The Top Fixed Interest Savings Discussion Area

Patr100

SmartSave crept up to 3.21%
(min 10k)

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I see this as a cat and mouse game. Everyone and their dog knows inflation is high and will remain high all through next year (2023)

The banks need to be a bit bolder to lure in savers to get their allocated money needed for next year. Everyone has their own unique circumstances, but I haven’t taken the bait, have you?

Pompeydave1967

Thumbs_Up said:

I see this as a cat and mouse game. Everyone and their dog knows inflation is high and will remain high all through next year (2023)

The banks need to be a bit bolder to lure in savers to get their allocated money needed for next year. Everyone has their own unique circumstances, but I haven’t taken the bait, have you?

Took out a Shawbrook fixed a week ago and typical has increased a tiny bit today , I have Atom fixed finishing in 2 weeks time and just so atom have increased their rate to 3.2% 1 year this morning. May take it as I fixed this time last year with them @ 1.49% !. But agree it’s a cat and mouse at the moment and who knows what’s available in 2 weeks time.

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This is what I mean by being a bit bolder. Currently SmartSave tops all at 3.21% but pays interest annually. Why would anyone choose this when 2nd on the list is Atom at 3.20% paying interest monthly/annually.

My logic says I would choose Atom. That monthly interest you can put in a variable higher saving rate with another bank. It’s not rocket science is it?   

jak22

Both fixed and variable rates are changing all the time so there's not really a best time. What matters I think is the gap between a fix and where the variables are - around 1.8% now. With a gap of 1.4% a one year fix at 3.2% has a chance of averaging out better than leaving it in a variable as the variable rate has to catch up and then overtake by that much in the year to match. Putting some into a fix and then more a couple of months later and so on when there's a new rate is another way to avoid losing out.

ZeroSum

Thumbs_Up said:

This is what I mean by being a bit bolder. Currently SmartSave tops all at 3.21% but pays interest annually. Why would anyone choose this when 2nd on the list is Atom at 3.20% paying interest monthly/annually.

My logic says I would choose Atom. That monthly interest you can put in a variable higher saving rate with another bank. It’s not rocket science is it?   

Atoms monthly is 3.15% its the compounding of the interest upon interest takes it upto 3.2% over the 12 months, if you choose to have the interest paid into the fixed account

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ZeroSum said:

Atoms monthly is 3.15% its the compounding of the interest upon interest takes it upto 3.2% over the 12 months, if you choose to have the interest paid into the fixed account

Thank you for pointing this out. As I said everyone has their own circumstances, mine would be monthly interest payments. Just bear in mind their is likely to be 3 more uplifts to the base rate this year. And more to follow next year (as a guess) So I would put interest (ready to spend as I please)  in a variable account currently 1.9%

refluxer

Thumbs_Up said:

Currently SmartSave tops all at 3.21% but pays interest annually. Why would anyone choose this when 2nd on the list is Atom at 3.20% paying interest monthly/annually.

If you're simply wanting the best return, then you'll get more back with SmartSave because the AER is higher (3.21% vs 3.2% if you go with Atom's monthly option). AER can be very useful in examples like this, where accounts paying annual and monthly interest need to be compared.

Thumbs_Up said:

My logic says I would choose Atom. That monthly interest you can put in a variable higher saving rate with another bank. It’s not rocket science is it?   

If you do withdraw the interest from Atom every month, then you'll only be getting 3.15% gross for the reason @ZeroSum just mentioned.

Are you relying on the interest for income ? If so then fair enough but if not, why would you choose to have the interest in an account paying 3.2% AER paid away to an account where it only earns 1.9%, at best ? 

(edit - sorry, you answered this last question while I was writing this reply)

ranciduk

Good grief

shawbrook change their fixed rates so often, they barely give you enough time to get your money in, before the issue is withdrawn!

jak22

Do they not give you another 7 days after the issue is withdrawn to carry on making deposits? As there's no short time limit to funding the fix - at least while the issue is open - it's a better way than some others.