Best way of saving for house deposit

Keenor79

I have 2 years left to serve in the army and I am looking for the best way to save towards my first house deposit. I have the maximum amount of premium bonds. I looked at a lifetime ISA but was not eligible as I’m over 40. I can lock money away for 2 years if this gives me a better rate?  

Brie

What's the max premium bond amount?  £50k?  A very nice deposit!!

So I'm wondering why you are waiting.  Is there any reason you shouldn't buy a house/flat now which you could rent out until you want it?  Might be easier to get a mortgage with 10/15/20 years with a single employer then to try to get one when you are ex military and, presumably, fresh into a new job.  Hopefully the investment in property will be a better hedge against inflation than the off chance of a bond win.  Plus you'll get rent and you can be paying down the mortgage instead of merely dropping the money into a .01% account.

bostonerimus

Saving should have zero risk, so it's fundamentally different from investing. The best way to save for anything is to put money into premium bonds or a saving account in the bank.

eskbanker

bostonerimus said:

Saving should have zero risk, so it's fundamentally different from investing.

Unfortunately there's no such thing as zero risk as such - savings products should have zero risk of capital loss but are still exposed to inflation risk and shortfall risk....

Not disagreeing with the principle of your distinction between savings and investments though!

[Deleted User]

Marcus saving account offers 0.5%, 

This page has more accounts for two years.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest/

Provider Rate (AER) Interest paid Min/max deposit How to open Max FSCS protection Top standard two-year fixes. Here are the highest paying traditional accounts. Zopa* (1) 1.15% Monthly £1,000/ £250,000 Online £85,000 Oxbury Bank (2) 1.15% Annually £1,000/£500,000 Online/ app (3) £85,000 Hodge Bank 1.13% Monthly or annually (4) £1,000/ £1m Online £85,000 Kent Reliance 1.12% Monthly or annually £1,000/ £1m Online/ post/ branch £85,000 Top sharia account. Beats accounts above on rate, but pays expected rate. What does this mean? Gatehouse Bank (2) 1.2% Annually (5) £1,000/ £1m Online £85,000

I assume you would be able to get an account at Holts but it looks like their saving accounts are a bog standard RBS account.

https://www.holtsmilitarybanking.co.uk/home/products-and-services.html