Newbie to Savings

firstbuyer

Morning All,

In need of some advice as I'm not really financially savvy when it comes to savings etc.

I've just been accepted for a Mortgage on a H2B Equity property, and have been made aware that they only require 5% deposit on exchange of contracts.

This would mean I would have roughly 25k deposit to hold until completion in Oct/Nov 2018.

This money currently is sitting in a Barclays Instant Access ISA at 0.55% AER.

Is that good? Should I look to move it elsewhere...

ctdctd

You could move it all to a top paying instant Access account.

How about the Ford Money Flexible Saver at 1.22%?

Over 5 months, this would give you about an extra £68 assuming you won't pay savings tax.

ValiantSon

ctdctd wrote: »

You could move it all to a top paying instant Access account.

How about the Ford Money Flexible Saver at 1.22%?

Over 5 months, this would give you about an extra £68 assuming you won't pay savings tax.

If you are going to put it in an instant access savings account then it would make sense to get the best rate, which is 1.25% from Shawbrook Bank.

However, you can increase your return if you have a Nationwide or Santander account by using their regular savers. These are fine to use because they allow withdrawals. Nationwide will pay 5% on £250 p/m and Santander 5% on £200 p/m if a 123 customer, or 3% if you hold a different Santander account. Move the money to Shawbrook Bank and then drip-feed in to the regular saver.

jimjames

ValiantSon wrote: »

However, you can increase your return if you have a Nationwide or Santander account by using their regular savers. These are fine to use because they allow withdrawals. Nationwide will pay 5% on £250 p/m and Santander 5% on £200 p/m if a 123 customer, or 3% if you hold a different Santander account. Move the money to Shawbrook Bank and then drip-feed in to the regular saver.

Regular saver isn't much use if the money is needed in Oct 2018 as most are 12 month products

Totally agree that the ISA is pointless in this situation and you should just get the best rate that you can on the money

firstbuyer

Thank you - I'm going to look at the Shawbrook Bank instant access account

Not sure if this question is related to this board but could opening a new savings account scupper the mortgage we've been offered?

jimjames

firstbuyer wrote: »

Thank you - I'm going to look at the Shawbrook Bank instant access account

Not sure if this question is related to this board but could opening a new savings account scupper the mortgage we've been offered?

No. Savings accounts have no impact on credit scores

ValiantSon

jimjames wrote: »

Regular saver isn't much use if the money is needed in Oct 2018 as most are 12 month products

Totally agree that the ISA is pointless in this situation and you should just get the best rate that you can on the money

As I pointed out the Nationwide and Santander regular savers allow withdrawals at any time without penalties, so they are appropriate!