For a human or expert at Money Saving Expert ( only )

Valorant123

1.What bank account should i apply for which lets me save without limits and gives more interest as I'm currently 17 since I have a Santander 123 Mini Current account cash card and it's not really increasing the balance or anything? 

2. I would like a account that lets me save without limits and gives me the most interest as possible in the UK that I can use even after 18 or my whole life onwards?

3. Also how do I get a trust myself or ISA for myself if I don't have any kids?

Thank you.

Brie

1 - I suggest you read through the best rates accounts to see what's appropriate for you.  Best savings accounts: 5% easy access or 4.62% fixed rate

2 - there's no limit to how much you can normally save in any savings account but you should stay below £85k in any one banking group so as to ensure your money is given automatic protection in case a bank goes under (incredibly unlikely, especially with the big high street banks)

3 - no need to have kids for an ISA.  Again if you look at the info under Bankings and Savings you'll see there are ISAs or LISAs, the second of which might be more appropriate for someone of you age.  I can't see any reason you would want or need a trust. Not an expert on either of those but I guarantee I'm a human!!  

MSE_James

Hi - just for clarity (given the subject line of your post) - this is primarily a space for users of MoneySavingExpert to help one another, rather than a place where the MSE team answers questions. 

As regards humans ... our rules say that "the Forum is a place for real people to share their experiences and insights" and we remove posts we believe may have been AI generated.

kimwp

It's great that you are thinking about how to make your money work for you. I think it's worth you reading through the various savings articles on the main site and then also looking at the LITRG website to understand savings tax. 

lr1277

If by bank account, you mean current account, then you can have as much as wish in a current account. Most people don't because:

most current accounts don't pay interest

those current accounts that pay interest only pay interest on the first so much money.

If all your money is in a current account and you are subject to a scam or fraud, you might lose all your money.

You can have a current account and a separate savings account at the same bank/building society or different bank/building society. As long as I can transfer money easily between my current account and the savings account, that is what matters to me. These days with apps it is very easy to move money between accounts as long as you have set things up correctly, the bank's IT systems are working correctly and you have a data signal for your phone'

Savings accounts at banks rarely have any limits on how much you can put in them. However savings accounts at building societies sometimes have limits either for that indivudual account or the total amount of money have in the building society. I have seen limits of £250k and £500k.

You mention accounts for your whole life. In my experience sometimes savings accounts are closed by the provider and sometimes the whole bank/building society is shuttered. Nothing you can do about it. Just make sure you keep an eye where your money is placed and then move it if there are problems.

You mention best rate for the whole of your life. No one bank/building society always has the best rate. The rate goes up and down based on the Bank of England base rate and how desperate the bank/building society are for savings. You need to keep an eye and move money around to get the best rate possible.

SiliconChip

The main issue is that you are 17, which means you are limited in the accounts that you are allowed to open. I'd suggest that you stick with what you have until you turn 18 then assess the best options available for current and savings accounts at that time (bearing in mind that you may not be accepted for all of them). 

Brie

SiliconChip said:

The main issue is that you are 17, which means you are limited in the accounts that you are allowed to open. I'd suggest that you stick with what you have until you turn 18 then assess the best options available for current and savings accounts at that time (bearing in mind that you may not be accepted for all of them). 

would it be possible/advisable to have a joint account with a parent to get around the age issue?  

SiliconChip

Brie said:

SiliconChip said:

The main issue is that you are 17, which means you are limited in the accounts that you are allowed to open. I'd suggest that you stick with what you have until you turn 18 then assess the best options available for current and savings accounts at that time (bearing in mind that you may not be accepted for all of them). 

would it be possible/advisable to have a joint account with a parent to get around the age issue?  

Never having had a joint account I don't know if it's either possible or advisable, although I wouldn't be surprised to find that any restrictions on opening an individual account also apply to a joint account.

boingy

I agree with the "wait until you are 18" suggestion. You'll get way more choice.

Eco_Miser

The accounts that give the highest interest rate possible are usually what are known as Regular Saver or Monthly Saver accounts. These have very limited amounts and usually only last for a year, but by using lots of banks and building societies you can have many thousands earning top rates of interest. There is a dedicated thread to keep up to date on the best rates at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6576962/the-top-regular-savers-discussion-thread/p1 

lr1277

Eco_Miser said:

The accounts that give the highest interest rate possible are usually what are known as Regular Saver or Monthly Saver accounts. These have very limited amounts and usually only last for a year, but by using lots of banks and building societies you can have many thousands earning top rates of interest. There is a dedicated thread to keep up to date on the best rates at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6576962/the-top-regular-savers-discussion-thread/p1 

I mentioned accounts closed by the bank/building society. This post reminded me of a regular saver (RS) I had that was closed by the building society.

I opened an RS account with Yorkshire building society (YBS) in around 2007. It had a reasonable rate of interest and the only condition was that you could make 1 penalty free withdrawl a year. So if you were disciplined and kept putting money in but not taking money out, you could build up a balance of many 10's of thousands of pounds. YBS would pay interest on the whole balance (on a daily basis).  In hindsight this was unsustainable for YBS. If memory serves this account was closed for everyone by 2013/14. The money in the account was moved to an instant access saver with a lower but not shabby rate of interest.

If you look at the list of regular savers listed in the link, they now have conditions like:

They can only be kept for 1 year. Or the account has a maturity date.

There is a bonus interest rate available for 1 year and then a lower rate of interest applies. 

The account has a maximum balance you can have in it.

The AIB (NI) Regular saver has a condition I don't fully understand if you want to save with them for more than 12 months. Might involve moving the first 12 months money out to a different account, though not entirely sure. 

Like I said you need to keep an eye and move money around as appropriate. If you are really disciplined, you will keep a calendar/diary/spreadsheet of when an account was opened, when the account matures or when the high rate of interest ends.