Split help to buy ISA help!

charlotte1989_2

Morning all.

I am interested in the Nationwide split help to buy ISA.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-ISA#nationwide

"The Nationwide Help to Buy ISA* pays 2%, pretty similar to most other deals. Like Aldermore above, it's one of the few that offers a ‘split ISA’.

You can split your funds between its easy access ISA that pays 1.1% (1.3% if you have a 'Flex' current account), not far from the best buys."

So, am I right in thinking if I open this I can;
1) Open a Nationwide easy access ISA and transfer my old ISAs and get 1.1% interest and save approx £450/month into this account.


2) Open a Nationwide help to buy ISA, out a lump sum of £1200 here and save £200/month here?

Am I correct or have I got this completely wrong?!
Any help much appreciated, thanks in advance!

colsten

You can do what you describe, but it will be a million miles from the best deals you can get.

Halifax and Santander both pay 4% for the HTB ISA. They don't do split accounts but this is not a problem as you can earn 5% AER on your 12 x £450 (£5,400) by using a TSB Plus and a Nationwide FlexDirect with their accompanying Monthly Saver accounts. With the new Personal Savings Allowance, you will almost certainly get the interest tax free. Review your options in a year's time.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5374614

jimjames

charlotte1989 wrote: »

"The Nationwide Help to Buy ISA* pays 2%, pretty similar to most other deals. Like Aldermore above, it's one of the few that offers a ‘split ISA’.

I guess if you call 50% less than the best deal "pretty similar" then it is. I wouldn't call it similar though when you can get double the interest elsewhere. Links from colsten are worth looking at

charlotte1989_2

Thanks for the replies guys. Just looking at the TSB account. http://www.tsb.co.uk/current-accounts/classic-plus-account/

Should I...
-Transfer my current ISA (£30,000+) to one with a better rate as mine drops today but don't add any new cash this year.(I'm thinking the Virgin on 1.31% as it allows transfers and online banking)

-Then open the Halifax Help to buy ISA and only pay into this ISA

-Any other savings into the TSB current account to get 5% on upto £2000.
I'm thinking about then opening the TSB monthly saver and transferring £250 a month from the TSB current to the monthly saver (If you’ve got a TSB current account, you can save from £25 to £250 each month and enjoy instant access with a great fixed rate. Get an interest rate of 5.00% Gross/AER* fixed for a year.)

Would this work? I've confused myself, there are too many different things to take into account!

badger09

charlotte1989 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys. Just looking at the TSB account. http://www.tsb.co.uk/current-accounts/classic-plus-account/

Should I...
-Transfer my current ISA (£30,000+) to one with a better rate as mine drops today but don't add any new cash this year.(I'm thinking the Virgin on 1.31% as it allows transfers and online banking)

-Then open the Halifax Help to buy ISA and only pay into this ISA

-Any other savings into the TSB current account to get 5% on upto £2000.
I'm thinking about then opening the TSB monthly saver and transferring £250 a month from the TSB current to the monthly saver (If you’ve got a TSB current account, you can save from £25 to £250 each month and enjoy instant access with a great fixed rate. Get an interest rate of 5.00% Gross/AER* fixed for a year.)

Would this work? I've confused myself, there are too many different things to take into account!

That would certainly be better than what you were originally suggesting.

However, you might want to consider the Santander HTB ISA which has less rigid paying in restrictions, but also pays 4%:)

A TSB Classic Plus current account and Monthly saver are an excellent starting point.

However, for your existing ISA, you could do so much better than another Cash ISA at 1.31%

It involves some effort to set up, but you could be achieving so much more interest by using current accounts & regular savers.

Have a read here for starters

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

One caveat - you must read (& understand:o) all the T&Cs of the accounts you're intending to use.

Come back when you have your plan:)

charlotte1989_2

badger09 wrote: »

That would certainly be better than what you were originally suggesting.

However, you might want to consider the Santander HTB ISA which has less rigid paying in restrictions, but also pays 4%:)

A TSB Classic Plus current account and Monthly saver are an excellent starting point.

However, for your existing ISA, you could do so much better than another Cash ISA at 1.31%

It involves some effort to set up, but you could be achieving so much more interest by using current accounts & regular savers.

Have a read here for starters

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

One caveat - you must read (& understand:o) all the T&Cs of the accounts you're intending to use.

Come back when you have your plan:)

Right so... (I hate this money situation, I need a money man!)

-Opening a Santander 123, depositing £20,000 from my ISA to get 3% interest.
- Going to pay £550/month into the Santander.
- 2 direct debits coming out from my Santander, 1 to be my phone bill, can the other be £500 DD to my Lloyds current plus account? I not, I have another DD I can change to leave from the Santander account instead.

-Open Lloyds current plus, save £500 here and then £250 to the Lloyds saver.

-My current ISA is staying at 1.6% so I'll leave my remaining savings there because a) I'll already be setting up quite a few new things and confused enough.
b)I'll need to take some of this saved money for travelling/holiday/car expenses anyway.

How's that sounding?!

Thanks for all the options guys

Oh, and get the Santander H2B, thought it would just be easier being a Halifax customer already but no benefits and I'll be a Santander customer.

badger09

charlotte1989 wrote: »

Right so... (I hate this money situation, I need a money man!)

-Opening a Santander 123, depositing £20,000 from my ISA to get 3% interest.
- Going to pay £550/month into the Santander.
- 2 direct debits coming out from my Santander, 1 to be my phone bill, can the other be £500 DD to my Lloyds current plus account? I not, I have another DD I can change to leave from the Santander account instead.

-Open Lloyds current plus, save £500 here and then £250 to the Lloyds saver.

-My current ISA is staying at 1.6% so I'll leave my remaining savings there because a) I'll already be setting up quite a few new things and confused enough.
b)I'll need to take some of this saved money for travelling/holiday/car expenses anyway.

How's that sounding?!

Thanks for all the options guys

Oh, and get the Santander H2B, thought it would just be easier being a Halifax customer already but no benefits and I'll be a Santander customer.

Better but not quite there yet:p

Club Lloyds & its monthly saver are good:) But, you can't move money between current accounts by DD. You can however use Standing Orders (SO)

Santander is not the best account, since it has a £5 per month fee. However, if you want to keep it fairly simple, then Santander will hold up to £20k. It also has a monthly saver:)

BOTH Santander and Club Lloyds need 2 DDs. So you will need at least 4 DDs. DDs which pay cash back are better at Santander since they will help offset the £5 per month fee.

I've just reread you post before sending this reply. Are you confusing TSB Classic Plus and LLoyds Club? :cool:

charlotte1989_2

I have officially gone banking insane!
Yep, I meant the TSB current class plus account http://www.tsb.co.uk/current-accounts/classic-plus-account/

And the TSB montly saver http://www.tsb.co.uk/savings/monthly-saver/

However, now I've just looked up the http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/savings/regular-esaver

I don't want to open the TSB current class plus, TSB monthly saver AND santander saver?! Or do I?!

Brain frazzled.

badger09

charlotte1989 wrote: »

I have officially gone banking insane!
Yep, I meant the TSB current class plus account http://www.tsb.co.uk/current-accounts/classic-plus-account/

And the TSB montly saver http://www.tsb.co.uk/savings/monthly-saver/

However, now I've just looked up the http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/savings/regular-esaver

I don't want to open the TSB current class plus, TSB monthly saver AND santander saver?! Or do I?!

Brain frazzled.

Calm down calm down:rotfl::rotfl:

TSB Classic Plus and TSB monthly saver - very good:)

Leaving the rest of your money earning 1.6% - very bad:( But you said the rate drops even lower - so very very bad:(:(

With a bit of patience and effort you will get so much more from your savings.

My advice - one step at a time.

I would

1) Open a HTB ISA - probably with Santander (2nd choice Halifax) and get £1200 in asap. Pay in £200 per month from next month.

2) Read TSB Classic Plus T&C again, then open TSB Classic Plus and, once open fill it with £2000

3) open TSB monthly saver and set up SO to xfer £250 per month to monthly saver from TSB Classic Plus.

Set up SO on your existing current account to pay £500 per month into TSB Classic Plus from next month.

Once up and running, think about steps 4) onwards, which, if you want to maximise your savings, will involve at least 2 more current accounts.

I know it sounds daunting, but it isn't really:)

Where is your current account held at the moment?

charlotte1989_2

Thanks for all your guidance with this!
I have...
Applied online for the Santander account to get 3% on my £20,000.
Opened the Santander HTB ISA
Applied for the TSB Classic plus, once I have gone to branch with ID, I'll then be able to open the monthly saver.

And once all the standing orders are set up for those, I shall look at other high interest accounts rather than leaving my remaining money in the old 1.6% ISA!!
The Tesco current could be a good one upto £3000 as you don't need a monthly pay in...the rest need quite a large minimum deposit which would be ok for the first few months, but then I'd run out of money to deposit.


My current account is with Halifax but I'd rather stick with them for the rewards I get as I get good use out of them.

colsten

charlotte1989 wrote: »

The Tesco current could be a good one upto £3000 as you don't need a monthly pay in...the rest need quite a large minimum deposit which would be ok for the first few months, but then I'd run out of money to deposit.

You wouldn't run out of money - you would just use your existing money to send to and from the accounts that need the monthly deposits.

For example, both your TSB Plus and your Santander 123 need a minimum deposit of £500 a month. You achieve this by swapping £500 between the two accounts. I do this by SO but some people prefer to do it manually.

charlotte1989 wrote: »

My current account is with Halifax but I'd rather stick with them for the rewards I get as I get good use out of them.

Excellent plan if it makes you more money than other accounts would.