Nationwide regular saver.

freedomfighter15

Hi all,
Please forgive me if i'm posting in the wrong section or if this kind of question has been asked before. I did use the search but couldn't find an answer.

I opened my nationwide flex account in june last year and put in the maximum £2500 paying me 5% interest. Now, once the first year is over the interest drops to 1%. However, I never opened the Nationwide regular saver. If I were to open one now would I get a full year at the higher rate of interest or would the rate drop at the same time as the flex account? The idea would be to drip feed the regular saver from the flex account. I'm new to all this so if there is a better way to save this £2500 please let me know.
I do currently have the tsb account with the maximum £2000 paying me 5% interest and will have to open their regular saver to drip feed into. I also have the Tesco current account with the maximum £3000 in paying me 3% interest. That's all my savings so far and would like to save it the best way possible.
Thanks for reading and look forward to hearing your Suggestions and/or help and advice.

YorkshireBoy

How much per month will you be saving from income going forward?

Kim_13

You must have the FlexDirect if you've been receiving 5%, as the FlexAccount pays no interest.

The two terms are separate, but you need to continue to be defined as a main current account customer through the term of the Flex Regular Saver (don't get it confused with the Regular Saver as that pays 2%, offered to all customers.)

Do you have 1 or 2 Tesco accounts? 2 are permitted in any variant, so you can have 2 in your sole name, no monthly funding required. It's not hard to beat the 1% offered by the FlexDirect as you drip feed the money. Even Coventry BS Easy Access Savings beats it (1.3%.)

Downgrading to FlexAccount for a year and re-upgrading to FlexDirect will get another 5% period (if still offered then), however you'd need to check with Nationwide that your FlexDirect deposits would be counted as you having been paying into your FlexAccount (if you were to downgrade) for the last 3 months (as there is a minimum pay in of £750 on the FlexAccount to qualify for the 5% saver.) If not, then you'd need to open a FlexAccount and run it for 3 months satisfying the pay in before downgrading the FlexDirect.

freedomfighter15

@yorkshireboy
As i'm new to all this I have lots of figures and ideas of different ways of saving. I was looking at the article on the piggybanking in the main site but rather than using different accounts use 1 bank account with higher interest and use spreadsheets as the accounts then tally the total of them up and pay into the 1 account (does that make sense?). The only certain figure that I know of to date is 10% of my net wages.

@kim_13
Sorry I meant flexdirect account.
If I open the regular saver then downgrade to the flex account, open up another Tesco account and move £2400 across from the flex to drip feed the regular saver. Then in a years time upgrade the flex back to the flex plus?

Kim_13

FlexPlus is a different account again paying 3% and offering various insurances for £10 a month. While it automatically qualfies you for the Flex Regular Saver (as is the case with the FlexDirect you currently have) it's not worth it unless you have need for some/all of the insurances.

As I said, you need to find out from Nationwide whether, if you downgraded from your FlexDirect to a FlexAccount, your pay ins from the FlexDirect would count in meeting the "hold a FlexAccount and have been paying in £750 per month in the last 3 months" criteria for a Flex Regular Saver via the FlexAccount.

If they do not, then if you started a Flex Regular Saver now, they could take it away when you downgrade FlexDirect to FlexAccount. You'd then be left with their standard Regular Saver paying only 2%. To get around that, you'd need to do one of the following:

- Don't downgrade the FlexDirect until your Flex Regular Saver expires, which would mean a longer wait for a new 5% on FlexDirect, as you still need to not have a FlexDirect at all for 12 months before you can get another.

- Open a new FlexAccount with Nationwide, so that you would now have two current accounts with them (they permit this.) Pay in at least £750 a month (transferring it in from TSB/Tesco and then transferring it straight back out again would work, but as with the £1000 credit for FlexDirect interest, it can't be an internal transfer.) After three months of doing this, the FlexAccount will qualify for the Flex Regular Saver, leaving you free to downgrade the FlexDirect to a second FlexAccount.

freedomfighter15

Hmmm... why is nothing smooth sailing.
How about once my flex direct account drops its interest rate I downgrade to the flex account. In the meantime I open a new Tesco account and TSB regular saver. I can move the 2.5k from Nationwide to Tesco and add an extra £500 to bring it up to £3k and earn 3%. I can also put £250 a month into TSB for a year for 5%. Then after a year upgrade back to the flex direct account and put £2.5k from TSB to get 5% and open the flex regular saver and put £250 a month in instead of into TSB and drip feed £250 a month from Tesco to make 5% on the maximum of £500 a month.

MDMD

Kim_13 wrote: »

If they do not, then if you started a Flex Regular Saver now, they could take it away when you downgrade FlexDirect to FlexAccount. You'd then be left with their standard Regular Saver paying only 2%. To get around that, you'd need to do one of the following:

- Don't downgrade the FlexDirect until your Flex Regular Saver expires, which would mean a longer wait for a new 5% on FlexDirect, as you still need to not have a FlexDirect at all for 12 months before you can get another.

- Open a new FlexAccount with Nationwide, so that you would now have two current accounts with them (they permit this.) Pay in at least £750 a month (transferring it in from TSB/Tesco and then transferring it straight back out again would work, but as with the £1000 credit for FlexDirect interest, it can't be an internal transfer.) After three months of doing this, the FlexAccount will qualify for the Flex Regular Saver, leaving you free to downgrade the FlexDirect to a second FlexAccount.

You don't need to pay in the £750 for three months if you switch a donor account to Nationwide.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/savings/flexclusive-regular-saver/features-and-benefits