The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82061682#Comment_82061682

Regular Savers are just more restrictive versions of easy access accounts. If I had a choice between a 5.5% RS and 5.5% EA account, I don't see that there are any possibilities missed by opting for the EA.

thefrank

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82061700#Comment_82061700

The only problem is that at the moment I don't see any 5.5% EA account, but I accept a different vision. On this particular subject I've always thought in a different way compared with the majority of the forum, starting since the long months of the Principality saga :-)

clairec666

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82061690#Comment_82061690

If you know for sure you won't need access to your money for a long time, then it's a fantastic account! 5.5% interest on potentially quite a high balance if you keep funding for a long time. Obviously tax could come into play.

Not for me because I don't want to lock my money away for a long stretch, but might suit other people very well.

Joseph1215

Going by the figures they give for other bonus RS's they have, eg 2.7% + 0.5% bonus, it's like having two RS's at 1% and 4.5% but using the same money, so each is compounded. But if you break a rule you only get the 1% interest. The advantage comes in the second year when you can start with a lump sum of £3000+.

They're unusual accounts, perhaps explained by their member Annette who may like advanced maths - see "Case Studies - Savings" on the website.

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82061703#Comment_82061703

Indeed. But there are 5% accounts, so the benefit of a 5.5% RS should be measured using the difference between one of these and not "possibilities missed" if none can be identified.

thefrank

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82061711#Comment_82061711

I can't, and I will never will, calculate between different type of account not having the slightest knowledge of what will happen with the interests' rates in the near future (and RS look like more prone to less cuts compared with EA account, at least in my experience. Take the Adcock account, on this forum you can find forecast of wild cuts, but today, and it's been running for 17 months, is still 6.5%). No financial balance will ever be written with a 'guess', at least in my books :-)

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82061717#Comment_82061717

Well obviously that's your choice. But it is not a choice that should be imposed on others. Comparing between rates, including variable rate accounts, is a generally acceptable and reasonable thing to do, and such discussion and commentary should be tolerated here.

Malchester

I always ask if it is worth it before opening any regular / monthly saver compared to me easy access accounts and taking into account terms and conditions. So I have Santander 8% monthly saver and I have 6.25% Club Lloyds monthly saver because, to me, the difference in rate justifies it, especially as the Club Lloyds account is fixed and both are easy access

Bridlington1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82061583#Comment_82061583

If I'm unsure of an account though I tend to apply anyway, if I decide later that I don't want it I can always choose not to fund it. Better to grab the account and then decide not to bother than risk it going NLA and deciding that I want it after all.

If I were to hazard a guess (obviously this is only speculation so I can't say anything with certainty) but my hunch would be that Beverley BS shall remain at a reasonably good rate for a few years so may be useful for a while but I can see it slipping behind to a similar rate to their Monthly Saver in the long term (end of the decade and beyond), which now sits at 3.2% with the bonus.

Also with Beverley BS it is an open ended RS, in my experience open ended RSs with a very high or no max balance tend to fall behind other RSs in the end (not always immediately but eventually they tend to). It happened with Darlington BS's open ended RSs a while back (which eventually got converted into EA accounts, it happened with Mansfield BS's 30 Day Notice RSs, it's happened with HEBS's online RS, and Buckinghamshire BS's RS locals etc, especially given that it's a fairly high max deposit.

I've opened this account, I'll probably pay the minimum of £10/mth for the next couple of months in case it comes in handy towards the back end of the year as I've a lot of maturities in late September so may value the capacity at 5.5%, but then I can see myself culling it in 2028 or 2029. As with any regular saver I have it remains under review at all times.

clairec666

Surely it's okay to do a rough "back of an envelope" calculation to decide whether an account is worth funding? And if the rates are variable, then of course you can't get an exact figure, so an estimation is the best you can do.

Anyway, allegro120's interest calculation is (in my opinion) perfectly valid. If you're thinking of funding until January then closing if it's no longer competitive. However the strength of this particular account is funding it for much longer and getting 5.5% on much higher balances. So allegro120's calculation, while appropriate in the short term, doesn't reflect what interest could be gained over a longer period of time.