The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

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pbsis wrote: »

Just got a letter from M&S for my Everyday savings account opened just a few weeks ago. They're dropping the interest rate by a whole 1% from 12th April.

Looks a bit like a smash and grab to me - suggest MSE should think twice about including M&S savings in their top deals list in future...

I opened one aswell after seeing it on this site.

Now need a new home for my money, need instant access and some where that will not do and M & S on me!

HILARY_K

Can anyone tell me how much interest you get on £20,000 in the santander 123 account, taking into account that the first £3000 do not have 3% but less, so what is the cumulative interest?

I am trying to work out whether it is better , even with tax, than the current isa rates, which quote lower rates but are untaxed

Many thanks

Mr._H_2

HILARY_K wrote: »

Can anyone tell me how much interest you get on £20,000 in the santander 123 account, taking into account that the first £3000 do not have 3% but less, so what is the cumulative interest?

I am trying to work out whether it is better , even with tax, than the current isa rates, which quote lower rates but are untaxed

Many thanks

Although the Santander 123 is tiered, if you have a balance that takes you into a particular tier, you will earn that amount of interest on the whole balance. So for £20k, you earn 3% on the entire £20k.

Assuming you are a standard-rate tax payer, tax on tax-paying accounts is 20%. To compare rates on tax-paying vs. tax-free accounts, just multiply the tax-paying account % rate by 0.8. For example, to compare the Santander 123 to an ISA, multiply 3% by 0.8 to give 2.4%. This means a standard-rate tax payer needs an ISA paying more than 2.4% to beat the Santander 123.

It should be noted however that once money is in an ISA it can stay tax-free forever so even if you can't get an ISA with a higher interest rate now, it may still be advantageous to use this year's ISA allowance to get £5640 safely inside a tax-free wrapper. This is especially relevant if you think you may at any point in the future become a higher-rate tax-payer.

Don't forget that you can only add £5640 new money to an ISA this tax year so to have £20k in an ISA you would need previous year's ISA balances.

Law8

Hi there.

I am looking for a savings account with a view to save for the deposit on a property as a first time buyer.
I have £2,500 to start an account with and about £500 to £800 a month to save. I will be saving for about 2 years.

A couple of points
- I ideally want to manage the account online
- I dont want to save via standing order if possible (will add in funds manually)
- Want be be able to withdraw at any time (any amount)

I am a complete novice here. Can anyone suggest what I should be looking for? Or any offers?

Many thanks.

andyt8

The Coventry Online Saver offer in today's Money Tips has strings attached in the small print as follows:-

"If you have ever opened an Online Saver (2) or Online saver (3) you are not permitted to open an Online saver (4). You may only ever open one Online saver (4), either solely or jointly. However many issues of the Online Saver account there may be, you cannot open more than one."

So you only get one chance to save with the Coventry at their special rates - there is nothing mentioning only "one at a time" but rather if you "have ever opened". I opened an earlier issue so can never open another Online Saver with them. Go to the Derbyshire - that's what I did.

typistretired

andyt8 wrote: »

The Coventry Online Saver offer in today's Money Tips has strings attached in the small print as follows:-

"If you have ever opened an Online Saver (2) or Online saver (3) you are not permitted to open an Online saver (4). You may only ever open one Online saver (4), either solely or jointly. However many issues of the Online Saver account there may be, you cannot open more than one."

So you only get one chance to save with the Coventry at their special rates - there is nothing mentioning only "one at a time" but rather if you "have ever opened". I opened an earlier issue so can never open another Online Saver with them. Go to the Derbyshire - that's what I did.

Always never had any trouble opening another issue online. The customer services also know I have several issues as they closed a couple of old ones for me.

gw66uk

Hi all,

I recently (i.e. the last few weeks) opened a Post Office online saver account after it was on the top easy access savings list here on MSE. The rate was (at the time) around 2%, a significant proportion of which was a bonus. Since opening the account the rate has dropped to around 1.3% (still including the bonus), and the account is no longer on the list of top accounts (unsurprisingly!).

My question is, should I switch the account already? Is this what I've let myself in for in attempting to become a money saving expert? Constant switching as soon as the rate drops?

The thought of filling in more forms, more photocopies of ID etc is not pleasant.

Cheers!

Mr._H_2

gw66uk wrote: »

My question is, should I switch the account already? Is this what I've let myself in for in attempting to become a money saving expert? Constant switching as soon as the rate drops?

The thought of filling in more forms, more photocopies of ID etc is not pleasant.

Cheers!

Hi gw,

Try not to become too disheartened: things are particularly bad at the moment for savers; I've never known it to be this awful! Hopefully things will return to normal at some point!

Have you considered using Lloyds/Bank of Scotland Vantage or Santander 123 accounts? Seems to be by far the highest instant-access rate you can earn as long as you've got an amount that fits into the right bracket. Don't forgot you can have up to three vantage accounts with Lloyds and three with Bank of Scotland.

gw66uk

Mr._H wrote: »

Hi gw,

Try not to become too disheartened: things are particularly bad at the moment for savers; I've never known it to be this awful! Hopefully things will return to normal at some point!

Have you considered using Lloyds/Bank of Scotland Vantage accounts? Seems to be by far the highest instant-access rate you can earn as long as you've got an amount that fits into the right bracket (don't forgot you can have up to three vantage accounts with Lloyds and three with Bank of Scotland).

Thanks Mr H,

It may not be as bad as I thought, I might be getting confused over various issue numbers. I'm pretty new to the savings game, having recently taken control of money that was being administered by my Dad for years.

Things can only get better I suppose!

gw66uk

I will certainly be looking at a vantage/123 type current account in the near future, at the moment though I am only on a temporary work contract, so have gone with a Halifax reward account just in case the work, and the income, dries up!