Opening a RS

topyam

Just curious to know what everybodys criteria / cut-off point is in terms of opening a RS...

I'm relatively new to RS. Atm I have the Principality 7.5% RS and the Zopa 7.1%.
I had initially thought that I'd start with these two, and then open any more that were 7%+

Starting to realise that that's maybe too optimistic and that I need to lower that.

Digital_Payback

You might need to consider 6% these days, if you want to have more. ☹️

Middle_of_the_Road

Digital_Payback said:

You might need to consider 6% these days, if you want to have more. ☹️

Also those at 5% which until recently were less attractive.

clairec666

At the moment I'll open anything that's 6% or above, although I do still have my Natwest digital regular saver at 5.5% which I've had for ages - it's worth keeping it open because it doesn't mature, so is a useful home for your money longer-term.

Everyone's circumstances are different, so everyone will have different cut-off points. Depends on things like:

• whether you're a taxpayer
• which tax band you're in
• how much interest you're likely to earn in the tax year
• if you're likely to max out your ISA this year
• do you want access to your savings in an emergency
• do you like playing around with spreadsheets to work out how to best spread your money around
• are your regular saver deposits coming from earnings each month, or from existing savings

friolento

clairec666 said:

At the moment I'll open anything that's 6% or above, although I do still have my Natwest digital regular saver at 5.5% which I've had for ages - it's worth keeping it open because it doesn't mature, so is a useful home for your money longer-term.

Everyone's circumstances are different, so everyone will have different cut-off points. Depends on things like:

• whether you're a taxpayer
• which tax band you're in
• how much interest you're likely to earn in the tax year
• if you're likely to max out your ISA this year
• do you want access to your savings in an emergency
• do you like playing around with spreadsheets to work out how to best spread your money around
• are your regular saver deposits coming from earnings each month, or from existing savings

add to that list how much money you have available to put into RS accounts, and/or whether you want to max out all or just some of them.

kermchem

I don't have an Easy Access (EA) savings account. I have a portfolio of RS accounts - small by the standards of some forum members. If I had been more organised, and the building societies had been more helpful, then I would have one RS maturing each month and the proceeds going into the remainder. My cash savings are earning between 5.15 and 7.5%, and some of those accounts are accessible.

mon3ysav3r

Nobody has seemed to mention whether the APR AER is Fixed or Variable when considering a RS. I do accept a lower APR AER if it is Fixed for a year, because the Bank of England base rate is likely to fall again over the next year, making the RS with fixed APR AER more competitive.

ColdIron

Do you mean AER? APR relates to borrowing

mon3ysav3r

ColdIron said:

Do you mean AER? APR relates to borrowing

oh yeah, will edit!

wmb194

mon3ysav3r said:

Nobody has seemed to mention whether the APR AER is Fixed or Variable when considering a RS. I do accept a lower APR AER if it is Fixed for a year, because the Bank of England base rate is likely to fall again over the next year, making the RS with fixed APR AER more competitive.

Most of the variable ones are instant access and/or have no penalty to close them so for me it doesn't matter, just chase the best rates. Even if a 7% variable is cut to 6% that'd still be fine.

jaypers

Depends how much of a ‘hobby’ you want to make it. If you’re keen, open as many as you can paying 5% upwards IMHO and use whatever ‘drip feed’ process suits you. End result is a higher return that pretty much any normal savings account and volume makes it worthwhile if you can be bothered.