Opening new current accounts in retirement

C_J

Please does anyone have experience of applying for new bank current accounts once they have retired?

My husband is not quite as organised as I am with his finances - he's very dependable and always pays bills on time, but does nothing at all to maximise his income and make every penny work hard for him. It has been an uphill struggle for me to try and encourage him to follow me down the route of bank switching, checking interest rates etc etc. It stresses him very much.

He has now retired, aged 59, with a lump sum of around £100K and a yearly occupational pension of only about £9K. He plans to take a couple of months off and then start looking for work again, probably part time (he has offers in the pipeline) or perhaps self employed.

His lump sum payment is sitting in his HSBC current account earning nothing. The man is a fool

I have tried to gently encourage him to copy me by opening the TSB Classis Plus 5% account, 2 x Tesco 3% accounts, a Halifax reward, a Nationwide FlexDirect at 5% etc etc and yes, he should have done all this before now. Sigh.

We have always kept our banking separate. We own our own home, have no debt, and I have a good 10 years of work before I can retire.

Will he find it far more difficult to be accepted for new current accounts if he is retired? Or do banks not mind about that?

Advice would be welcomed.

System

Some banks have a requirement of a minimum monthly deposit for certain accounts, TSB doesn't have that requirement. Apart from that I can't see that being retired would be a problem as long as the credit check comes out ok.

C_J

Thanks SCGF. I am hoping that we can get around the minimum monthly pay-in (his occupational pension may not be enough) by cycling money through a number of accounts each month to satisfy their requirements (if he is able to open them). That way he should also meet the minimum pay-in to keep his HSBC Advance account and not have that downgraded.

Anthorn

C_J wrote: »

Please does anyone have experience of applying for new bank current accounts once they have retired?

My husband is not quite as organised as I am with his finances - he's very dependable and always pays bills on time, but does nothing at all to maximise his income and make every penny work hard for him. It has been an uphill struggle for me to try and encourage him to follow me down the route of bank switching, checking interest rates etc etc. It stresses him very much.

He has now retired, aged 59, with a lump sum of around £100K and a yearly occupational pension of only about £9K. He plans to take a couple of months off and then start looking for work again, probably part time (he has offers in the pipeline) or perhaps self employed.

His lump sum payment is sitting in his HSBC current account earning nothing. The man is a fool

I have tried to gently encourage him to copy me by opening the TSB Classis Plus 5% account, 2 x Tesco 3% accounts, a Halifax reward, a Nationwide FlexDirect at 5% etc etc and yes, he should have done all this before now. Sigh.

We have always kept our banking separate. We own our own home, have no debt, and I have a good 10 years of work before I can retire.

Will he find it far more difficult to be accepted for new current accounts if he is retired? Or do banks not mind about that?

Advice would be welcomed.

I'm retired, in fact 65 years old and I don't have any difficulty at all opening current accounts and also no difficulty at all getting an arranged/planned overdraft to go with it. What counts is a good credit history.

Go for it and open an account. With a limited income, TSB Classic Plus with a local branch or Tesco Bank current Account and Co-op Bank smile current account for online banking would be my first ports of call. Arrange to have income such as State Pension paid directly into the account and that is required by Co-op Bank smile.

You might need to consider the cost of overdrafts if you think an overdraft is likely or even as a safety net just in case it's needed. Tesco Bank has no fee for an arranged overdraft and only charges interest,. TSB charge £6 per month plus interest for a planned overdraft. In their blurb both banks stress that overdrafts are short-term loans possibly until the next income arrives when the overdraft can be cleared.

FYI: http://www.smile.co.uk/

societys_child

scgf wrote: »

Some banks have a requirement of a minimum monthly deposit for certain accounts, TSB doesn't have that requirement. Apart from that I can't see that being retired would be a problem as long as the credit check comes out ok.

Are you sure? My TSB accounts have to be funded with £500 pm.
They don't need any direct debits though . . .

kingrulzuk

I thing SCGF meant to say Tesco Bank

pollypenny

No problem. We have a Santander 123 for bills, two TSB accounts and we transferred from HSBC to Nationwide Flex Plus for our main account.

xylophone

How about a joint 123 account to start? You can put all your household DDs on this and earn cash back - a joint account of this type is practical for a married couple and eases life for the survivor when one of you goes to the great banking hall in the sky....:)

You/your husband can meet the monthly pay in from another of your accounts.

He can then open a sole Santander 123 - he'll need a couple of DDs/pay in but you'll know the drill for this.

Does he want to keep the HSBC advance so as to keep access to the regular saver?

The £1800 a month pay in will be required but again you'll know how to manage this.

The above might be enough to start with - then monthly interest on

http://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/find/defined_access_e_saver_issue_6/overview/

while he gets his breath?

nearlyretired2004

I have been retired for 11 years (retired v. early...) and have never even been 'referred' when opening an account ..... as long as credit check is OK you should be fine .....

Currently between OH and myself we are running 28 current accounts!!

eskbanker

nearlyretired2004 wrote: »

I have been retired for 11 years (retired v. early...)

Just out of curiosity, what made you choose that particular user name in 2010 then?!

C_J

Yesterday he threatened to throw his laptop out of the window, so I'm having to guide him with baby steps in all this

Thank you for all your helpful advice. Yes, he wants to keep his Advance account (he opened the 6% reg saver yesterday, shortly before threatening to throw his laptop out of the window) and I know the drill for all the cycling he'll have to do.

Santander 1-2-3 is a good idea - I had ruled them out originally as they charge for the account, but I guess the cashback option should balance that out.

I've just booked a day off work for Friday, and made an appointment to take him into TSB to get his first sole account with them (and a joint one for us as well). I'm hoping that it all goes smoothly!