Regular Savings Accounts Article Discussion

LongTermLurker

portlandboy wrote: »

Hi,
I have just used the MSE regular savings calculator and have a question. If my wife and I drip feed into an RS from a joint account is it better to feed 2 accounts (one in each name) at £125 or one at £250 per month. I notice that the interest calculated does not double if you double the monthly feed figure, but assume that 2 separate accounts would attract 2x the interest. Am I right please?

^^ditto rb

I think you're over-confusing things. If you're using the drip-feeding calculator, it's possible that your existing "pot" is earning the right amount of interest to balance the figures, but as far as money made within the RS goes, it makes no difference whether it's 2x £125 or 1x £250

There is one advantage to choosing the two separate accounts - say you wanted access to part of your money, you could close one account without impacting the other half.

Arthur_Herbert

Are there regular savings accounts which, in addition to monthly inpayments, will also accept lump sums?

KTF

Not that I am aware of.

sunlight

My daughter is 16 and is going to save about £35.00 per month from her EMA (so sensible), she wants it for driving lessons in a years time. Which is the best for her? Halifax are paying 5 % is this the best? Please help, as i am so pleased she has thought about it.

nicko33

Arthur_Herbert wrote: »

Are there regular savings accounts which, in addition to monthly inpayments, will also accept lump sums?

the Abbey First Home Saver
https://www.abbey.com => Savings & Investments => Reward Savings

jimbow25

sunlight wrote: »

My daughter is 16 and is going to save about £35.00 per month from her EMA (so sensible), she wants it for driving lessons in a years time. Which is the best for her? Halifax are paying 5 % is this the best? Please help, as i am so pleased she has thought about it.

The guide in the first post and Special Saver's excellent guide thread will tell you what's on offer. Bear in mind the Halifax account does not allow withdrawals and she must pay in £25 every month for the year. Also deposits would have to be by standing order rather than csh/cheque (I'm not sure what she would prefer here) It does allow 16 year olds to apply though (some others will only be 18+).

Unfortunately the interest advantage for £35 a month will be limited - over a year at 5% you will earn about £11 in interest which is only about £5 more than a 3% instant access account. Definitely a good idea to get the separate savings account set up of course - would it maybe be easier to just set up a normal account which would give a reasonable rate for longer? Does she have a "normal" savings account yet? Is it important to have an account with no withdrawals to avoid temptation to spend?!

smcg2212

Unfortunately it looks like the LloydsTSB regular saver rate has plumetted to 2% from the 5% quoted by Martin

portlandboy

smcg2212 wrote: »

Unfortunately it looks like the LloydsTSB regular saver rate has plumetted to 2% from the 5% quoted by Martin

That bad. Lloyds just gave me an ordinary, no-charges cheque account paying 2% interest, so that's really not much of an incentive to lock in for a year is it? Unless the interest has dropped on my account too?

jimbow25

2% is no incentive at all - they must have just decided they don't really want a lot of new regular saver business at the moment.

Last year they offered 8% which was then cut to about 4% - which was well below instant access rates at the time (it was below some of their other rates on more flexible accounts).

Maybe it's just easier for them to make the product uncompetitive than actually close it to new applicants? A few suckers might even think it is a good rate and open one?!

dougz_2

jimbow25 wrote: »

2% is no incentive at all - they must have just decided they don't really want a lot of new regular saver business at the moment.

Yet they are still offering 5% with their Halifax brand.