wanted to switch, N&P do not participate in the 7-day guaranteed current account switch service.

In any case, there is capacity for £800 a month in 6% regular savings accounts before you have to go to a 4% one.

It was an example of what's on offer as stated in my post. Are you stalking me around the forums?


In any case the info on the Gold Classic Savings Account is ambiguous: "Open to new and existing current account holders: Existing holders of Classic Gold Current Account only."


There are two N&P current accounts, the starter which requires at least 5 transactions per month and the Gold Classic which requires at least £500 credit per month or else a fee of £5 per month. Either way that probably requires something more that just a quick opening of a current account.


Did I mention I have a N&P Gold Classic switched over from Santander?

jimjames

sgx.saint wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

I'm saving to give myself between three and six months emergency funds, should anything unexpected occur such as job loss or boiler breakdown.

I'm open to investing and\or saving with a small risk attached, not looking for high risk.

I'm not happy with 1.75% but I guess I've always just thought that with only £1100 currently saved that the interest rate won't make a massive difference because I'm not currently saving huge volumes.

I do have a company pension.

Make the best use of current accounts for those savings and you'll get the equivalent of 12.5% gross on that money. That's nearly 10x the return in your ISA.

bigfreddiel

Eco_Miser wrote: »

£1000 at 1.75% is £17.50, £1000 at 5% is £50. £32.50 isn't much, but you'd be nearly tripling your interest.

You should also look at Regular Savings accounts for your monthly savings - the best are the best interest of any bank account. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/608697

Well people laughed at me when I started with isa's and they only earned about £90 pa! Now some years later it's producing £10k plus.

These same people are now saying how unfair it is that why didn't I tell them to do the same as me, we'll I did but they just didn't listen.

Cheers fj

colsten

Anthorn wrote: »

Are you stalking me around the forums?

It's an open forum. Don't post if you can't bear that people respond to or comment on your posts.