Premium bond alternative?

[8dpwoah]

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of premium bonds. Just wanting to see if there's another route for me.

I will be being made redundant AND receiving a lump sum of SMP in September. This has got to last me til May at least so I plan to do what I did last time which is to add it all to my premium bonds and 'pay' myself a fixed monthly sum back into my current account. I did this last time with my savings to supplement my maternity pay so I know it's a mechanism that works for me.

BUT of this money there will be about £10,000 'spare' if you like, depending on how my savings go between now and then. This money will go towards our next house move assuming no major financial emergencies before then. I am quite happy to leave it all in premium bonds but is there something 'better' that it could sit in for 12-18 months that is easy, but not necessarily instant access and low risk?

I wondered about seeing what the monthly saver accounts might be like by Autumn, I use one now to save for Christmas but it might be a bit of a faff to manage with not much extra reward at the end of it.

Have a look into a short term bond fund, like this one from Vanguard

U.K. Short-Term Investment Grade Bond Index Fund - Accumulation

The risk would be very low, but you're still not going to make a huge amount of interest. It is a point of comparison you can add to the mix.

If your current account isn't with Halifax and you can switch it and pay £1500 in a month (can just move money around for this back and forth) and keep a 5000 balance you get 5 pounds a month plus 100 for switching. Moneysavingexpert is good for accounts details.

Have you maxed out your ISA allowance? I recommend Nutmeg for stocks and shares ISAs. Been using them for four years now and they get a good return which I’m very pleased with.

Thanks all. Have got about £10 in an ISA from years ago so that I've stayed as a customer for a certain building society 😂 but other than that haven't used any at all, I've just used premium bonds to build up small pots for life events and then run them back down, and the regular saver linked to my current account for a specific target.

Never had a lump sum to play with but I know it's not really a big amount in the grand scheme.
A new 'pay myself' current account sounds like an easy way to make a few quid too 🤔