Some Savings Advise please

sassyols

Hello

Bit of background - Im getting married in July 2010 and as weddings dont come cheap I need a bit of advise.

I have £4000 to save at the moment but I dont know whether to put some in an ISA or a high rate savings account, I wont need to touch this money until roughly May/June 2010 as its the bulk of the reception cost.

Ive had a look at the Barclays ISA but is really the best place to put the £3600 limit. I also notice Icesave have one but Im not really happy they arnt covered by UK banking laws.

Any other suggestions? Are there any high rate savings accounts which would do me better? Im a UK tax payer with no other real savings (apart for an old Halifax ISA with about £250 in it).

Many thanks for your help.

sassyols

I only had a brief look at the Icesave site as it was featured on a comparison site. When I had a look at this site it states the 'bank' isnt covered by UK law.

Will have to investigate further.

[Deleted User]

sassyols wrote: »

I only had a brief look at the Icesave site as it was featured on a comparison site. When I had a look at this site it states the 'bank' isnt covered by UK law.

Will have to investigate further.

Have a read of: http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2008/04/01/icesave-how-safe-are-your-savings-facts-and-myths/
and http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings

1. Generally ISA's are a good place to start:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/ISA-guide-savings-without-tax
and http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=401374

2. Regular savings accounts are good too:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts
and http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=608697

Regular savings accounts are generally a good place for new money e.g. monthly pay cheques, however if for example you have £3k in a 6% high-interest bank account drip-feeding into a 10% regular savings account then you're essentially getting 8% interest on average for your £3k which beats most fixed rate products - albeit with a bit more work.

3. If you want something with a little less work then fixed rate savings accounts are a good option:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest#fixed
and http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-banking/best-savings-rate/article.html?in_article_id=431812&in_page_id=50

4. One other thing you might like to consider is getting a decent instant access savings account:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest#topaccounts
and http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-banking/best-savings-rate/article.html?in_article_id=394164&in_page_id=50

5. Finally if you're a higher rate tax payer then NS&I's 3 and 5 year Index Linked Savings (http://www.nsandi.com/products/ilsc/index.jsp) look good, paying 1% above the RPI inflation rate. Currently this is 4.3% so that’s a rate of 5.3% after-tax or 8.8% before. Finding a savings account paying this isn't common... It is tied to inflation however so if this rate drops then so does your interest.

LucyTheDwarf

Davidmt83: what a fabulous post!

[Deleted User]

LucyTheDwarf wrote: »

Davidmt83: what a fabulous post!

Thank you Lucy!