Choosing the right savings account

enthusiasticsaver

Regular savers usually offer good rates and you can add to it monthly.  Fixed rate savings won't work as they are usually for lump sums you cannot add to. You can do a combination by putting the £2k away into fixed savings now and set up a regular saver separately then when they both mature consolidate and start again with a new regular saver.  That is how I built up our savings. 

kersky1

Thanks for your help. I will try and make a decision asap.

TheWoodler

I think there might be some questions worth asking yourself: how that money will benefit you and how you can give yourself peace of mind. 

You’re a long time dead and after one funeral plan fiasco it might be worth considering not paying into another, as it won’t be conducive to your peace of mind, having been burnt once.  

Actually, the cost of your funeral is not actually your problem, when you think about it. It is understandable that you don’t wish to saddle your heirs with the costs but bear in mind that *you* are also important. That money is yours and to provide a cushion for you - it will grow and you are able to access it in your lifetime rather than it being locked away until after your death. 

If you have a lump sum plus the ability to put away more each month, as others have said, you could choose a fixed term account and open another regular saver account to put the monthly sums away. 

You asked which bank. To help you, ask yourself some more questions. Are you already comfortable with internet banking with your current provider? Are you able to access app-based banking on a smartphone? This gives you the most options and widens the pool of providers, with some of the same names regularly topping the table, such as Atom, Oxbury and Tandem. All are FSCS-protected so that gives you peace of mind.

Do you want a big name? downside is they don’t usually offer the best rates although some do offer headline-grabbing deals. For example, if you bank with Barclays you could sign up to their Blue Rewards and pay into their Rainy Day Saver at 5.12% for under £5000. This is easy access so you can get at it if required.

How about a building society? Many of them are quite big names with either a local, regional or national High Street presence. You might want to look at bonds with Yorkshire or Coventry Building Societies - and after a year with them you’d be eligible for loyalty products, giving good rates. Available online, good branch and agency networks, Yorkshire has an app too.

Both have regular savers, but you might want to look at savers currently available with some of the smaller regional players who make their accounts available nationally and have some current good deals, eg Saffron Building Society or Nottingham Building Society. Both available online and in-app. 

These are suggestions to help you see a way forward out of the confusion and make up your mind. Good luck!