Savings Goal

FunLovinCriminal

Morning all

I have a savings gosl of £10k, been saving for a couple of years with BoS earning 2.72% monthly.

I would rather stick with BoS as they are local and I can pay cash in when I need to. I also don't trust the online only accounts.

Maths aint a strong point.

Would it make a massive difference in a 5.50% monthly saver? I would have to start with zero and pay in like £170 per month? Or just dump in a bos isa?

Dont want to do complicated moves or drip feeds, but keen to attack the goal and made £70 this weekend.

Advice please

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6663895/savings-goal

The BoS monthly saver allows deposits of £250pm. For the money in the account, you'll earn about twice as much interest. You should be able to manage Lloyds and Halifax accounts at a BoS branch and they also offer regular savers.

What other branches are near you? Santander has an Edge savings account paying 6% on balances up to £4k. This requires a Santander Edge current account but it doesn't charge any fees if you don't put any direct debits on it.

If you're unwilling to chase the best rates and drip feed to RS' you're a bit stuck.

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/

Bigwheels1111

Not using online will hinder your goals. Some rates online are double what you are getting, if not 3 times.

You are shooting yourself in the foot big time.

Costing you hundreds in lost interest a year, if you keep saving and in a few years it could be costing you a thousand pounds in lost interest.

I have house money in savings bringing in over 10k a year in interest.

If I kept it in a bank like you do, I would get 7k ish,

With online banks and building societies I get over 12k interest a year.

5k difference a year, I can’t afford to loose that much.

Over the 5 years I’ve got my money fixed, easy access, reg savers etc, I would have lost out on 25k.

Think ahead how much money would you like to give up.
I understand not wanting to risk money with banks etc you have not heard of, but most big banks and building societies are online, and trust worthy.

My 80 year old mother now has online banking and reg savers and isa’s.

All done using Face id on her iPad, so only she has access.

Reg savers,

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/regular-savings-accounts/?quick-links-first=false&product-favorites-first=false&sort-order=AER&sort-order-text=Rate

Fixed rate isa,

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/isa/fixed-rate-isas/?quick-links-first=false&product-favorites-first=false&sort-order=AER&sort-order-text=Rate

Easy access isa.

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/isa/easy-access-cash-isas/?quick-links-first=false&product-favorites-first=false&sort-order=AER&sort-order-text=Rate

Easy access savings,

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/?quick-links-first=false&product-favorites-first=false&sort-order=AER&sort-order-text=Rate

Reg savers, I had 22 last year, will be down to 6 - 10 this year.

Due to rates dropping. Plus tax reasons.

Re reg savers.

I try to open and fund it on the last day of the month.

Then make a second payment on the first to max interest.

You end up with the full balance for 59 days at the end gaining the most interest possible.

I keep the bulk of savings in an easy access cash isa or easy access savings account which ever has the best rate.

So the cash is earning interest at all times, then move the money into whichever bank is paying the reg savers the night before.

I bank with First Direct, so I can go overdrawn by thousands on the day, but not get charged as long as I fund

the account by 23.45pm same day.

Most months I was 5k overdrawn on the 1st.

masca

Personally I would not risk going overdrawn by thousands in order to fund other accounts. The day you forget to make the last transfer (it happens to the best of us!), or suffer some calamity that takes your attention away, or simply encounter a technical/internet issue, could cost you big. Much better to risk ending up with savings in a current/low interest account for 24 hours, than to risk being overdrawn by thousands... That's my opinion anyway. It's effectively a case of don't spend what you haven't got - transfer to the current account and then drip feed. To advise the other way round is dangerous!

Bigwheels1111

It's a first direct thing. Been doing it for 4 years new. But I agree bad idea for everyone else.

Goudy

There's no right way that suits everyone and to be honest, there's no reason why anyone should just use one way. There are many options open to you, even if you decide to limit yourself with where you save.

I colleague of mine would never put his money anywhere that didn't have a front door to bang on and he did amazingly well.

First off, is what you have already saved making the best rate you can. There are some choices here.

Can you tie up your money for a while in a fixed account or notice account and make it pay more?

Or do you need an easy access savings account because you might need access?

Can you make use of an Isa (a cash Isa usually pays better interest than a normal savings account anyway)

You can put £20,000 in a Isa this year and it will stay tax free. That means even 2.72% tax free is better than 2.72% you might pay some tax on. (Isa's are just tax free wrappers, the products in them vary like most other savings accounts, so Cash and Fixed)

If you decide to tie up your money in a fixed account, then something like a regular saver isn't a bad idea. It's drip feeding every month but they are usually better interest rates than just building it up in a normal savings account each month and the rest of what you have already saved you can forget until the account matures.

Once you decide which might be better, then it's about finding the most suitable place or places. Major banks just aren't as competitive as most building societies and neither are as competitive as online banks/building societies (usually). But there should be options locally.

Most towns have a few building societies and of course there's always the Post Office that do savings accounts as well.

If you don't like online, what about telephone or even post? There are a few places that still operate like this that would pay a better rate.

Now something to look out for, all these accounts/banks/build societies should protect your money up to £120,000 via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Some share the protection, I believe the BoS share theirs with the Halifax. This means it might not be wise to save more the £120,000 across both brands.

To be honest, I don't do online anymore. Not as in "using a PC logging into a website".

I tend to use a lot of app based banking and savings on a smart phone or tablet. Some are simple and straightforward like Atom and Marcus. They are linked to just one account, your main current account so there's nothing to it to move money back and forth.

Like I said above, you don't have to put all your eggs in one basket. You could just try an app based product while tying up the rest somewhere with a front door. Then once you've built up enough to start feeling uncomfortable, move it.