The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

Bridlington1

MaxBlax said:

E_zroda said:

MaxBlax said:

Newbie Question

Whilst I could of course read the terms and conditions of each of the plethora of Regular Saver (RS) accounts available, I thought an experienced forumite would be able to help by providing an answer to my newbie question below.

Whilst there may be exceptions, my understanding of how RS accounts typically work is that they generally have a maturity date, e.g. one year after the account opening date, and maturity options typically involve the RS account being closed.

However, are there any RS accounts with maturity options where the account is NOT closed and the FULL balance of the account continues to earn interest at the specified rate?

For example, after accumulating £1,800 by saving £150 pcm for 12 months in a 5.5% RBS/NatWest Digital Regular Saver and continuing to deposit £150 pcm into the account in the second year, will the FULL balance of the account earn interest at 5.5%?

Many thanks in advance of any helpful contribution provided.

Well done for the £1800, but the example you have chosen is not what you might call a typical RS as it does not have maturity date. You can continue putting £150 in it; the rate is paid only on the first 5K and is actually dropping soon.

The example I gave was, as it was intended to be, an atypical RS and NOT a typical RS.

So if I'm understanding your question correctly you're wanting to know if there are any other regular savers which have no maturity date, or if it does mature the rate never drops below the standard regular saver interest rate and you're not forced to withdraw any of the balance?

If so there's none in the latter category but there's a few with no maturity date. On P1 of this thread I maintain a list of the top currently available regular savers on offer. If you search for Length of account term: No maturity date then you'll be able to flick through all the ones without a maturity date.

There's 7 of these that I'm aware of above that are eligible to be included on p1 of this thread including the NatWest and RBS regular savers you mention. Mansfield's RS will come up if you search for Length of account term: No maturity date but the rate drops after 12 months so wouldn't meet your criteria.

clairec666

surreysaver said:

clairec666 said:

Hattie627 said:

Furness BS 160th Anniversary RS

Of note, a monthly payment of at least £1 (up to £160) is a requirement to maintain the account at the rate. Not many RS's have a minimum monthly payment requirement these days, so this may catch some holders out.

Thanks, that's worth knowing. Although at 6.75% it's going to be near the top of my list for funding each month so I'm unlikely to miss it out.

My spreadsheet is very good at flagging up (via conditional formatting) accounts which have a minimal monthly payment. I'm currently trying to get it to flag up Hanley's "can't miss more than 3 months" rule, but it's a tad more complicated to implement, especially as it's over 2 different tax years which are on separate sheets.

What I tend to do, even if an account doesn't require a minimum monthly payment, is just to pay £1 in via standing order monthly anyway if it's an account I don't want to fund.  That way, if I do want to fund it at a later date, all I have to do is alter the standing order rather than have to set one up.  

WillPS said:

clairec666 said:

Hattie627 said:

Furness BS 160th Anniversary RS

Of note, a monthly payment of at least £1 (up to £160) is a requirement to maintain the account at the rate. Not many RS's have a minimum monthly payment requirement these days, so this may catch some holders out.

Thanks, that's worth knowing. Although at 6.75% it's going to be near the top of my list for funding each month so I'm unlikely to miss it out.

My spreadsheet is very good at flagging up (via conditional formatting) accounts which have a minimal monthly payment. I'm currently trying to get it to flag up Hanley's "can't miss more than 3 months" rule, but it's a tad more complicated to implement, especially as it's over 2 different tax years which are on separate sheets.

I've just scheduled a £25 payment for the end of January, April and July. If I've already filled them, and I forget to cancel the scheduled payment, they'll (presumably) return the overage. No biggy.

Wise words. I moved away from standing orders over a year ago, and funded everything manually, mostly because my income is very irregular and I could just fund everything top-down each month. But now I've got double the number of accounts, each with its own deposit limits and T&C quirks, I might move back towards standing orders for some of them.

Bridlington1

Mansfield BS have launched a My Milestone Saver at 6% variable (includes 2.75% bonus for 12 months)

£500/mth max
Branch/post only
1 withdrawal per calendar year including closure

PowerSavingMode

clairec666 said:

Hattie627 said:

Furness BS 160th Anniversary RS

Of note, a monthly payment of at least £1 (up to £160) is a requirement to maintain the account at the rate. Not many RS's have a minimum monthly payment requirement these days, so this may catch some holders out.

Thanks, that's worth knowing. Although at 6.75% it's going to be near the top of my list for funding each month so I'm unlikely to miss it out.

My spreadsheet is very good at flagging up (via conditional formatting) accounts which have a minimal monthly payment. I'm currently trying to get it to flag up Hanley's "can't miss more than 3 months" rule, but it's a tad more complicated to implement, especially as it's over 2 different tax years which are on separate sheets.

Monthly minimum payments

Is that easy to do? I currently have a extremely sophisticated ( ;-) ) method — I embolden the minimum required in my 'amount per month' column!

friolento

Bridlington1 said:

Mansfield BS have launched a My Milestone Saver at 6% variable (includes 2.75% bonus for 12 months)

£500/mth max
Branch/post only
1 withdrawal per calendar year excluding closure

Interesting but I will pass as I am nowhere near a Mansfield Branch and I find postal applications and management too tedious

WillPS

friolento said:

Bridlington1 said:

Mansfield BS have launched a My Milestone Saver at 6% variable (includes 2.75% bonus for 12 months)

£500/mth max
Branch/post only
1 withdrawal per calendar year excluding closure

Interesting but I will pass as I am nowhere near a Mansfield Branch and I find postal applications and management too tedious

There is an online portal to see transactions, in fairness. And they'll send an application pack with a reply paid envelope if you ask. 

It is a faff having to send in your passbook in to get your money back though. My wife has a small amount in an  expired bonus saver which we've intended to get when we next go to North Nottinghamshire. Unfortunately a daytime visit has yet to occur.

A new account is at least an opportunity to get that book sent in and the funds extracted.

chris_the_bee

Bridlington1 said:

Mansfield BS have launched a My Milestone Saver at 6% variable (includes 2.75% bonus for 12 months)

£500/mth max
Branch/post only
1 withdrawal per calendar year excluding closure

Mansfield My Milestone Saver
T's&C's actually say "Closure is allowed if no withdrawals have been made in the calendar year."

Bridlington1

chris_the_bee said:

Bridlington1 said:

Mansfield BS have launched a My Milestone Saver at 6% variable (includes 2.75% bonus for 12 months)

£500/mth max
Branch/post only
1 withdrawal per calendar year excluding closure

Mansfield My Milestone Saver
T's&C's actually say "Closure is allowed if no withdrawals have been made in the calendar year."

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I could've sworn I'd typed that originally but evidently not. Now corrected.

rob37uk

Bridlington1 said:

Mansfield BS have launched a My Milestone Saver at 6% variable (includes 2.75% bonus for 12 months)

£500/mth max
Branch/post only
1 withdrawal per calendar year including closure

Very quick application form, only 4 pages need printing rather than the 6. Freepost address previously used:-

Mansfield BS

Freepost NG44

Regent House

Regent Street

Mansfield

Nottinghamshire

NG18 1BR