Regular saver , what's the point?

Bobblehat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81926375#Comment_81926375

Similar to allegro120's point. So, let's say you have a choice where to put your surplus income from your salary (or pension) each month … say, maybe £200pm. Would you put it it into an EA earning 4% or into a RS earning 7% - 7.5% each month? 6 months, 12 months, XX months …. the choice is the same.

Just one more way of looking at the OP's question.

Altior

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927338#Comment_81927338

An element of my job was understanding how different people, and specifically people of varied competencies and ways of thinking approach the world of finance. Blowing my own trumpet, I was pretty good at it. Not everyone is like me (and to be fair, this forum is weighted to people like me in terms of their approach to personal finance, vs the general population). Sometimes there's a lot of value to be had in couching something in ways that can be more easily digested. And understanding the perspective of others.

The point to the para above really is that I feel it's easily understandable why RSs are misunderstood, and why some people will inevitably be underwhelmed with the outcomes of them. In the substance it doesn't matter too much that there is technically an advantage to using them. Ideally, I like people to be somewhat engaged in their personal finance, so it can be as good as they can make it, and more importantly, sustainable (not a turn off). The objective isn't always chasing perfection as that can be counterproductive. And if you give someone a simple way to get a ballpark figure for the actual interest they'll get from a RS, I feel it's worthwhile. The nerds like me can still calculate the pennies :)

surreysaver

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927338#Comment_81927338

I'm generally the same, with the caveat that if you cannot open it online, I'm more likely to travel to open it in branch if it's 6% than if it's 5%.

allegro120

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927441#Comment_81927441

I limit these to 16 miles round trip, the rate and conditions have to be good enough to mitigate the expenses and cash drag😀

fuzzzzy

It just boils down to whether you think it is worth the hassle or not. Everyone has different tolerances. I leave virtually nothing in my current account, always moving excess out to a savings account immediately. Sometimes I get annoyed with myself when an unexpected payment has gone into my current account and I have left it there for a few days because I have forgotten about it. Usually though when I work out what the lost interest is I will find it is literally just pennies and realise I need to chill out a bit and stop feeling I need to squeeze every last penny of interest out of my accounts.

TheBanker

I don't think Regular Savers are really designed for people who visit the Savings and Investments forum, although many will find them useful.

The FCA's Financial Lives survey found that 27% of adults in the UK have less than £1,000 in Savings. Regular Savers are a good way to build your savings, by having the discepline of putting aside a set amount each month - whether that is for unplanned expenses, or so that things like holidays and Christmas don't result in debt.

The six month saver is presumably very useful for people who will need the money in 6 - 12 months - e.g. someone who decided to save for Christmas Presents or maybe has a child starting college in September might find it useful.

subjecttocontract

There is of course a different perpective to the regular saver discussion. I decided that given my age I didn't want to pass leaving my family with 30+ reg savers as well as a myriad of other accounts such as premium bonds, ISAs, fixed rate bonds, easy access, current accounts etc. So I decided to simplify my cash savings by having no regular savers. I cannot imagine the time & effort needed to sort out some estates.

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927729#Comment_81927729

If you have a large amount of cash you build a large portfolio of them. I have most of them that are 5%+. Many of them are instant access and/or can be closed without penalty.

jaypers

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81926788#Comment_81926788

jaypers

I find this thread pretty amazing TBH. As an example, to some people, £28 is a very nice little extra bit of cash to be given. Regular Savers aren’t necessarily aimed at people with many thousands of pounds to save and actually, taking Principality as an example, you ARE getting 7.5%. Anyone who says otherwise clearly doesn’t understand maths and how interest works. Regular Savers are fantastic for getting people into a savings habit and hiving a little bit of money away. Is the suggestion that they shouldn’t bother and just leave their money in a lowly account not doing very much?

Obviously on here, there are also those who like to save into many Regular Savers accounts on an industrial scale, me included. It can be a bit of a hobby trying to eke out every last bit of interest and there is nothing wrong with that.

Not really sure why those who don’t partake in such savings accounts feel the need to justify their decision not to do so.