£80k - spreading it across accounts 31 January 2008 at 12:02AM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Savings & Investments 8 replies 939 views

funkey_monkey

Hi,

I've got £80k (some of which my mum has left to me in her will - she's not dead yet, thank God, but realises that it would be of more use to me now than in x years time) which I want to place into savings accounts as I've missed the boat on purchasing my first property in Belfast.

At the minute I've got it divided up as follows:
Sainsburys Savings A/c: £30,000 (6%AER, 4.8%net)
Northern Bank Savings A/c: £50,000 (4.95%AER, 3.96%net)

Now, I'm happy enough with the Sainsburys a/c but as you can see the Northern A/c has a very poor interest rate. I've already maxed out my ISA contributions for this year so what are my best options to do with the £50k?

I would consider a fixed 1 year bond and savings accounts, I'm wary of the IceSave and ICICI as there still seems to be poor feedback with them.

I could just opt for some of the suggested a/cs in the links above, but I would like to get some opinion as to what I should do with them incase I'm missing some other alternatives.


Thanks.

buildrum

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Hi,

I've got £80k (some of which my mum has left to me in her will - she's not dead yet, thank God, but realises that it would be of more use to me now than in x years time) which I want to place into savings accounts as I've missed the boat on purchasing my first property in Belfast.

At the minute I've got it divided up as follows:
Sainsburys Savings A/c: £30,000 (6%AER, 4.8%net)
Northern Bank Savings A/c: £50,000 (4.95%AER, 3.96%net)

Now, I'm happy enough with the Sainsburys a/c but as you can see the Northern A/c has a very poor interest rate. I've already maxed out my ISA contributions for this year so what are my best options to do with the £50k?

I would consider a fixed 1 year bond and savings accounts, I'm wary of the IceSave and ICICI as there still seems to be poor feedback with them.

I could just opt for some of the suggested a/cs in the links above, but I would like to get some opinion as to what I should do with them incase I'm missing some other alternatives.


Thanks.

I'm looking at Northern Rock new bond at 6.9%?

https://www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/fixed-rate-access-bonds/

Pendle_Gazza

I have to say I've opened an Icesave account this month. It was a breeze to register, all done online for me with no documents to send by post.

Subsequently I did have to fill in and send a transfer form for my ISA, but that's all been concluded inside 10 days too. So far, so good.

ManAtHome

I'm sticking below the £35k deposit protection limit for the time being. I have money with Icesave, but they are having to pay well over the odds for commercial funds. Maybe not a big deal with Iceland rates being high, but if I wanted less than 100% security it wouldn't be in savings accounts...

On the plus side, their "online experience" is one of the better ones.

Primrose

I really don't think you need to be wary about Icesave now they've got over their initial teething problems. I have a savings account with them and recently opened a one year and two year fixed rate bond, transferring money from the savings account. The transaction took only a couple of minutes and was completely trouble free, and their current bonds offer good interest rates. Just don't spend any of your Mum's gift for seven years, otherwise the moneygrabbers in the Treasury could be after you for possible Inheritance Tax !

tradetime

Personally I'd consider Icesave, so far have had no probs, though it is early days. ICICI, bit more problematic, long opening process, website very tempramental so hesitant to recommend them £15k into an NS&I index linked Cert seems like a resonable deal if you can let it sit for 3yrs

Jonbvn

Assuming you are a tax-payer and you can keep the savings for a few years then Index Linked Savings Certs beat all the quoted savings accounts hands-down. You can put 15k into each issue and each term (3 or 5yr). Guaranteed by the treasury.

funkey_monkey

Thanks and apologies for the delay in replying. I'll take a look at IceSave and see what I think about it.

Previous postings about it made me concerned about the safety of my money...

funkey_monkey

Thanks guys. I've been thinking about things. I can't see myself buying a house pre this time 09 therefore a fixed term savings a/c for 1 year has come into the running.

1. I presume this would be a better option than the savings a/c?
2. What happens if I withdraw the money before the year is up (if I can do that)?
3. Who are the big players in this market?


Once again thanks for the replies - I appreciate you all taking the time to reply and provide your thoughts as I'm still relatively unsure about the current financial market.