TSB or Flexclusive regular saver?

bobobski

I have a First Direct regular saver, which is about to mature but I'll open another one immediately. I max it out to £300 per month, so when it matures I'll have c. £3,700 to place somewhere. I was planning to max out my TSB current account and open a Flex Direct for the remainder. TSB currently has about £300 in it, so £1,700 will go into there and the remaining £2,000 into Flex Direct, leaving room for another £500 over the year.

I'm also now able to save approximately £650/£700 per month, although this may vary a bit. £300 will go into First Direct. Where should I put the remaining £350/£400? I was planning to open the TSB regular saver but by living frugally and budgeting, my projected monthly savings are actually creeping up, so I'm now thinking I shouldn't bother with TSB RS and instead I should just open the Flexclusive. My problem with that is that I (probably) won't be maxing it out. And am I right in saying it would be better to have the Flex Direct maxed (since interest compounds and is paid monthly) rather than drip-feeding the top up amount (£100/£150) from the Flex Direct into the Flexclusive?

One more thought: if the Flex Direct 5% interest only lasts 1 year, does that mean one ought to open Flexclusive at the same time? I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but it doesn't seem to be detrimental to open the Flexclusive, say, 6 months after opening the Flex Direct.

book12

Go for the Flexclusive saver.

matchboxfull

It was my understanding that the Flexiclusive interest was calculated daily but paid annually???

Archi_Bald

matchboxfull wrote: »

It was my understanding that the Flexiclusive interest was calculated daily but paid annually???

This is correct.

Archi_Bald

bobobski wrote: »

TSB currently has about £300 in it, so £1,700 will go into there and the remaining £2,000 into Flex Direct, leaving room for another £500 over the year.

If you put £1,800 into the TSB Plus and the rest into the FlexDirect, you don't have to bother with skimming off the interest every month.

bobobski wrote: »

Where should I put the remaining £350/£400? I was planning to open the TSB regular saver

that only takes £250 max a month, whilst the FlexClusive RS takes £500. So an easy decision.

bobobski wrote: »

My problem with that is that I (probably) won't be maxing it out.

what's the problem?

bobobski wrote: »

And am I right in saying it would be better to have the Flex Direct maxed (since interest compounds and is paid monthly) rather than drip-feeding the top up amount (£100/£150) from the Flex Direct into the Flexclusive?

Unless you need the monthly interest, it doesn't matter. The AER of both accounts is 5%, so for the same balances the interest will be 100% the same at the end of 12 months.

bobobski wrote: »

One more thought: if the Flex Direct 5% interest only lasts 1 year, does that mean one ought to open Flexclusive at the same time? I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but it doesn't seem to be detrimental to open the Flexclusive, say, 6 months after opening the Flex Direct.

The FlexDirect is just one of the possible pre-reqs for the FlexClusive RS. Assuming the T&Cs will still be the same after you had the FlexDirect for 12 months, you can just downgrade it to a FlexAccount and you'll still be eligible for the FlexClusive RS. You'd obviously not keep any money in the FlexAccount and only cycle at least £750 through it each month.

bobobski

Perfect, thanks all. Nationwide it is! I think my figures changing after I made my original plan just led to a bit of a muddle in my little brain.

YorkshireBoy

If you have a choice of where to put cash from income, ie current account or regular saver, with these two, always fill up the regular savers first before the current accounts. That way, if you come into some money during the year you've room to put it in the current account, whereas you're limited to £250 or £500 per month in the regular savers.

bobobski

Thanks YB, makes sense! I guess if something unexpected happens I'll at least have the float in TSB and some in Flex Direct.

Of course, the dream is to fill all of these accounts up. Just need to settle into the budgeting lifestyle first...

phona

bobobski wrote: »

...if something unexpected happens I'll at least have the float in TSB and some in Flex Direct

Are you aware that both the TSB and Flexclusive Regular Savers allow unlimited instant access? So if something unexpected happens you can still get at your cash.

bobobski

phona wrote: »

Are you aware that both the TSB and Flexclusive Regular Savers allow unlimited instant access? So if something unexpected happens you can still get at your cash.

Yes but why would you you dip into regular savers when you have money in actual current accounts?