Regular savings - help for an amateur, please!

Charlton_King

I find the otherwise excellent help given by Martin's advice pages intimidating if only by its sheer length and complexity of detail.

Can anyone cut through the bumph and offer a word of advice about what to do in my own situation?

Having locked a large proportion of our savings away in a one year fixed rate account, I am left with the remaining problem of what to to with ongoing, regular savings.

We're in the position of having:

1. a few thousand 'ready to go' at this moment plus, predictably:

2. a regular, monthly amount of anything between £500 and £2000 which could be saved.

I don't particularly want to start opening new current accounts purely to be able to access linked savings accounts.

Given this position, is there any obvious candidate savings account which would suit us?

Very grateful for any thoughts.

isasmurf

All the Virgin Money Regular Savers - you can have 1 of each issue of each the 4 types. There are also some local Building societies that offer higher rates but with restrictions on branch opening or living in their postcode areas. Kent Reliance, and Chorley spring to mind.

NS&I 3yr Growth Bond may also be worth considering.

fabsaver

The Virgin Money regular savers currently pay 2.25% and don't have any specific current account requirements. Details of the 4 open issues, allowing you to save up to £1,000 a month in total, in the regular savings thread here

As these accounts mature within 12 months is is possible that they will be replaced soon with new issues. You are permitted to open one of each issue, so potentially you could build up to 8 of these accounts, paying £250 a month into each.

fabsaver

I know you don't really want to open new current accounts, but the Nationwide FlexDirect is definitely worth a look. The account requirements are not onerous, there are no direct debits needed. The £1,000 minimum pay in can be achieved by a simple, set and forget, pair of standing orders from/to your existing account.

This would give you access to 5% on £2,500, plus £500 per month in a 5% regular saver account.

Neil_Jones

You make no mention of who you're currently with but a lot of the big banks such as Nationwide, Santander, First Direct and HSBC have linked regular savings accounts so you may already have access to one that you just need to open. Most are at 5%,

There is also Halifax regular saver at 2% up to £200 a month and Nationwide 2% regular saver (no current account needed) for up to £500 a month, though the Halifax one isn't as generous as most of the others and the Nationwide one is variable.

EachPenny

If you have a branch nearby and don't have other plans for your ISA allowance, the Nottingham BS have a monthly regular saver ISA paying 2.25%. You can pay in up to £2400 in the first month, followed by up to £1600 in the following months. No need for a current account and all the money is in one account. Has to be opened in branch and you'd need to be quick before the offer ends.

YBS have a monthly saver at 1.75% with monthly pay-in of £500. A lower interest rate, but a larger amount per month, no current account required. It also has the advantage of running for two years so less chopping and changing.

However, as stated already, the Virgin accounts give a good rate and are great if you are ok with opening multiple accounts.

If you are willing to open one new current account, the Nationwide FlexDirect/Flexclusive Reg Saver combination pays 5% in the first year - the regular saver has a £500 maximum pay in so is another of the larger ones.

Charlton_King

Neil_Jones wrote: »

You make no mention of who you're currently with but a lot of the big banks such as Nationwide, Santander, First Direct and HSBC have linked regular savings accounts so you may already have access to one that you just need to open. Most are at 5%,

There is also Halifax regular saver at 2% up to £200 a month and Nationwide 2% regular saver (no current account needed) for up to £500 a month, though the Halifax one isn't as generous as most of the others and the Nationwide one is variable.

We're with the Co-op, for our sins.

All great advice, folks, which will certainly help us on our way.

EachPenny

Nothing sinful with the Co-op

But if you're only with them you might want to go with a second current account (like FlexDirect) to give you a backup plan if anything bad happens to them in the near future. I'm sure everything will work out in the end, but there is an outside chance that banking might be disrupted for a day or two if they did fail as some people speculate.

I'd want the ability to get some emergency cash from elsewhere to keep me going until normal Co-op service was restored (however that was done).

You may as well combine that backup plan with unlocking access to one of the current account linked high interest regular savers.

Charlton_King

EachPenny wrote: »

Nothing sinful with the Co-op

But if you're only with them you might want to go with a second current account (like FlexDirect) to give you a backup plan if anything bad happens to them in the near future. I'm sure everything will work out in the end, but there is an outside chance that banking might be disrupted for a day or two if they did fail as some people speculate.

I'd want the ability to get some emergency cash from elsewhere to keep me going until normal Co-op service was restored (however that was done).

You may as well combine that backup plan with unlocking access to one of the current account linked high interest regular savers.

Excellent thought.

eskbanker

EachPenny wrote: »

Nothing sinful with the Co-op

Not now the Crystal Methodist is no longer there!

jimjames

It might be a slightly side point but nothing so far has mentioned other options. Do you need all your money to be in cash or is it worth looking at other investment options for the money? The sorts of amounts would fit inside the new £20k S&S ISA limit and mean you only need to bother with one place for money.