To use regular savers or not

Blackbriar_040

As others have already mentioned, I think Reg Savers are a great addition, especially if you use them alongside standard saving accounts! 

I use a spreadsheet to keep track of mine.  They don't take that much maintenance, once they are open!

I have just had several Reg Savers mature from Skipton BS, Virgin Money and Progressive BS!

I was able to easily reopened new Reg Savers, almost instantly, with the exception of The Progressive BS, who allowed me to open the account, then asked me to provide ID, before I could fund it!  

Bridlington1

HedgehogRulez said:

I’ve heard that regular savers are a scam as they only pay out half the promised interest on your closing balance!! 😗

Ah yes, I remember you. I seem to recall you made a not too dissimilar post in a rival regular saver thread in December (which then got moved to the main regular savers thread by the mods along with the discussion that followed).

topyam

Ah thank you everyone! Was definitely not expecting so many replies. So very helpful. Thanks! So much clearer now. I finally get it!!
Gonna jump unto the regular savers bandwagon and open a few!!

cheekyweegit

In relation to keeping a check on the interest on my regular savers, and other accounts I erm transfer the interest as earned into another account which is purely for the interest, dare I say yet another regular saver just for my interest.

I'm no where near self assessment levels, but think I'm over the £1k tax threshold for interest, but I'm still better off paying the tax than sticking it all in an isa for now, but as regular savers mature, some money will be recycled into new ones and some will go into an flexible isa I think which I know seems like it's contradicting what I've just said but that's better than an easy access account just now for left over money.

PS what others have said about it being addictive, it's so true.  I had 3 a year or so ago, now I'm up to 16 at last count, the lowest £50 a month, the highest £500 a month.

topyam

Suzycoll said:

topyam said:

Confused and can't get my head around whether regular savers accounts are an option for me...

I have savings - over £30k
What i can't understand is whether i am better having this in an easy access account paying a decent rate, or moving some into regular savers accounts?
Surely a decent amount is better altogether earning interest?

Sorry - I have read up on regular savers accounts, but still think I'm missing something in my understanding as so many of you use them. 

Hi
Do you have any ISA accounts to take advantage of tax free?

Have maxed out a cash ISA this year. Plan on opening a S&S ISA next year.

topyam

So I have just opened a Principality Reg Saver (Issue 3) - on back of advice on the MSE Regular Saver page...

If you had to rank an order of which Regular Saver accounts to open, what would it be?
This would be for a newbie. Any current accounts I have are with providers that don't offer Regular Saver accounts. 

topyam

And another q...
When looking at what to open, is a fixed rate the most sensible to go for? Given how interest rates keep going down atm?

allegro120

topyam said:

And another q...
When looking at what to open, is a fixed rate the most sensible to go for? Given how interest rates keep going down atm?

Yes, in the current environment fixed rates are advantageous. However, there are many other factors to consider such as the rate, monthly allowance, flexibility (deposits, withdrawals, closures) etc.  There’s no clear cut, for example Co-op offers 7% variable, but they haven’t reduced it since the launch in June 2023. 
You don’t really need to rank regular savers. Most of them don’t require regular deposits and can run for the whole term with £1 balance and are easy to close. 

Good way to approach further action would be to read the first pages of the main regular savers thread, which is (in my humble opinion) the most comprehensive regular saver guide put together and maintained by @Bridlington1. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6576962/the-top-regular-savers-discussion-thread/p1
Opening Principality 6 month saver is a great start. My suggestion for the next step would be - open every one of them that pays a good rate and don’t have draconian conditions and fund them as you deem appropriate. 

clairec666

topyam said:

If you had to rank an order of which Regular Saver accounts to open, what would it be?
This would be for a newbie. Any current accounts I have are with providers that don't offer Regular Saver accounts. 

Two nice ones that will be straightforward for newbies are Cooperative (7%) and Nationwide (6.5%) - both variable rate but their rates have been stable for quite a while. You can pay in by standing order or by manually transferring each month, and it doesn't matter if you skip a month. I've had both of these accounts for a while and have never had any problems with them.

Theleak250

The way I do it is, yearly and then add to a bucket.

For example over the last year I have four regular savers on the go. They will mature next month, at which point all of the cash will go into a notice saver and then I will start again with another four regular savers. I “only” have 13k so I am going to put some of it into Barclays Rainey day and the rest into an account I find on mse. Whichever is paying the best rate then. A notice account. 

yes I could send the 13k already saved into further savers but I will run out of accounts I suspect and it gets a bit complicated. 

I find having regular savers you have to fill up also helps with motivation to save. If I miss a month it’s very annoying. But obviously sometimes life throws you something that costs unexpectedly! Another thing is to consider, if you are able to put the money away and not need it, it would be worth locking it away for five years at a good rate because who knows what will happen with the rates. But im
not in a position to do that myself personally.