The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

trickydicky14

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148357#Comment_82148357

Shout it from the rooftops

MisterMotivated

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148064#Comment_82148064

So, as I said, it's akin to Black Friday, i.e. the deals offered during that period are generally worse than at other times of the year

Speculator

Signed in to my Buckinghamshire BS and noticed it's impossible to see the transactions for my online regular saver.

I just get "Currently no transactions to display" and a current balance of £1000.

Anyone else the same?

happybagger

Re Bucks BS, just logged in and all my transactions show correctly as "BANK CREDIT"

Born2Save_3

Increasing Fixed Rates (FR) and managing a transition from RS

Today a 5 year FR bond hit 5.33%A. This is higher than some RS I have. And it looks like interest rates are on an upward path over the next year or so.
So if FR increase, would you move RS money to FR ?
What FR rate and term would you move to FR for ?
What percentage of your RS / EA / other money would you move to FR ?
Any other comments / advice ?
My thoughts at the moment, are that if FR rates hit the range 6%A to 6.5%A, for 5 years I would move the majority of my RS money to FR.
Thanks in advance.

shirley999

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148917#Comment_82148917

no, click on details and I see my transactions.

Speculator

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148934#Comment_82148934

Re Bucks

This is odd.

My wife signed into her a/c and can see all her transactions but when I sign into my one, I just get no transactions to display!

I will have to call them.

Bridlington1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148932#Comment_82148932

Fixes vs RSs

Depends on your circumstances and your personal preferences, there's a lot of speculation either way as you'd be having to speculate how RSs will look in the next 5 years, and bearing in mind 5 years ago was September 2021 when the BOE base rate was still 0.1% and many RSs on SS2's top RS lists were paying less than 2%, now look at where we are.

Moreover if FRs increase, it's not out of the question that RS rates would follow suit, they may lag behind at first, but if FRs did reach 6-6.5%, who's to say the top RSs might not climb to nearer 10% at some stage? they might stay broadly where they are, more likely in my view you'll get a mixed bag as RSs rise and fall, no sod knows without a crystal ball and given the the way inflation's going you're probably not going to get much of a fortune told by crossing someone's palm with 5ps.

I would suspect for many it would come down to how much in savings you have and your income, there's probably going to be a place for RSs on at least some scale for the vast majority of people reading this, for it's useful to keep at least some funds easily accessible in case of emergencies, if the boiler breaks down or the cat helps you to lose your job, it's handy to have some money in RSs that can be accessed if needed. For those with smaller amounts of cash savings, fixes are probably not going to be worth it for the RSs you fund are unlikely to include the lower ones. If you've tons of savings then fixes may become preferable to putting money in the lower RSs, but even then if you're a higher earner there becomes a trade-off between cash ISAs and non-ISAs, so it wouldn't just be a question of "RS vs fix", it'd be a broader question.

Personally I'm inclined not go with fixed rate bonds at this point of time, especially not ones as long as 5 years as from my point of view I'm unlikely to keep too much in savings so I've little to gain from funding fixes over RSs and it's unlikely that pouring spare money into fixes will benefit me more than overpaying the mortgage over the next few years at least unless something changes dramatically with interest rates.

I think as well there is something to be said for the flexibility that RSs offer, if a flurry of higher rate accounts than I've already got get launched and I haven't enough spare funds to fill them, I usually have the option of dipping into lower rate RSs to fund it without penalty, with fixes I haven't got that flexibility, the money's typically locked in until it matures unless I snuff it. For the very small minority of RSs that don't allow at least some penalty-free withdrawals/early closure, I also retain the ability to cut funding to them and divert funds to other accounts.

There's also the hobby element to be perfectly honest, I enjoy paying into my various RSs, playing around with my RS spreadsheets etc so wouldn't want to lose that, thus if it was borderline, I'd opt for the RSs for the hobby element, but if you find lots of RSs a faff, then fixes gain a greater appeal.

Kim_13

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148932#Comment_82148932

Personally I’ve never opened a FR bond except the 6.2(I think) from NS&I, lower for ISAs as they allow early access/transfer with a charge so it is a numbers game rather than massively regretting a wrong call for years to come. Fixed RS sometimes allow early closure unlike bonds, giving RS an advantage. If they don’t, then at least the amount that is stuck until the term ends is smaller.

Eco_Miser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148932#Comment_82148932

A bit of advice: make sure the interest is paid to an external account at least annually, otherwise with all the interest paid at maturity you'll likely exceed your PSA, and possibly tip into a higher tax band. (There are particular circumstances where getting all the interest at once is better, but make sure they apply to you if you do that).