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Post by df on Jun 21, 2019 18:25:07 GMT
Yeah I'm doing every RS I can find, but still only around 2% average To maximise rates without tying your money in to long terms then don't overlook the following (if you have the time & inclination): - high interest current accounts (TSB @ 3% on £1.5k) - regular savers - cashback (last time I looked Aldermore and The AA were offering £15 on TCB) - locals only accounts - branch based accounts - spouses accounts - child accounts (available to grandparents too. e.g. Barclays 1.87% on up to £1m) - existing accounts (I'm jealous of df - see here) - NS&I (tax free accounts, if available) You're basically after loss leaders and enough of them to make it worth the effort. Don't fall in to the trap of taking excessive risks just because you think you're "losing money" to the headline rate of inflation. I had a good whinge about Raisin but I'd do it all again for 6.9% return The goal posts are always moving. High interest current accounts have almost disappeared now as well as switch bonuses, but there's always something new, just need to watch the space and grab all little opportunities when they are available. It all adds up. I did it again with Raisin. "Introduced" my wife - worked out as 4%, which is still a very good rate for protected funds. I generally ignore headline inflation rates. I suppose it depends on ones consumption habits, but they have hardly any effect on my financial situation. Utility bills and council tax go up a little every year, but everything else seems to have their own patterns.
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Post by dan1 on Jun 23, 2019 12:13:01 GMT
Currently for me it's whichever the highest rate easy-access saver is (i.e. Marcus at 1.5%). I also have the FD Regular Saver at 5%, and a nationwide one which is maturing soon and ha been closed for new accounts anyway.
Only other thing is the Bank switching bonuses - HSBC and Natwest/RBS both have nice big ones at the moment.
For those who are interested in regular savers. Virgin is regularly releasing new issues. It is worth checking at the end of each month. I wasn't really on the ball with this. I had issue 12 (matures next month) then noticed that there is issue 16, went to the branch to open it and had an informal advice to check Virgin website monthly as they are releasing new issues from time to time but they don't send any notifications to existing customers. So I've checked at he end of May and now also have issue 17. It's 3% and the usual £250 per month allowance. The downside is that you have to go to the branch to open it (ancient building society style with pass book). Works for me as I live only 2 miles away from Virgin branch, but no good for those who hasn't. A couple of years ago I had five of the (online) Virgin regular savers on the go at once, new issues would appear every two months or so IIRC. It's worth pointing out that those with a Club Lloyds monthly saver @ 2.5% can also open a monthly saver @ 2%, every little helps.
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stevio
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Post by stevio on Jun 23, 2019 14:49:29 GMT
For those who are interested in regular savers. Virgin is regularly releasing new issues. It is worth checking at the end of each month. I wasn't really on the ball with this. I had issue 12 (matures next month) then noticed that there is issue 16, went to the branch to open it and had an informal advice to check Virgin website monthly as they are releasing new issues from time to time but they don't send any notifications to existing customers. So I've checked at he end of May and now also have issue 17. It's 3% and the usual £250 per month allowance. The downside is that you have to go to the branch to open it (ancient building society style with pass book). Works for me as I live only 2 miles away from Virgin branch, but no good for those who hasn't. A couple of years ago I had five of the (online) Virgin regular savers on the go at once, new issues would appear every two months or so IIRC. It's worth pointing out that those with a Club Lloyds monthly saver @ 2.5% can also open a monthly saver @ 2%, every little helps. Also Halifax and BOS under Lloyds Banking Group also allow 1x 2%RS each BOS have Vantage 1.5%, but requires 2xDD, so can get that with Marcus (or the like) without DDs TSB 2% RS The Virgin RSs seem to only be open in branch (which is not convenient unless nearby). But noted that it seems you can have several ongoing with each issue Lloyds Club allow two accounts, if one is in joint names, with 2xDDs (which is a bit of a faff, any easy DD now after Tesco?), which allows the free 6x cinema tickets per year Yorkshire Building Society has 2.5% RS, but annoyingly only postal application Any others worthwhile (without DDs, unless someone has a good solution for these)?
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Post by dan1 on Jun 23, 2019 14:55:02 GMT
A couple of years ago I had five of the (online) Virgin regular savers on the go at once, new issues would appear every two months or so IIRC. It's worth pointing out that those with a Club Lloyds monthly saver @ 2.5% can also open a monthly saver @ 2%, every little helps. Also Halifax and BOS under Lloyds Banking Group also allow 1x 2%RS each BOS have Vantage 1.5%, but requires 2xDD, so can get that with Marcus (or the like) without DDs TSB 2% RS The Virgin RSs seem to only be open in branch (which is not convenient unless nearby). But noted that it seems you can have several ongoing with each issue Lloyds Club allow two accounts, if one is in joint names, with 2xDDs (which is a bit of a faff, any easy DD now after Tesco?), which allows the free 6x cinema tickets per year Yorkshire Building Society has 2.5% RS, but annoyingly only postal application Any others worthwhile (without DDs, unless someone has a good solution for these)? I had a quick look earlier and Principality BS stood out in that it allows accounts to be opened & operated online with double the "normal" limit, £500 @ 2% - according to Moneyfacts, not investigated any further as yet.
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littleoldlady
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Running down all platforms due to age
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Post by littleoldlady on Jun 23, 2019 15:23:19 GMT
Lloyds Club allow two accounts, if one is in joint names, with 2xDDs (which is a bit of a faff, any easy DD now after Tesco?), which allows the free 6x cinema tickets per year Any others worthwhile (without DDs, unless someone has a good solution for these)? Some charities, eg Cancer Research will allow a DD of £1 per month
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r00lish67
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Post by r00lish67 on Jun 23, 2019 15:24:50 GMT
A couple of years ago I had five of the (online) Virgin regular savers on the go at once, new issues would appear every two months or so IIRC. It's worth pointing out that those with a Club Lloyds monthly saver @ 2.5% can also open a monthly saver @ 2%, every little helps. As regular savers lock up (an increasing amount of) your cash anyway, why not just open 2%+ 1 year fixes now and again. No faffing with standing orders and caps then. I've even gone "all out" with my term tolerance recently and opened a 2.3% Atom bank 2-year fix, now at 2.23% i think. ( I know, I know..I play by my own rules. Chicks dig it.)
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Post by dan1 on Jun 23, 2019 16:06:45 GMT
As regular savers lock up (an increasing amount of) your cash anyway, why not just open 2%+ 1 year fixes now and again. No faffing with standing orders and caps then. I've even gone "all out" with my term tolerance recently and opened a 2.3% Atom bank 2-year fix, now at 2.23% i think. ( I know, I know..I play by my own rules. Chicks dig it.) That's the point, they don't lock up your cash. I think they're all instant access, that access may mean closure of the account and/or a reduced rate but they're still instant access. Good for squirreling away that emergency fund, especially as they're spread across multiple providers (you know, you have your emergency fund with a bank, which decides to lock you out for a period due to fraud checks or whatever), or that day when stocks crash and you decide to pile in (rebalance of course, I'm a passive investor, ha!)
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Post by df on Jun 23, 2019 21:37:56 GMT
For those who are interested in regular savers. Virgin is regularly releasing new issues. It is worth checking at the end of each month. I wasn't really on the ball with this. I had issue 12 (matures next month) then noticed that there is issue 16, went to the branch to open it and had an informal advice to check Virgin website monthly as they are releasing new issues from time to time but they don't send any notifications to existing customers. So I've checked at he end of May and now also have issue 17. It's 3% and the usual £250 per month allowance. The downside is that you have to go to the branch to open it (ancient building society style with pass book). Works for me as I live only 2 miles away from Virgin branch, but no good for those who hasn't. A couple of years ago I had five of the (online) Virgin regular savers on the go at once, new issues would appear every two months or so IIRC. It's worth pointing out that those with a Club Lloyds monthly saver @ 2.5% can also open a monthly saver @ 2%, every little helps. I have both @2.5%. The only difference is the allowance for "club" is £400. My "none-club" matures in October - so if it is 2% now I'd be better off relocating return to Raisin's 1 year bond. The only 2% reg saver I still have is with TSB and I don't think I will be renewing it when it matures.
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Post by df on Jun 23, 2019 21:50:20 GMT
A couple of years ago I had five of the (online) Virgin regular savers on the go at once, new issues would appear every two months or so IIRC. It's worth pointing out that those with a Club Lloyds monthly saver @ 2.5% can also open a monthly saver @ 2%, every little helps. Also Halifax and BOS under Lloyds Banking Group also allow 1x 2%RS each BOS have Vantage 1.5%, but requires 2xDD, so can get that with Marcus (or the like) without DDs TSB 2% RS The Virgin RSs seem to only be open in branch (which is not convenient unless nearby). But noted that it seems you can have several ongoing with each issue Lloyds Club allow two accounts, if one is in joint names, with 2xDDs (which is a bit of a faff, any easy DD now after Tesco?), which allows the free 6x cinema tickets per year Yorkshire Building Society has 2.5% RS, but annoyingly only postal application Any others worthwhile (without DDs, unless someone has a good solution for these)? Apart from the obvious. Post Office, Birmingham Midshires and RateSetter. I also use road tax for M&S - once in 13 months is eligible. I used one of my BoS's for switching to M&S and keep the other two going in case switching bonus scheme will become a trend again.
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r00lish67
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Post by r00lish67 on Jun 24, 2019 7:23:20 GMT
I guess I wasn't alone in taking advantage of this offer just over a year ago. I invested £1k in a 1 year fixed term at 2.00% to gain the £50 cashback. Anyway, the anniversary of my deposit was on 12th June but the fixed term only began on 15th yet it matured on 17th and I've just been told it can take up to 4 business days to hit my Raisin account, i.e. 21st June. Assuming the transfer back to my current account is done by faster payments my cash will have been earning no interest for 9 days in this age of digital banking and faster payments. If the transfer is done by BACS then that 9 days will probably turn into 13/14 days! They won't be seeing anymore of my cash, unless there's more cashback Just to further add re: Raisin (as they decided to proclaim this to me again by e-mail this morning) they've also recently changed their refer-a-friend scheme from a quite reasonable £50 each for a £5k savings account (1%) to a derisory £25 for a £25,000 savings account (0.1%).
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Post by dan1 on Jun 24, 2019 7:46:03 GMT
I guess I wasn't alone in taking advantage of this offer just over a year ago. I invested £1k in a 1 year fixed term at 2.00% to gain the £50 cashback. Anyway, the anniversary of my deposit was on 12th June but the fixed term only began on 15th yet it matured on 17th and I've just been told it can take up to 4 business days to hit my Raisin account, i.e. 21st June. Assuming the transfer back to my current account is done by faster payments my cash will have been earning no interest for 9 days in this age of digital banking and faster payments. If the transfer is done by BACS then that 9 days will probably turn into 13/14 days! They won't be seeing anymore of my cash, unless there's more cashback Just to further add re: Raisin (as they decided to proclaim this to me again by e-mail this morning) they've also recently changed their refer-a-friend scheme from a quite reasonable £50 each for a £5k savings account (1%) to a derisory £25 for a £25,000 savings account (0.1%). Maybe the friends complained at not being able to access their money after expiry in a timely manner🙄
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star dust
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Post by star dust on Oct 9, 2019 11:28:57 GMT
Currently for me it's whichever the highest rate easy-access saver is (i.e. Marcus at 1.5%). I also have the FD Regular Saver at 5%, and a nationwide one which is maturing soon and ha been closed for new accounts anyway.
Only other thing is the Bank switching bonuses - HSBC and Natwest/RBS both have nice big ones at the moment.
For those who are interested in regular savers. Virgin is regularly releasing new issues. It is worth checking at the end of each month. I wasn't really on the ball with this. I had issue 12 (matures next month) then noticed that there is issue 16, went to the branch to open it and had an informal advice to check Virgin website monthly as they are releasing new issues from time to time but they don't send any notifications to existing customers. So I've checked at he end of May and now also have issue 17. It's 3% and the usual £250 per month allowance. The downside is that you have to go to the branch to open it (ancient building society style with pass book). Works for me as I live only 2 miles away from Virgin branch, but no good for those who hasn't. Given that both HSBC and FD have reduced their regular saver rates to 2.75% for new accounts, I actually went a bit out of my way to open a Virgin 3% one in branch the other day. As usual my timing was off as they’d only just launched issue 19, but if issue 20 is at the same rate if/when it launches I’ll be opening another.
In Edit: I think that leaves M&S as the only 5% regular saver left, although I guess that may not last long and probably not until my current one expires.
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Post by df on Oct 9, 2019 22:05:39 GMT
For those who are interested in regular savers. Virgin is regularly releasing new issues. It is worth checking at the end of each month. I wasn't really on the ball with this. I had issue 12 (matures next month) then noticed that there is issue 16, went to the branch to open it and had an informal advice to check Virgin website monthly as they are releasing new issues from time to time but they don't send any notifications to existing customers. So I've checked at he end of May and now also have issue 17. It's 3% and the usual £250 per month allowance. The downside is that you have to go to the branch to open it (ancient building society style with pass book). Works for me as I live only 2 miles away from Virgin branch, but no good for those who hasn't. Given that both HSBC and FD have reduced their regular saver rates to 2.75% for new accounts, I actually went a bit out of my way to open a Virgin 3% one in branch the other day. As usual my timing was off as they’d only just launched issue 19, but if issue 20 is at the same rate if/when it launches I’ll be opening another.
In Edit: I think that leaves M&S as the only 5% regular saver left, although I guess that may not last long and probably not until my current one expires.
Thank you for bad news I didn't know this. Both, my FD and HSBC, will mature next month. I will be renewing @2.75 - still a better offer than most reg savers currently on the market. Yes, this is correct - the only regular saver that pays 5% left is M&S. My guess is the same - it will very soon match the other two. This will leave Virgin to be the top paying reg saver. Speak of the devil, I have an appointment at 9.30am tomorrow for issue 19 I hope they will stretch to issue 20 at the same rate... It's tighter than ever in saving world. In recent months the only good news was Al Rayan instant access at 1.6% - everything else is going down. EDIT: Not only Virgin, Saffron is also offering 3% reg saver. It's branch only, but existing customers can open it by post.
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Post by Ace on Oct 9, 2019 23:14:30 GMT
Given that both HSBC and FD have reduced their regular saver rates to 2.75% for new accounts, I actually went a bit out of my way to open a Virgin 3% one in branch the other day. As usual my timing was off as they’d only just launched issue 19, but if issue 20 is at the same rate if/when it launches I’ll be opening another.
In Edit: I think that leaves M&S as the only 5% regular saver left, although I guess that may not last long and probably not until my current one expires.
Thank you for bad news I didn't know this. Both, my FD and HSBC, will mature next month. I will be renewing @2.75 - still a better offer than most reg savers currently on the market. Yes, this is correct - the only regular saver that pays 5% left is M&S. My guess is the same - it will very soon match the other two. This will leave Virgin to be the top paying reg saver. Speak of the devil, I have an appointment at 9.30am tomorrow for issue 19 I hope they will stretch to issue 20 at the same rate... It's tighter than ever in saving world. In recent months the only good news was Al Rayan instant access at 1.6% - everything else is going down. EDIT: Not only Virgin, Saffron is also offering 3% reg saver. It's branch only, but existing customers can open it by post. I just looked at the virgin regular savings account and decided it wasn't worth the effort for me. I appreciate the 'look after the pennies...' attitude, but these don't really work for me. In a year, if I save the max allowed, it would only yield about £25 more than the 1.5% accounts that don't have the restrictions. When I factor in travelling to a branch to deal with it I might even end up worse off. Also, being heavily involved with probate at the moment, I wouldn't want to burden my executors with having to process lots of tiny accounts. If they used a solicitor it would likely cost far more than any interest I might earn. Cheerful thought! (Note to self: I must try harder to reduce the number of P2P accounts I'm using. I bet they'd be a solicitor's dream for probate 💰) Still, each to their own, and I do appreciate the info to keep me aware of the latest best rates .
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star dust
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Post by star dust on Oct 9, 2019 23:21:11 GMT
Speak of the devil, I have an appointment at 9.30am tomorrow for issue 19 I hope they will stretch to issue 20 at the same rate... Yeah talk about old hat, an appointment It never even occurred to me, I just rocked up with some ID and asked to open the account only to be informed they were fully booked up until the end of the following week – luckily they said they’d squeeze me in after the next appointment if I waited, which I did. I got the takeover the wrong way around too, it’s not Virgin Money taking over Clydesdale & Yorkshire, they’ve bought the Virgin Money brand, and presumably the branch outlets too.
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