The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

Kim_13

TheQuaker said:

I'm newish to this RS game. I've been doing it 3 months or so and have racked up 10 regular savers so far. I'd used up my ISA allowance before discovering this obsession. My concern is getting taxed and affectively doing all this work to affectively pay the tax man. I've 22k or so trickle feeding into these and I'm a lower rate tax payer. I'm also a Nationwide member so got one of those £100 payments. So I guess this limits my tax free allowance for savings interest to £900. The question is, do banks and building societies tell HMRC how much interest you've earned at the end of the tax year or when the Saver matures? This obviously will affect when I stop and maybe put some into an ISA after April. I need to do the numbers but want to avoid having to scrape back money from HMRC.

I do RS before ISA, so that I switch at the point that it would be better to use an ISA. The only ISA allowance I’ve used before then is speculatively opening accounts that might be useful later. I keep a spreadsheet with the running total of my interest for the tax year, currently at c. £720 and as you say including the Nationwide payments (£150 this year due to the £50 when the Virgin Money deal was confirmed.) I’ve also listed the interest due dates, as the accounts are going to pay interest in this tax year so the only thing I can do is to shift some of the money out if I think there will be too much at current levels of funding. 

Exceeding the £1,000 only makes you worse off if the extra interest pushes you into the higher rate tax bracket, thereby causing the PSA to fall to £500. So you should be monitoring your total taxable income rather than your interest to avoid this (if you don’t have them already, Premium Bonds would be the obvious place to put any savings if it were getting close, as like an ISA, they are tax free.) A 5% RS with no PSA left is a 4% RS after basic rate tax, which is still higher than the 3.6% median prize rate. But if you expected to run out of PSA every year, shifting a chunk into Premium Bonds might be good tax planning.

Interest starts to be reported once the tax year it was earned in has ended. They should have 24/25s by now but some posters have reported HMRC saying that the figures aren’t available yet.

surreysaver

TheQuaker said:

Usually it's better to think about maximising your gains after tax rather than always avoiding paying tax e.g., 7% is 5.6% net of 20% tax and is still better than most Isa accounts, 6% is 4.8% net at 20%.

Very true. Thanks for that. Makes me think having money in cash ISAs is not worth it if playing this game.

I use a flexible easy access ISA as a float, paying in maturing regular savers before using the float to pay next month's deposits 

TheQuaker

surreysaver said:

TheQuaker said:

Usually it's better to think about maximising your gains after tax rather than always avoiding paying tax e.g., 7% is 5.6% net of 20% tax and is still better than most Isa accounts, 6% is 4.8% net at 20%.

Very true. Thanks for that. Makes me think having money in cash ISAs is not worth it if playing this game.

I use a flexible easy access ISA as a float, paying in maturing regular savers before using the float to pay next month's deposits 

Good idea. I currently use a Chase account currently at 4.75% for a year, so good for now. Regarding the flex Easy access ISA, can you transfer none flex Cash ISAs into a flex cash isa?

friolento

TheQuaker said:

surreysaver said:

TheQuaker said:

Usually it's better to think about maximising your gains after tax rather than always avoiding paying tax e.g., 7% is 5.6% net of 20% tax and is still better than most Isa accounts, 6% is 4.8% net at 20%.

Very true. Thanks for that. Makes me think having money in cash ISAs is not worth it if playing this game.

I use a flexible easy access ISA as a float, paying in maturing regular savers before using the float to pay next month's deposits 

Good idea. I currently use a Chase account currently at 4.75% for a year, so good for now. Regarding the flex Easy access ISA, can you transfer none flex Cash ISAs into a flex cash isa?

Sure you can

where_are_we

Likewise, I am using my flexible EA cash ISA to fund more highly rated RS`s (even if I pay 20% tax on the interest) such that at the beginning of next April I will have to find a load of EA cash to temporarily top up my Flexible EA Cash ISA fully until the start of the next ISA year because I don`t want to lose the full ISA protection that it brings. If RS rates are still better than flexible EA cash ISA rates in the new ISA year I will carry on as before. It will be a nice problem to have as I didn`t envisage the great new RS rates that have materialised recently.
I believe it is a sensible strategy to keep as much of my assets under the ISA umbrella. Who knows what tax and ISA rules will change in the future. 

happybagger

happybagger said:

dibbles212 said:

Anyone part-way through an Issue 3? What is your plan of action?

Wait until my Issue 3 matures in January and if it's still available then, open it. Whilst keeping an occasional eye out in case they change the rule.

I messaged PBS on this expressing my 'disappointment', and the response is, they're sorry I'm disappointed, hard luck, "Once your current Rainy-Day Saver Account has matured, you will then be eligible to open the new issue."

No budging.

fonesaver

clairec666 said:

Digital_Payback said:

Stargunner said:

Digital_Payback said:

PowerSavingMode said:

fonesaver said:

Bobblehat said:

s71hj said:

Bobblehat said:

s71hj said:

Progressive Rainy Day Issue 4
Obviously COP won't work until tomorrow, so I've done a £1 test payment. Anyone know how long before that will show in online banking? 

from the General T&C's.....

Brill, thanks. I couldn't access details of the account t and cs as it wasn't visible when not logged in and when I was logged in it just said you can't apply as you already have one! 

I just realised I posted for the General T&C's published at the time of Issue 3 ... here are slightly different ones from the updated Issue 4. I'll put a note in my previous post for future readers.

I have sent them a message asking if they intend to increase the rate in version 3 otherwise it's unfair to existing members.

Progressive

Same. In fact, I decided to send them two — one of them might be answered soon (the first one was sent on 3rd Oct)... I will update if they get back and it will still be of relevance/help to everyone here. 

I rang this afternoon for the 2nd time to express my irritation with Progressive. 

I opened the Sunny Saver 3 Acc. on the 18th Sept. and funded Sept. and then again funded at the start of Oct. 

On the 3rd of Oct. I first rang Progressive and an agent confirmed a new Sunny Day Saver 4 was to be launched on Monday. I was told I could not close or cancel the old one. 

Today I removed the funds from it, all but £1 which must remain in the account, and will transfer the £599 to other accounts (Scottish BS) with an equal or higher interest rate.

The real irritation for me is that I had 14 to cancel, but was out by a day or 2 and had funded the account. No consideration was offered or given to change to SD Saver 4. 

Progressive has left a sour taste for now. 

Progressive have done nothing wrong. 

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

No different to buying something, then finding out it gets reduced in price a few weeks later.

I have issue 3, I was happy with it when I opened it, so I will just keep funding it until it matures.

Nothing wrong at all. It’s just business I suppose, to allow someone to open an account, and tie them in for a year, a short time before offering a better product.

As you say - some you win, some you lose. 

But in removing my deposits and placing the money in higher paying accounts, I win. 

Progressive lose, even if it is in a very small way. 

Maybe others will do the same.  

And I’m still a member. I have £1 imprisoned with Progressive. 😆

I agree that Progressive haven't done anything "wrong". I am however surprised that they have done this - I thought it would be more beneficial for a small building society to reward their loyal customers, and encourage them to stay. They may have gained quite a few customers with this new account, but have peeved a lot of existing ones in the process.

Response from Progressive:
Currently, there are no plans to increase these rates, however as both rates are variable please bare in mind that they may change in the future. If you require any further assistance or would like to discuss our other savings accounts, please contact us on 0800 0294 997. Our support team opening hours are Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm. Best Regards, Amy

s71hj

TheQuaker said:

Usually it's better to think about maximising your gains after tax rather than always avoiding paying tax e.g., 7% is 5.6% net of 20% tax and is still better than most Isa accounts, 6% is 4.8% net at 20%.

Very true. Thanks for that. Makes me think having money in cash ISAs is not worth it if playing this game.

It varies but the advent of flexible isas helps. 

jaypers

Progressive…..my thoughts……I’ve read some bad things about them but decided to open the RS account yesterday. All went without a hitch and the ID check thing also worked well. All now funded with £300 so happy so far.

With regards to the Issue 3 interest rate Vs Issue 4, it’s pretty common on their stand here. Even the likes of TSB won’t let you close and reopen their RS until the year has passed by. I too would be annoyed but I guess it’s a fact of life and it’s just their policy. 

Hattie627

Anyone know when Melton BS online will be back up and running? I sent payments to two accounts on 1st October but haven't been able to check that they have been credited. Don't want to phone and bother the staff at a difficult time for them