Advice on Santander 123 please.

rqy99g

We (wife and I) currently have a current account with the Co-op.
We have savings over £40,000 and we are risk averse people and don't want to lock away our money for long periods.

I am thinking of:

• Keeping the Co-op account as the master account
• Setting up two Santander 123 accounts
• Putting around £20,000 in each
• Spreading direct debits between both S123 accounts (total of around £700 direct debits (approx £350 each S123 account)
• Paying £500 in to each of the S123 accounts from the Co-op master account
• After direct debits have been paid remainder of £500 (approx £150 from each S123 account) to be paid back in to the Co-op master account.
• Carry on using Co-op as our everyday current account

As I see it we will get the best savings at current time and shouldn't fall in to a trap of just dipping deeper and deeper in to our savings just because it is parked in a current account.

I hope that makes sense and am open to advice a critique on my thinking: )

YorkshireBoy

If 'ease' is the aim, then its a good plan.
If max return is the aim, you could do a lot better.

rqy99g

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

If 'ease' is the aim, then its a good plan.
If max return is the aim, you could do a lot better.

I'm interested in your thoughts of max return but please bear in mind that I have limited funds and will need to dip in to occasionally (car, furniture, holiday, etc) and the fact we are generally risk averse people.

splatt30

3 TSB accounts (one each and a joint) earn 5% on £2000 (pay in £500 a month then move it out, no direct debit requirement). Regular saver on each £250 per month at 5%

3 Nationwide accounst (one each and a joint) earn 5% on £2500 - only for 1 year though (pay in £1000 a month then move it back out - you could pay £1000 from co-op into account A on 1st of month, back to co-op on 2nd, then into account B on the 3rd, back on the 4th etc etc etc). Regular saver on each at £500 at 5%

So that's £15000 earning 5% by within a few days, plus it will go up each month with regular savers.

Tesco current account earns 3% on £3000 without any pay in obligation, and you can have 2 each so that's £12000 at 3% with no fee. (remember Santander will charge you £5 a month).

That said we have 1 Santander 123, the cash back on direct debits covers the fee, and other money scattered around through various of the above.

rqy99g

splatt30 wrote: »

3 TSB accounts (one each and a joint) earn 5% on £2000 (pay in £500 a month then move it out, no direct debit requirement). Regular saver on each £250 per month at 5%

3 Nationwide accounst (one each and a joint) earn 5% on £2500 - only for 1 year though (pay in £1000 a month then move it back out - you could pay £1000 from co-op into account A on 1st of month, back to co-op on 2nd, then into account B on the 3rd, back on the 4th etc etc etc). Regular saver on each at £500 at 5%

So that's £15000 earning 5% by within a few days, plus it will go up each month with regular savers.

Tesco current account earns 3% on £3000 without any pay in obligation, and you can have 2 each so that's £12000 at 3% with no fee. (remember Santander will charge you £5 a month).

That said we have 1 Santander 123, the cash back on direct debits covers the fee, and other money scattered around through various of the above.

Cheers Splatt that is food to the thought. We do have a bit more we could invest the way you have suggested. I suppose it takes a bit of planning but when set up should be OK for 10-11 months before looking to reinvest some of the money.

zolablue25

splatt30 wrote: »

3 TSB accounts (one each and a joint) earn 5% on £2000 (pay in £500 a month then move it out, no direct debit requirement). Regular saver on each £250 per month at 5%

I thought you could only have one TSB regular saver per household not per account?

Archi_Bald

zolablue25 wrote: »

I thought you could only have one TSB regular saver per household not per account?

You can only have one Account in either your sole name or held jointly.
http://www.tsb.co.uk/savings/monthly-saver/monthly-saver-terms-and-conditions.pdf

Gandalf133

Tab reg saver is one per account holder not per household

enthusiasticsaver

It is the simplest way but as Yorkshire Boy says there are accounts which pay better rates but none pay as much as £20k so it would involve opening up a lot more accounts and organising the transfers although they can be done by standing order.


I went for 1 Santander 123 and opened TSB, Nationwide, FD, Lloyds Club, BOS Vantage and Tesco current accounts and 4 regular savers with Nationwide, FD, Lloyds Club and TSB and currently have around £50k sheltered in current accounts. The cashback of around £9 per month easily covers the Santander 123 fee of £5 so still makes it worthwhile for me.

rqy99g

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

It is the simplest way but as Yorkshire Boy says there are accounts which pay better rates but none pay as much as £20k so it would involve opening up a lot more accounts and organising the transfers although they can be done by standing order.


I went for 1 Santander 123 and opened TSB, Nationwide, FD, Lloyds Club, BOS Vantage and Tesco current accounts and 4 regular savers with Nationwide, FD, Lloyds Club and TSB and currently have around £50k sheltered in current accounts. The cashback of around £9 per month easily covers the Santander 123 fee of £5 so still makes it worthwhile for me.

I'm not being flippant but is that a serious answer? If it is a serious answer, how much managing does it take? And what do you roughly manage to return on £50k/year?

YorkshireBoy

rqy99g wrote: »

And what do you roughly manage to return on £50k/year?

Without bending any rules, and just using current accounts (ie no reg savers), 3.8% if there are two of you.