What is the best savings account to have

Annemarie1980

Which account should I put my savings in I know I might be a simple answer but I’m new an not sure what the AER etc means so not sure if the highest is the best thanks

Bridlington1

Why not have both? 

Stick a lump sum in the 4.75% Smart Saver and drip-feed £300/mth from it into the 7.1% regular saver.

Whilst you're at it you could open multiple different regular savers and drip-feed the contents of your 4.75% regular saver into them too.

For a list of the top regular savers, see p1 of The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread. You can also use that thread to discuss regular savers if you wish.

Ayr_Rage

There is no correct answer, if you only have a small sum to save every month then the regular saver may be better as it is limited to £300/month.

If you have a large lump sum then it can only go into the Smart Saver.

It's horses for courses and I suggest you start but finding out what AER stands for.

There is a mountain of information available here and elsewhere and it is much better to do a bit of research first before making any further posts.

kimwp

I think there are probably three things to consider-
1. Do you need access to your savings? Fixed, notice and some regular savings have restrictions on withdrawals 
2. Are there any requirements to hold the account - minimum pay in, need to have a current account with a certain number of direct debits etc and can you meet them? Current accounts (particularly if you say yes to the overdraft, will do a credit check)
3. Interest rates. AER is annual equivalent rate and allows comparison of different accounts - the higher the AER, the more interest.

And a key thing to understand -
You only earn interest on money that is in the account. So if you put all your money in the account for six months and then take it out, you will get half the interest that you would if you left it in the account for the full year. Likewise, regular savings accounts have restrictions on how much you can pay in each month, so if you pay £20 a month in and have £240 at the end of the year, your interest won't be £240 x AER, because not all of the £240 will have been in the account for the full year.

Remember to read the terms and conditions- they will be available before you apply.

Also,
If you have larger savings and/or near an income tax threshold, also consider:
-savings interest allowances and contribution to income calculations

Very large savings (above £120,000), need to consider fscs protection.


You'll get the best advice if you share the amount of savings you have and will be saving.

saajan_12

Annemarie1980 said:

Which account should I put my savings in I know I might be a simple answer but I’m new an not sure what the AER etc means so not sure if the highest is the best thanks

Depends..
* how much money do you have to save? 
* how much will you have to add to savings in future ? 
* do you need access to the savings at short notice, or can you manage even if its locked away for several months?

grumpy_codger

Annemarie1980 said:

Which account should I put my savings in I know I might be a simple answer but I’m new an not sure what the AER etc means so not sure if the highest is the best thanks

MSE:
How to start saving

Interest rates: AER and APR explained

Middle_of_the_Road

Annemarie1980 said:

Which account should I put my savings in I know I might be a simple answer but I’m new an not sure what the AER etc means so not sure if the highest is the best thanks

Generally the highest AER will get you higher interest. A standard savings account of 4 to 4.5% is good currently, but will probably drop inline with the base rate decision tomorrow.
A higer AER account between say 5 to 7% will usually restrict deposits to a few hundred pounds per month, known as Regular saving accounts. If you have lots of cash, lots of regular saving accounts will get you the most interest.