Where to put £10k

NebulaNova

Hi I have maxed out my ISAs and have £10k left to spare.

It's in a savings account earning 4.2% interest.

Is there anything I can do with it to boost it more? I'm aware I can earn £1000 interest a year without paying tax so I was wondering if there was a better way?

I have no idea about stocks and shares though.

Thanks

eskbanker

How long are you willing to lock it away for?

If until 57+ then consider pension contributions.

If not needed for 7-10 years or more, then investing (outside a pension) is probably sensible.

If a fixed period of a few years then fixed term savings.

Otherwise, easy access savings…

Yorkie1

You haven't given enough information for meaningful comments. However, as a general rule:

Ensure you have 3 - 6 months' expenditure in easy access for emergencies. (Your ISAs may already cover that).

Cash savings - whether easy access, fixed rate, or regular saver - are best if you are likely to be needing the money in the next 5-7 years.

Consider S&S for longer term investments.

4.2% isn't a bad rate for easy access savings.

Also consider whether you want to make any pension contributions (assuming you have the earned income for it) and/or mortgage overpayments. You may also have longer-term commitments such as childrens' university fees etc to budget for.

NebulaNova

Thanks. I keep looking for higher interest savings but my 4.2% seems to be the best. That's easy access too.

Newly_retired

You could try the whole new world of Regular Savings.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6652858/the-top-regular-savers-discussion-thread/p1

saverkev

My suggestion would be

Firstly pension top up

Then use 4.2% account to drip feed into regular savers

Bostonerimus1

Pay off any debt you have.

Make extra pension payments

Open a GIA and invest in a Global Equity tracker. If you don't know much about those educate yourself - this will probably help you better understand your pension as well.

NebulaNova

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967527#Comment_81967527

Regular savers offer around 5.1% up to a maximum of £5000. It's very little interest overall, or am I wrong?

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81968816#Comment_81968816

Where are you getting that notional rate from? There are at least 20 regular savers paying more than that, with the best ones paying 7%+.

It is an inherent feature of such accounts that the monthly deposits are capped, so it's quite a bit of effort to set up and run a collection of them, but it all comes down to how badly you want more interest…

LHW99

There are some accounts that pay a little more in interest for a lump sum

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest/

friolento

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81968816#Comment_81968816

It would be more interest than you get in a normal savings account, as the AER is higher, and as already mentioned, there are numerous Regular Savers that pay 5.5-7%. Some of them take also take more than £5,000, though obviously not as a lump sum. There is a specific thread on here about Regular Savers if you want to learn more about them.