The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

cwep2

lcooper said:

TisMeBill said:

jaceyboy said:

Wonder if we will see 5% before the end of the year?

>5% is already out there with Virgin Money Private Savings tracker account, for people with over a million it's base rate +0.25%, 500k to 1m is base rate, and less that 500k base rate -0.25%, but that should be a leat 5% after next BOE rate meeting.

How much does this account cost per month? What is the minimum deposit amount for breaking even after the fees?

£25 / month.
No minimum balance, but you have to satisfy their criteria - this was a self-assertion for me fwiw.

Some breakevens - note the interest is BOE rate -0.25% gross - paid quarterly, so current rate for 0-500k is 4.75% gross = 4.84% AER. Depending on deposit amount - but clearly for low balances it is not worth it but:
£50k equivalent to 4.22% AER and £85k equivalent to 4.48% AER.
Now this is beaten by current rates, but remember this has been the rate since the last BoE meeting on 22nd June and best EA rates were below 4.22% even a week after that and only beat the rate on 85k in the last couple of weeks.

If BoE raises rates on Thursday by the expected 0.25% (to 5.25% Bank rate) these equivalents will go to:
£50k equivalent to 4.48% AER and £85k equivalent to 4.74% AER.
Bearing in mind most banks know the bank rate will go up Thursday I reckon that 4.74% will be unbeaten for a few weeks at least.

boingy

lcooper said:

Even if there was a good reason for keeping £85k in cash, and assuming I had this amount floating about, I'd never put more than £85k into a single bank, so just alone on those grounds it's not an option I would choose.£100k min is just a complete no-no for me, and I suspect for most people.

Most of the people that use those accounts need a large amount of disposable cash and, frankly, can afford to lose anything above £85k in the vanishingly unlikely scenario of the bank failing. 

friolento

boingy said:

lcooper said:

Even if there was a good reason for keeping £85k in cash, and assuming I had this amount floating about, I'd never put more than £85k into a single bank, so just alone on those grounds it's not an option I would choose.£100k min is just a complete no-no for me, and I suspect for most people.

Most of the people that use those accounts need a large amount of disposable cash and, frankly, can afford to lose anything above £85k in the vanishingly unlikely scenario of the bank failing. 

Having witnessed the collapse or near collapse of Lehman Borthers, Northern Rock, Kaupthing, Icesave, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic and Credit Suisse,  and having had my own money rescued twice by FSCS, I am not relying on assurances on the internet that bank failures are vanishingly small. I have the simple rule of never having more than £85k in a single bank, which I find exceedingly easy to achieve. YMMV.

boingy

lcooper said:

boingy said:

lcooper said:

Even if there was a good reason for keeping £85k in cash, and assuming I had this amount floating about, I'd never put more than £85k into a single bank, so just alone on those grounds it's not an option I would choose.£100k min is just a complete no-no for me, and I suspect for most people.

Most of the people that use those accounts need a large amount of disposable cash and, frankly, can afford to lose anything above £85k in the vanishingly unlikely scenario of the bank failing. 

Having witnessed the collapse or near collapse of Lehman Borthers, Northern Rock, Kaupthing, Icesave, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic and Credit Suisse,  and having had my own money rescued twice by FSCS, I am not relying on assurances on the internet that bank failures are vanishingly small. I have the simple rule of never having more than £85k in a single bank, which I find exceedingly easy to achieve. YMMV.

Clearly, you are not a private banking customer. 
Twice saved by FSCS? Which banks were those?

allegro120

nic_c said:

jaceyboy said:

Wonder if we will see 5% before the end of the year?

Do you think we will?

I think it is very likely. 

friolento

boingy said:

lcooper said:

boingy said:

lcooper said:

Even if there was a good reason for keeping £85k in cash, and assuming I had this amount floating about, I'd never put more than £85k into a single bank, so just alone on those grounds it's not an option I would choose.£100k min is just a complete no-no for me, and I suspect for most people.

Most of the people that use those accounts need a large amount of disposable cash and, frankly, can afford to lose anything above £85k in the vanishingly unlikely scenario of the bank failing. 

Having witnessed the collapse or near collapse of Lehman Borthers, Northern Rock, Kaupthing, Icesave, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic and Credit Suisse,  and having had my own money rescued twice by FSCS, I am not relying on assurances on the internet that bank failures are vanishingly small. I have the simple rule of never having more than £85k in a single bank, which I find exceedingly easy to achieve. YMMV.

Clearly, you are not a private banking customer. 
Twice saved by FSCS? Which banks were those?

they are on the list above. you might be too young to remember some of those collapses?

grumbler

boingy said:

lcooper said:

boingy said:

lcooper said:

Even if there was a good reason for keeping £85k in cash, and assuming I had this amount floating about, I'd never put more than £85k into a single bank, so just alone on those grounds it's not an option I would choose.£100k min is just a complete no-no for me, and I suspect for most people.

Most of the people that use those accounts need a large amount of disposable cash and, frankly, can afford to lose anything above £85k in the vanishingly unlikely scenario of the bank failing. 

Having witnessed the collapse or near collapse of Lehman Borthers, Northern Rock, Kaupthing, Icesave, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic and Credit Suisse,  and having had my own money rescued twice by FSCS, I am not relying on assurances on the internet that bank failures are vanishingly small. I have the simple rule of never having more than £85k in a single bank, which I find exceedingly easy to achieve. YMMV.

Twice saved by FSCS? Which banks were those?

Icesave?

"Because no immediate repayment was expected by any Icelandic institutions, the Dutch and British national deposit guarantee schemes covered repayment up to the maximum limit for the national deposit guarantees – and the Dutch and British states covered the rest".

Sounds like the government would have covered everything regardless of  the former FSCS limit.

boingy

lcooper said:

boingy said:

lcooper said:

boingy said:

lcooper said:

Even if there was a good reason for keeping £85k in cash, and assuming I had this amount floating about, I'd never put more than £85k into a single bank, so just alone on those grounds it's not an option I would choose.£100k min is just a complete no-no for me, and I suspect for most people.

Most of the people that use those accounts need a large amount of disposable cash and, frankly, can afford to lose anything above £85k in the vanishingly unlikely scenario of the bank failing. 

Having witnessed the collapse or near collapse of Lehman Borthers, Northern Rock, Kaupthing, Icesave, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic and Credit Suisse,  and having had my own money rescued twice by FSCS, I am not relying on assurances on the internet that bank failures are vanishingly small. I have the simple rule of never having more than £85k in a single bank, which I find exceedingly easy to achieve. YMMV.

Clearly, you are not a private banking customer. 
Twice saved by FSCS? Which banks were those?

they are on the list above. you might be too young to remember some of those collapses?

I'm older than you might think and it was a simple enough question, which you have chosen not to answer. YMMV.

TisMeBill

cwep2 said:

lcooper said:

TisMeBill said:

jaceyboy said:

Wonder if we will see 5% before the end of the year?

>5% is already out there with Virgin Money Private Savings tracker account, for people with over a million it's base rate +0.25%, 500k to 1m is base rate, and less that 500k base rate -0.25%, but that should be a leat 5% after next BOE rate meeting.

How much does this account cost per month? What is the minimum deposit amount for breaking even after the fees?

£25 / month.
No minimum balance, but you have to satisfy their criteria - this was a self-assertion for me fwiw.

Some breakevens - note the interest is BOE rate -0.25% gross - paid quarterly, so current rate for 0-500k is 4.75% gross = 4.84% AER. Depending on deposit amount - but clearly for low balances it is not worth it but:
£50k equivalent to 4.22% AER and £85k equivalent to 4.48% AER.
Now this is beaten by current rates, but remember this has been the rate since the last BoE meeting on 22nd June and best EA rates were below 4.22% even a week after that and only beat the rate on 85k in the last couple of weeks.

If BoE raises rates on Thursday by the expected 0.25% (to 5.25% Bank rate) these equivalents will go to:
£50k equivalent to 4.48% AER and £85k equivalent to 4.74% AER.
Bearing in mind most banks know the bank rate will go up Thursday I reckon that 4.74% will be unbeaten for a few weeks at least.

The fee of £25 a month = £300 a year, but we have a joint account so for that we get worldwide travel insurance cover for us both and 12 free airport lounge visits, to us that is worth more than £300, so I don’t even think of it as a fee.

Also as it’s a joint account we get 2 x FSCS cover, so we have £170k in the account, which even if you include the £25 a fee in the equation (which I don’t for the reason above) you would currently need an account paying an AER > 4.67%  to better it. As it is a tracker, if the  BOE base rate goes up by .25 this week, the AER on this account will rise to 5.09% that day or the next, if the rate goes up .5 AER will be 5.35%.

I realise it’s not for everyone, but if like us you have that amount of money and want to keep it easy access, I believe it is the best option.

subjecttocontract

I have to agree it's very tempting but then I return to reality and remember that we are talking about Virgin with whom I have no confidence and I wouldn't dream of opening another account with them.