What saving account is ideal for my savings? (£7,968)

Bigwheels1111

redpete said:

Bigwheels1111 said:

I would use 2 options.

1,  Trading212 ISA near instant deposits and withdrawals via open banking. Stick all the cash in there.

2, regular savers with your bank or building societies. below click link then, Sort, select Rate

Given the OP's level of understanding those options are too complicated. I have lots of accounts and find Trading 212 not at all easy to manage. Managing multiple RSs seems far to complicated a process.

The OP doesn't really know when they might need to withdraw from their savings so I would look for the highest paying easy access and multi-access savings account with straightforward online access.

Maybe Charter Savings Bank at 4.59%, or Post Office at 4.4% and review after 1 year when the big bonus finishes.

You find trading212 hard ?.
Once you know that to fund the account or withdraw you do it via Trading212 app rather than your bank it’s easy.
Now sidekick, had an account for 4 months still not able to work out how to fund it.
Ask sidekick and they were no help so gave up.

sammy_zammy

LostSoulUK said:

sammy_zammy said:

I think you need to stop looking at random numbers other people happened to have earned from their own savings, or the numbers banks give on an example £1000…

Interest rates are percentages. Banks will pay you that percentage of your own money over a year, which you can choose to have paid annually or monthly. Pick the highest number and earn the most money. (No idea where you got Plum being 7%, or giving an annual return of £40, from…)

If you only have £7968 to save are you sure limiting yourself to 4 withdrawals a year is the right choice for you? I would just go for an easy access or flexible account, such as Trading 212 which has a 0.12% lower rate (amounting to £2.39 over the 3 months). Even then, the 3 month bonus won’t amount to much. You won’t be paying tax on your savings interest, so don’t feel you have to use an ISA either, which are slightly awkward and slow to transfer - possibly not ideal for your entir savings.

I just regret not earning some interest on my savings all these years, just letting it sit in my tsb account. At 1 point last year my savings were around 15k as I got made redundant as a TA, they basically paid me off around 8k. I then moved out for the 1st time in october and spent a few thousand on fixtures and fittings at the new flat.

Currently I get my rent paid for me £450 monthly as I'm on universal credit which includes communal heating system. I also receive around 400 from the standard rate of Universal credit payment, my income is around £780.93 total a month. The universal credit payment basically all goes on monthly bills (Council tax 110, Octopus energy 60, Water 29, Tv licence 28.25, Virgin fibre broadband 25, Now Tv 11, O2 contract 6 p/m). Then shopping as and when pretty much, can last me a month but basic essentials like bread and milk every week + kitten food and litter like once a month. I've also just pre-ordered the switch 2 and a tv (can't help myself). 

Just sent off a form in relation to my mental health which affects my ability to work full time in many ways so I'll have see how that turns out. Based on these circumstances what would you say I should do? like you said a flexible ISA is a reasonable choice for most. Even in the worst case scenario the housing association supports tenants in council houses, tenants rarely get evicted from social housing unless oc anti social or rent arrears but I'm covered for rent and bills, haven't missed any payments. I was so close to moving to private rented last year but the cost was more significant and less security. 

I'm not good with figures tbh this is why all this savings jargon is a bit confusing, there's not 1 unanimous choice for various reasons. Now I'm being told elsewhere on reddit that 7% doesn't exist despite Plum offering as much. I've no idea how much savings each month I should put aside, some say 100 some say deposit 1k, its all a mind !!!!!!, just want the maximum return I can get tbh.

The best day to start saving is yesterday. The second best day to start is today. Don’t live your life in regret, the main thing is that you can start earning some interest now.

Given that you’re unfamiliar with savings and how to calculate rates (there’s some very dodgy numbers in your post which really don’t add up…Plum definitely didn’t have a rate of 7.5%, for instance), I would just stick it all in any high street bank’s easy access savings account so it’s earning something. That way you have the guarantee of some form of reliable customer service if any issues arise or you get stuck. On a balance of £8k you’re somewhat splitting hairs trying to chase the best rate anyway, and something is significantly better than nothing. You can always switch to an account with a higher rate once you become more familiar with how it works.

1stTimer

Just want to add, please make sure UC are aware of your savings as I think there is a limit?

Kniphofia7

Most high street banks offer instant access savings accounts offering around 3-4%.  Start there today.  You can set up regular savers etc as you get more confident and knowledgeable.

badger09

wmb194 said:

LostSoulUK said:

Was just about to touch on regular savings as my TSB bank account offers a 'savings pot' which I assume is their term for a regular savings account. They've offered it to me a few times but I never looked into it and 1.5% seemed pointless, I could !!!!!! in a pot for more than that. 

Now that you mention, it seems worth looking into to combine with an ISA from another society with higher rates. I guess the regular savings with TSB would save me switching bank accounts which I never considered as I already found TSB reliable with fraud and such. There's just so many ISA's and societies to choose from, some say Plum, others say Kent reliance. If the highest interest rates are the metric we should go off, why doesn't everyone just plump for plum (pun intended). 

No, TSB has a one year 6% £250pm regular savings account. Instant access with no penalties.

https://www.tsb.co.uk/savings/monthly-saver.html

TSB Monthly Saver per link above would be the easiest place to start. 6% isn’t the best rate for a regular saver, but not the worst. Save £25 - £250 per month & instant access. 

Got to start somewhere!

PS I’m confused by the talk of an ISA. OP doesn’t need tax wrapper. 

VNX

LostSoulUK said:

redpete said:

Bigwheels1111 said:

I would use 2 options.

1,  Trading212 ISA near instant deposits and withdrawals via open banking. Stick all the cash in there.

2, regular savers with your bank or building societies. below click link then, Sort, select Rate

Given the OP's level of understanding those options are too complicated. I have lots of accounts and find Trading 212 not at all easy to manage. Managing multiple RSs seems far to complicated a process.

The OP doesn't really know when they might need to withdraw from their savings so I would look for the highest paying easy access and multi-access savings account with straightforward online access.

Maybe Charter Savings Bank at 4.59%, or Post Office at 4.4% and review after 1 year when the big bonus finishes.

Should I just go with my existing TSB regular savings pot even though its 1.5% then add an ISA from say Monzo or somethin which everyone seems to love. I'm unfamiliar with the process but I guess you just put aside 50-100 each month into an ISA + maybe a lump sum into a TSB savings pot to watch it grow so to speak. Although I believe its best to deposit lump sums in fixed accounts.

Maybe in general, up to 100 is reasonable to get say 30 interest a month or something, more would be nice for bills but its somethin. Maybe the higher the interest rate the less you have to deposit to get a worthwhile return. At 1.5% TSB seems lousy but I guess its better than just letting my savings sit and wilt in my primary TSB account.

A lot of these savings accounts are deceptive with their bonus rates, making you believe that's the total base rate like with Plum, yesterday they were showing 7.5% rates + 2.5% bonus rate or something, which led me to believe me this was by far the best option, now its dropped all of a sudden to 3.54% + 2.14%. This also shows how variable rates go up and down at the drop of a hat. If anything I've learned so much on all this the past few days, but still confused with a lot of it.

I'm as close as ever to opening my 1st savings account in my mid 30s, I just now want to get the ball rolling. If there wasn't so many ISA's to choose from I wouldn't be so confused, I get overwhelmed by choice to the point were I spend half an hour in a sweet shop or staring at my game library.

Where were you seeing these rates?!

RobfromCornwall

Having looked at moneyfacts, the best high street easy access account is the Post Office with 4.05%.  With £8,000 you can expect about £26 a month and £324 a year from there.

If you're happy with online banking and a name you might not immediately recognise, then Atom will pay 4.75%.  With £8,000 you can expect about £31 a month and £380 a year from there.

Whilst Revolut is a little higher, I'm not prepared to direct you towards them. 

You don't need an ISA as you're not going to pay tax on interest, so saving in one only makes sense if the rate is higher than a non-ISA account.  The high street Post Office ISA is the same as their non-ISA at 4.05%.  However, Moneybox's Open Access Cash ISA might be useful at 5.05% (£33 a month/£404 a year in interest).

sheramber

Tesco internet saver 4.10 for 12 months. 

Instant access.
 

Review when 12 months  are up to find a new  account. 

PeskyBlunder

RobfromCornwall said:

If you're happy with online banking and a name you might not immediately recognise, then Atom will pay 4.75%.  With £8,000 you can expect about £31 a month and £380 a year from there.

Though if you make a withdrawal the rate will fall for a month before returning to 4.75%.

LostSoulUK

Since I posted I've opened an account with Trading, deposited 1k + £30 as I'd like it to grow each month. But then someone told me that 5% is above inflation which now worries me, I'm just relieved to have got the ball rolling as I kept putting it off. TSB offers a savings pot as well which I assume is their regular savings account, the convenience & service of TSB makes it tempting as my main bank but at 2.5% I'm unsure if its worthwhile. Not sure the difference between that and easy saver either it seems like a no brainer to sign up unless there's better options or it conflicts with the Trading account somehow .