Where would you go next?

aled247

Hello everyone. Just want some opinions on what you would now do in my position.
Me and my other half currently have approximately 14k saved spread over the following accounts:
£2000 in my TSB account (5%)
£2000 in her TSB account (5%)
£1400 in my Halifax HTB ISA (increased by £200 a month)
£1400 in her Halifax HTB ISA (Increased by £200 a month)
£4600 in a joint Santander 123 (3%) (All bills cover £5 fee)
My halifax account with 2 D/D's going out for the free £5

We both have our own First Direct accounts for everyday spending as we switched to them for the free £100 or so each months ago.

Think everything is covered there, don't want to switch to Lloyds as have no more DD's to put into it.

My final £2500 is in Nationwide which WAS earning 5% but now my 12 months is up it has dropped to 1%, where would you guys put this £2500?
For the minute I have stuck it into Santander to make the balance £7100.

I now also have a surplus Nationwide account in my name to switch, who should I switch it to? From what I can see my only option for an ok switching bonus is M&S but they require 2 D/D's

What would YOU do?

Thanks in advance

jimjames

TSB joint account to get another 5%?
Nationwide refer a friend, you refer her, she then refers you and you pocket £400 between you.
Joint Nationwide for 5%?

YorkshireBoy

jimjames wrote: »

TSB joint account to get another 5%?
Nationwide refer a friend, you refer her, she then refers you and you pocket £400 between you.
Joint Nationwide for 5%?

Keeping on the 5% theme...

Sole FlexDirect for her.
Pair of Flexclusive regular savers.
Pair of TSB regular savers.

In other words, empty Santander!

Katiehound

2 x DDs could be:
1 x Tesco online saver
1 x small charity donation eg Christian Aid £2 or Save the Children £3

or maybe be 2 x DDs from 2 different Tesco savers?

I was going to suggest the joint TSB
Do you not have any more DDs? such as council tax which can be x 12 rather than x 10 (councils like to keep quiet about that!!)... simply because you could go for another/ joint Halifax

downhillfast

HSBC for the £120 switching bonus and then look for another switch...

isingh1

If your worried about the accounts that require DD's. Don't be.

A number of people and myself included have had the same accounts you mention, and there are a few ways to create DD's.

1) Charity. The easiest and best way to have a DD. Choose any 2 charities you follow or have a good understanding off. i.e. I pay towards Cancer Research and Water Aid. It can be any amount you want, go to the respective websites and fill out the online DD form. It is for a good cause.

2) Subscription services, this is optional and entirely if you want them. i.e Magazine subscriptions, online services like Apple Music etc

3) Any another bills you may have. I know you use Santander, but anything additional ones, possibly.

4) Tesco Savings accounts. Many people use these, essentially you're paying a DD to yourself.
Open 2x savings account with Tesco, again DD any amount you want and pull the DD from the account you want it come out from or satisfy to meet your 2 DD conditions. So if you need two DD, you need 2x savings accounts, one for each DD.
An example is to pull £1 for each savings account. Simple to setup and you keep the money.
Probably the best way to create a DD I think.

And for each current account requiring a DD, you use the savings account you open with Tesco.


I'd ideally fill Santander to the maximum if you can, £414 in interest over the year with the fees deducted.
Now in terms of opening accounts, the next best after Santander, TSB, and your Nationwide is probably Lloyds to be honest.
You'll earn 4% if you keep £5k in it, earning £157 a year and using any 2 DD options mentioned above, but you need to pay in £1500 each month.

If you rather not do that, try Tesco's 3% upto £3k, earning £71 a year, no DD needed. Pay in £750 i think. And you can have 2 accounts each.

Or switch to any account that currently are offering money to switch, i.e £120 for HSBC, £150 Clydesdale + 2% on £3k (£47) = £197 in one year potentially with 2 DD's.

Also you mentioned you have 2 first direct accounts, why not open the 6% regular savers they offer? Only use this if you dont need quick access your funds, you'll get about £96 in interest over the year if you save £300 pm. (£3,600 over 12 months).

So there are a few options that you can choose from, depends what you're looking for. Hope that helps.

YorkshireBoy

isingh1 wrote: »

I'd ideally fill Santander to the maximum if you can

Really!?

There are two of them, meaning the suggestions jim and myself gave earlier would allow them to get £7,000 in 5% paying current accounts straight away, followed by another £18,000 in 5% paying regular savers over the next 12 months.

And yet you'd recommend filling Santander for just over half that rate...3% AER? Why?

noh

They both have FD current accounts so First Direct regular savers at 6% seem like an easy option.

isingh1

its only an option. Its the OP decision at the end of the day.

The reason I said that, was that he already has the account anyway.
All he has to do is fill it.

I didn't say there was anything wrong in what you or jim had posted.
He has to open more accounts / savings accounts with this option. If he wants to do that, its ok.

If the OP can fill the account then its fine. If they rather not and go down your route, then thats a another option too.

Dan83

Pretty much everything is covered above.

You could put your £4600 from Santander into Halifax, then switch to lloyds (with the 2dd) and get 4%.

YorkshireBoy

Dan83 wrote: »

You could put your £4600 from Santander into Halifax, then switch to lloyds (with the 2dd) and get 4%.

That would cost the OP £60 a year!

If maximum benefit is the aim, OP and his missus should be opening 2 more Reward accounts (for another £120 a year), not closing the one they've got!