Advice for new saver please!

smiddle3

Hi all

First post on here. I have just, finally, maxed out my £3000 isa allowance and am now looking to start putting money away in a savings account on a regular monthly basis.

Read all the articles about Regular Monthly Savers and Standard Savings Accounts and im just a bit confused as to what my best option would be. I would be looking to put away between £250-500 per month, at the best interest rate possible.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Cheers

Aegis

If the amount you are saving each month is likely to be fairly fixed, a regular saver is an excellent bet for you, as it generally offers very high rates of interest.

If the amount is going to be very variable, then a standard savings account with ICICI, Icesave or Sainsbuys is likely to be very good for you, at around the 6.2-6.3% level.

If the amount if likely to always be above a certain amount, you can regular save that lower amount and put the excess into a standard savings account.

I'm not sure if there exists such a thing as a variable monthly saver, but that would be an ideal option if it did.

debbie42

Aegis wrote: »

I'm not sure if there exists such a thing as a variable monthly saver, but that would be an ideal option if it did.

YBS, Nationwide and Halifax can all be variable.

YBS is £10 - £500 p.m. and gives 7.1% AER, which includes a conditional bonus. That's one I'd consider as long as you can meet their terms and conditions to get the bonus.
http://www.ybs.co.uk/savings/regular/regular_saver/index.jsp

Nationwide is a bit different in that the rate changes depending upon your net contribution for each month. Not one to use if you're having the odd month at the lower tier.

£1 - £99 4.75
£100 - £199 6.25
£200 - £250 6.75

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/regular_savings/introduction.htm

Halifax allows variable payments too (25-250) but no withdrawals allowed for that rate. Pays 7% atm.