What should I do?

Ibb1703

I have approx £10,000 sat in an isa earning pitiful interest. I am looking at opening a Santander 123 account due to the benefits offered. Would I be stupid transferring most, if not all of the money from the isa and putting it into the 123 account? The 123 offers better interest but I would obviously lose whatever small amount I could have made in the isa? Should I wait until April?

BananaRepublic

You need to give more details, in particular how long do you wish to invest for, and will you require immediate access in emergency, albeit a low probability.

blindman

Ibb1703 wrote: »

I have approx £10,000 sat in an isa earning pitiful interest. I am looking at opening a Santander 123 account due to the benefits offered. Would I be stupid transferring most, if not all of the money from the isa and putting it into the 123 account? The 123 offers better interest but I would obviously lose whatever small amount I could have made in the isa? Should I wait until April?

Look at the article re Best bank accounts

You could open 2 Lloyds accounts and get 4% on the 10K without the Santander fee

To meet the 2 DD minimum you can easily setup Tesco Bank DD's

Lots of variations-Main point is ditch the Isa's-Only worth keeping if you are a high tax payer.

Then there's Aprils 2016 Tax changes...

Ibb1703

Hi, it will be in the account for 12 months before I will need to withdraw it. I am having building work done so basically looking at the best way to make as much interest as poss in that time.

Ibb1703

The £5 fee doesn't bother me too much as I also have a Halifax account which pays me £5 and as I have a Santander mortgage I was thinking that the cash back that comes with that account would outweigh the £5 fee

blindman

Ibb1703 wrote: »

The £5 fee doesn't bother me too much as I also have a Halifax account which pays me £5 and as I have a Santander mortgage I was thinking that the cash back that comes with that account would outweigh the £5 fee

Well as the Americans say (wrongly) do the Math

£10k in Lloyds at 4% with no fee (but need to setup 2x (2 DD)

or £10k Santander 3% -£5 fee + cashback....

I'm thinking Santander will win ...

YorkshireBoy

Ibb1703 wrote: »

The 123 offers better interest but I would obviously lose whatever small amount I could have made in the isa? Should I wait until April?

Unless it's a fixed rate ISA, or one which has some special conditions attached, interest to date will be paid on closure.

colsten

blindman wrote: »

Well as the Americans say (wrongly) do the Math

£10k in Lloyds at 4% with no fee (but need to setup 2x (2 DD)

or £10k Santander 3% -£5 fee + cashback....

I'm thinking Santander will win ...

Bit of a blind approach to put more than £5K into an account that only pays interest on £5K.

Bit of a blind approach to ignore better interest paying accounts just because Santander 123 pays interest on up to £20K.

Bit of a blind approach not to explore the MSE Forum for better deals.

Eco_Miser

blindman wrote: »

You could open 2 Lloyds accounts and get 4% on the 10K without the Santander fee

Only if the OP has a partner to open a joint account with.

Could do Lloyds (4%), Nationwide, and TSB (both 5%), with the final £500 and any ongoing savings going into the Nationwide Regular Saver (also 5%).

Here's all the accounts to consider.

Unless the ISA has a specific penalty for leaving, leave as soon as possible, you'll get interest up to the day of closure.

blindman

colsten wrote: »

Bit of a blind approach to put more than £5K into an account that only pays interest on £5K.

Bit of a blind approach to ignore better interest paying accounts just because Santander 123 pays interest on up to £20K.

Bit of a blind approach not to explore the MSE Forum for better deals.

Bit of a blind answer that ignores post #3 :cool:

jimjames

blindman wrote: »

Bit of a blind answer that ignores post #3 :cool:

Post #3 still doesn't explain how you get £10k in an account that only pays on £5k