Savings rates

[BackforGood]

Just drawing on your collective wisdom - I've been on moneysupermarket but they are recommending all kinds of roundabout trickery and I've not got the time to be keeping an eye and moving money about all the time.

Does anyone know of a good old fashioned savings account, preferably paying more than 1% interest, that doesn't involve a "bonus for a year" - the like of which has once again led to my savings sitting there with 0.1% interest for the last few months
It's for about £8K with extra amounts going in each month, but they don't want it to be tied in as might need it within a year.

Thanks.

No such thing now. That's why you have to do all the trickery. Savers are dirt in this country.

that said, once the standing orders and direct debits if needed are set up, that's it. No extra work.

the Santander 123 account is the simplest for that sum, paying 3%. Needs 2 direct debits and a standing order from outside Santander. Fee of £2 a month but pay your council tax from it and the cashback on that will cover most of it.

you could do better with 2 Club Lloyds accounts - each takes £5k and pays 4%. Again each needs 2 direct debits and £1500 a month paid in - just move money round.

easy access savings accounts pay no more than 1.5%, well below inflation.

premium bonds have a prize fund which is currently 1.35% tax-free.

You might be lucky and get more, you might be unlucky and get less.

Some ISAs may pay more or the same. Virgin does. ISAs are also tax free.

Thanks both.
I already have a current account that pays me £5 a month, so I don't really want to open another one and start splitting direct debits, etc.,
You wouldn't think it was too much to ask to just have a simple savings a/c would you ?
Thanks for answering though.

fair dos - but your call if you don't want to take what is going. Your £8k will earn you about a tenner a month.

it isn't going to get better soon.

but thanks, PJ - a couple of possible ISAs. The money can be extracted at a cost if things do improve, although I'm losing hope.

Oh, right - I hadn't crunched the numbers...... thanks Special

Premium Bonds are rubbish since they reduced the rates but I don't know an answer. It seems like this government focuses everything on keeping rates down

There has just been a piece on BBC News that increasing numbers of older people are borrowing against their homes as they cannot live on their savings as rates are so low and I read an article this weekend that, in Japan where rates have been this low for decades, pensioners are committing crimes to go to prison as they cannot afford care homes!

Premium Bonds are never particularly good. The prize rate is manipulated to be somewhat similar to a savings account. The fact that the prizes are tax free makes them a better bargain for higher paid people. And of course you can live in hope of a big win, and you can always get your money out.

Much better than buying a lotto ticket. If you don't win a million, you can't return your ticket and get a refund.

You can put up to £15k in a tax free ISA...

Just a heads-up - Halifax have just stitched me up by changing my fixed term savings from 6% down to 4% with a year left on it. I was pretty when I got the letter, as I didn't think it was legal to offer something with a contract (afterall, I am not allowed to take the £ out early without incurring a fine) and then decide to change it because the economy isn't going quite the way you, as a large multimillion pound company, planned...
Still, as they well know, 4% is a good rate, but do check the small print.

indeed you can, but if you were to put £15k of your earnings into a pension fund, it would magically turn into £18,750 thanks to the tax rebate.

£18,750 plus growth is better than £15,000 plus growth.

I thought the OP mentioned needing access to the cash so pension wouldn't be an option ...

sorry, wrong thread.

NS & I's direct saver pays 1.1% a month, even that is better than premium bonds.

"1.1% a month"

A month?

I think you mean a year

Which is less than Premium Bonds, and also subject to tax.

Doing the 'trickery' that is recommended on MSE is very easy and doesn't long at all, we managed to do it, its just a case of setting up SO and the money moves around between accounts and is earning 5%! so worth spending half hour doing it.
Premium Bonds have worked well over the past year for us, earning just over 2.5%, so if you have money and don't mind taking the chance they are worth it, and you could win the 'big one' :)

If you're looking for great savings rates, try Peer-to-Peer lending.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, read up on it here :
www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/peer-to-peer-lending/

At Ratesetter for example, you can currently get interest of 6.1% per annum on 5 year savings, 4.7% pa on 3 years and 3.7% for 1 year.
Or you can invest for just a month at 2.3% if you want to trial it.

And by using this introductory link, you can also currently get £50 immediate cash back if you lend £1,000. (changes to £25 after 31/10/14).
www.ratesetter.com/Home/GetMember?ref=L$0B11714D06065E5E7A74

This means that if you invest £1,000 for 1 year, your return will be £37 interest and £50 cashback - the equivalent of an 8.7% return.
Not bad !
That beats the banks paltry 1% and 2% rates hands down.

You can invest in minutes directly from your debit card or online from your internet banking site.
Ratesetter is regulated by the FCA and runs a provision fund of nearly £9 million to cover any potential bad debts.

I'll admit, that I'll also benefit from cashback, if you choose to invest via this link.
However, at the moment it's a great opportunity.

Remember, you'll need to use the introductory link to qualify for the cashback deal.

Happy Saving.

it is under consideration here, but what you haven't said is that the money isn't protected by the government compensation scheme. As you note, there is a company scheme.

so it is definitely invest, not save.

with rates so desperate I am starting to consider this.