Being nosey... How many Regular Saver accounts do you have?

clairec666

J63320 said:

A vote here for keeping good records - you might need them for HMRC, even if you don’t do Self Assessment. I realise this isn’t an RS-specific issue, but if you are an RS aficionado you’re more likely to have lots of accounts.
 I got my P800 for 2024-25 a few weeks ago and realised that next year I will be earning less interest, so to avoid paying too much tax  I updated my personal tax account with an estimate of what I will be getting.

I’ve now been asked by HMRC to give them details (bank/bsoc, account number and sort code, amount of interest) for all the accounts that have paid me interest in 2025-26, so they can check my figure. They’ve sent me a form to fill in - it has space for 4 accounts, but I need to report on 10. Posters on other threads who have updated their estimated interest have simply had their tax codes changed, so I hope this is just a spot-check rather than a change of policy - maybe I should have worn a green shirt while I was doing my update! 

Four accounts? What planet are they on? We need to show them the league table

Purpleheart

I may start to decrease the number of RS I have because I will be participating in the 1p Monzo challenge times 4. This means that by December I'll need approximately £440. I will be in with a chance of winning £10k though.

clairec666

Purpleheart said:

I may start to decrease the number of RS I have because I will be participating in the 1p Monzo challenge times 4. This means that by December I'll need approximately £440. I will be in with a chance of winning £10k though.

I hadn't heard of the 1p Monzo challenge, but looking at the instructions, it looks like you can just stick all the money in on the last day for it to count towards the prize draw. You'd miss out on the monthly prizes though.

Hal17

trickydicky14 said:

subjecttocontract said:

Bobblehat said:

subjecttocontract said:

I'm down to 13 now as I've closed & cashed in quite a few.
Plus I have a few with zero balance, standing order cancelled, awaiting interest payments .....don't know if they would be included. I'm hoping to close the lot by 1st quarter 2026. Regular savers, at one time, accounted for  around 8% of my annual savings income, so it's not a big loss.

That's quite a drop, with a further drop planned! Have you found a better magic mix for savings income?

No, quite the opposite.
I've decided to 'tidy up' some of my finances. I had getting on for 100 accounts including current accounts, easy access, fixed rate bonds, reg savers etc. My intention is to reduce the number of accounts, simplify & spend less time & effort dealing with them. I don't want to leave my family with what would be a difficult and time consuming task after I'm gone. The result will mean that my income from savings will reduce a little but im ok with that.

I understand the logic in what you say, I too am reluctantly going down the same path. No way do I want to leave my mess to my dear wife. I'm slowly reducing bank accounts and RS's and going more for fixed rate 1 and 2 year savings accounts. Yes I will loose out on my returns but like you, I can live with that.

I have been addressing the very same issue over the last few days. I have 50 regular savers split between myself and my wife. Current monthly funding is around £15K which I have been taking from a Flexible ISA.

My wife has absolutely no interest in what I am doing and does not want to even look my at detailed spreadsheet showing what is going on. So if I pass suddenly what a bag of worms this will be to sort out! 

I have found arranging all these regular savers a nice little hobby, sitting at the computer just playing. But now in my early 70's I think I need to start considering how the family will sort out my finances should the worst happen. Whilst it's been fun, I have to admit it was getting a little involved for someone to sort out. 

subjecttocontract

I'm down to 9 reg savers and £1660 payments per month. I've closed 7 accounts completely, cancelled an additional 10 standing orders and have a few pending. Hopefully they will all be closed 1st qtr 2026.

Bobblehat

Hal17 said:

trickydicky14 said:

subjecttocontract said:

Bobblehat said:

subjecttocontract said:

I'm down to 13 now as I've closed & cashed in quite a few.
Plus I have a few with zero balance, standing order cancelled, awaiting interest payments .....don't know if they would be included. I'm hoping to close the lot by 1st quarter 2026. Regular savers, at one time, accounted for  around 8% of my annual savings income, so it's not a big loss.

That's quite a drop, with a further drop planned! Have you found a better magic mix for savings income?

No, quite the opposite.
I've decided to 'tidy up' some of my finances. I had getting on for 100 accounts including current accounts, easy access, fixed rate bonds, reg savers etc. My intention is to reduce the number of accounts, simplify & spend less time & effort dealing with them. I don't want to leave my family with what would be a difficult and time consuming task after I'm gone. The result will mean that my income from savings will reduce a little but im ok with that.

I understand the logic in what you say, I too am reluctantly going down the same path. No way do I want to leave my mess to my dear wife. I'm slowly reducing bank accounts and RS's and going more for fixed rate 1 and 2 year savings accounts. Yes I will loose out on my returns but like you, I can live with that.

I have been addressing the very same issue over the last few days. I have 50 regular savers split between myself and my wife. Current monthly funding is around £15K which I have been taking from a Flexible ISA.

My wife has absolutely no interest in what I am doing and does not want to even look my at detailed spreadsheet showing what is going on. So if I pass suddenly what a bag of worms this will be to sort out! 

I have found arranging all these regular savers a nice little hobby, sitting at the computer just playing. But now in my early 70's I think I need to start considering how the family will sort out my finances should the worst happen. Whilst it's been fun, I have to admit it was getting a little involved for someone to sort out. 

Mrs Bobble has a similar allergic reaction to anything to do with banking! Over the last few years I have "managed" her savings for her by as "few gentle suggestions" as possible (for me!).

To help in the case of my sudden demise, I have shown her a diagrammatic overview of my Bank/BS holdings and she know where to find it. To help her utilise my diagram, I set up a very similar diagrammatic overview of her own account holdings, which she mockingly looks at with a big magnifying glass when she wants to pull my leg about Banking!

I keep those two files fully up to date. Likewise, a summary table of my holdings with all the relevant sort codes/account #/reference # ... all held in an encrypted Word doc to which the file name includes a strong hint to her as to the password, again she knows where to find it.

In that document is a list of all the computer "stuff" I use to manage the accounts, which I recommend she totally ignores in favour of just the "diagram" and the table mentioned earlier. This should make it as easy as possible, along with my Will, to collect the proceeds of the accounts if I pass away suddenly. I've also added to the Word doc a "list to ignore", which is a section that includes what not to bother searching for (e.g. Premium Bonds, Share Certificates, Loan agreements, Life Assurance policies, Mortgages, State Benefits(other than SP), outstanding debts, hidden cash or valuables etc), because I don't have any!

If I get forewarning of my impending demise, I will reduce the number of accounts as swiftly as possible and update the files mentioned above. I'm very confident that she can handle the financial side of my demise, she has been well able to handle the estate of both her late mother and father and won't be alone with family help if she should need it.

subjecttocontract

The problem I have is that my other half takes only a little interest in finance, (leaving it up to others to organise/grow her considerable wealth) but thoroughly enjoys disposing of it. As she said to me the other day, 'you know it makes sense' as she showed me her latest handbag purchase. 😬😬 I'm simplifying my side of the finances as I'm sure she'd get taken to the cleaners having someone sort out my complicated set up. There is something akin to decluttering about simplifying one's finances......I'm quite enjoying it but look forward to its completion.  HAPPY NEW YEAR.