The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

MisterMotivated

I'll try to open at the end of the month to maximise the balance/interest where I can, but, for small building societies, I'll generally open as soon as they're available since I've seen several that have gone NLA very quickly. For banks that use account months rather than calendar months, optimising payment dates is not always an option or it requires technically breaching the account terms. Also, with some banks/building societies, the maturity/opening process can take a few days, meaning the renewal date creeps on each year until you can't reopen before month end.

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82174380#Comment_82174380

Optimum time to open an RS

"…for small building societies, I'll generally open as soon as they're available…"

But even the recent Lloyds Banking Group 8% RS' weren't around for long - a couple of months? - so can't always be relied upon with large banks either.

I can't be bothered with this type of min/maxing, I just open them and fund them ASAP.

etienneg

From JamesRobinson48's post above:

"… then effectively for the entire life of the product you will always have a £200 higher balance in the RS …"

"At 6.5% interest, that £200 increment will earn you an additional ~£13 interest over the 12 months."

So, where would that £200 have been otherwise? Perhaps in an easy access account earning (say) 5% pa. In which case, the extra interest earned (at 6.5% pa rather than 5% pa) would be ~£3. You can't just ignore the "otherwise" case here, any more than can when answering why a RS account doesn't pay a whole year's interest based on its closing balance!

In short, opening a RS near the month end does give a slightly better return overall but not nearly as much as is often supposed.

Kim_13

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82174398#Comment_82174398

When I maximise, my objective is usually I want it to mature on the last day of the month so as to be available to fund the next month. If you want the funds to be used in October 2027, better to go a little early so that it doesn’t tick over to November before you can get the funds out and have them credited to another RS.

Things like H&R I don’t take the risk with, my application was filled out over the weekend and went 1st class yesterday. Already had a 31/10/27 maturity anyway with Tipton.

allegro120

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82174384#Comment_82174384

Optimum time to open an RS

The same here. I open and fund ASAP. I always have enough funds in my EAs to fund my RSs so there is no reason for me to delay applications and fundings. Sooner I open and fund sooner my money starts earning higher interest offered by RS.

MisterMotivated

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82174384#Comment_82174384

With the LBG 8% accounts, it was such a substantial increase compared to the 5.5-6.25% they've had for years, that many people - myself included - would've jumped on it immediately with the intention of refreshing near the end of the month if still available, as this takes all of ~1 minute with Lloyds or Halifax (though I probably wouldn't have bothered refreshing if it had been Co-op or Virgin, for example). You're right that the rate wasn't around long, but dropping the rate back to normal after a couple of months is not quite the same as new building society accounts that go NLA within days or even hours.

I know this approach is not for everyone and nobody's asking anyone to "be bothered with it". Yes, the difference gained may be small, but if the effort to do it is also small then I'll do it.

clairec666

End of the month maturities are useful, but it doesn't matter too much to me if I've got a mid-month maturity. Each month I withdraw from my Santander Edge Saver to top up regular savers if needed, so if there's a mid-month maturity I use it to top up the Edge Saver again.

Of course many of you will keep your Edge Saver maxed out all year round.

Plus there's the added annoyance of "monthiversary" accounts which mess up the system a bit.

I'm not going to fret too much about trying to get the "perfect" maturity date, although I do like to keep them spread nicely across the year.