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Ideas for very short term (3 months) investments?
rorrim
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hello everyone!
Though I have followed MSE for a long time this is my first time ever posting on the forums. Your advice has been brilliant in the past so now it's my turn to ask my own specific question.
My wife and I were planning on buying our first home in January but now the date has been pushed back to February 2020. As such we both have a high amount of savings (though I dont want to give an exact number it's pretty high) and we would really like to make the most of them in the next 3 months! Does any one have any suggestions on where to get the biggest return? To be clear, we need to be able to access the money in February 2020 so fixed ISA's and annual interest accounts don't really apply here. Plus we already have help to buy ISAs
My first thought was premium bonds though I know Martin himself is sceptical of them, given the time frame I think they seem my best bet? An ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks
Rorrim (username)
Though I have followed MSE for a long time this is my first time ever posting on the forums. Your advice has been brilliant in the past so now it's my turn to ask my own specific question.
My wife and I were planning on buying our first home in January but now the date has been pushed back to February 2020. As such we both have a high amount of savings (though I dont want to give an exact number it's pretty high) and we would really like to make the most of them in the next 3 months! Does any one have any suggestions on where to get the biggest return? To be clear, we need to be able to access the money in February 2020 so fixed ISA's and annual interest accounts don't really apply here. Plus we already have help to buy ISAs
My first thought was premium bonds though I know Martin himself is sceptical of them, given the time frame I think they seem my best bet? An ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks
Rorrim (username)
0
Comments
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NS&I.
Issue with PB's is (AFAICR) you don't get the first or the last month so you'd only be getting 1/3 of the average return unless you were very lucky ([very) . With Ns&i you'd get interest for the whole time you were invested.0 -
With a 3 month window and a requirement to access the funds on demand. Cash savings accounts is your only real option. Premium bonds if you fancy a flutter. Where is the money deposited currently?0
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Does putting the money in a savings account, then using the interest to buy scratchcards sound like a good idea? If so, premium bonds are a good way of saving yourself the effort of going out and buying the scratchcards.
Otherwise just put the money on the highest interest instant access account you can find - MSE has a list of the current best buys.
Do not keep more than £85K each in a single institution as above that amount you don't have a 100% guarantee of getting your money back in the event of the bank going bust. If you have more than £85K each then either split it between more than one account with more than one bank, or put it in NS&I which has a slightly lower interest rate than the best buy savings accounts but is 100% guaranteed by the government0 -
If you definitely don't need the money for 3 months (95 days actually) you can get 1.8% from an Investec notice account. Otherwise easy access from the likes of Marcus is as good as anything.0
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Why does Martin Lewis not like Premium Bonds? I'm personally a big fan.0
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Does putting the money in a savings account, then using the interest to buy scratchcards sound like a good idea? If so, premium bonds are a good way of saving yourself the effort of going out and buying the scratchcards.
That's not strictly true is it.
When you spend £1 on a scratchcard, you don't get the £1 back, it is spent and gone forever. With Premium Bonds, the £1 is still yours. I know the odds are rubbish and you can invest the money much more wisely elsewhere, but using your scratchcard analogy -- if you have 50,000 Premium Bonds, it is effectively like having 50,000 free scratchcards on the first of every month.0 -
You are confusing the cost of the scratch card with the capital in the savings account (which remains yours). The analogy holds true0
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You are confusing the cost of the scratch card with the capital in the savings account (which remains yours). The analogy holds true
Having re-read it, I see what you mean. OP wasn't proposing spending the capital, only the interest. I'll shut up!
Although I do like my analogy about the Premium Bonds too. I find myself regularly winning on them too. I've had the maximum amount for over 2 years and I've only drawn a blank month a couple of times in all that time. My winnings have worked out at about 1.3%, which isn't brilliant I know, but there is always that *chance* you can win big. The odds of winning a million are about 1 in 69k I believe?0 -
About that, over a year. See what the MSE article says about it
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/#tips-8
I had the max in PBs but moved it out in 2012, never regretted it0
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