What to do with cash when you are between selling and buying?

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

we had a few weeks last time we moved

we asked the solicitor to keep it for us

a few months is a bit different though i suppose

speak to your solicitor, surely he will have come across this before

are you moving pruni? (obviously!)

pruni - you got internet savings?

nationwides one is 4.24% net, instant access.

i will be in the same position with 98k equity and it will earn me about £344 per month - after tax

you have to open a bank account with them though

if you want to e mail me re this my email is margo1974 @ hotmail.co.uk

We put our money into a high interest 60 day notice account with the Halifax as we already had an ordinary account with them. They had quite reasonable rates at the time, but I wouldn't recommend them now as their rates are not good at all.

If you fancy a bit of a gamble you could put up to £10,000 into premium bonds you will still get the initial investment back even if you don't win anything, you have to give notice when you want your money back (1 month I think).

Have a look for savings accounts on moneysupermarket.com and pick then one with the best interest rate and a suitable notice period.

Good alternative idea Bran, but she could could up to £30,000 per person into premium bonds now.

pruni

best advice would be to keep easy access to your money as you never know how quickly you will need it, i would use either ice bank or ing and do online, you can google them for their details. premium bonds can give a steady return but to do so should be invested for longer than 1 year unless you got lucky

actually, the alliance and leicester looks a good one, especially as the interest is paid every month.

I think i will find out more

Pruni, are you a non taxpayer? If so you might be able to receive your interest gross instead of receiving it net of tax, that will help. If you are, contact the bank etc and they will tell you what to do.

Message withdrawn

If in joint names tax liability will be split - so half interest taxed at whatever rate he pays and the other half not taxed as you don't pay tax. Unless of course the half interest you receive is so huge as to take you over your allowance and then you'd have to pay tax.

I'm in a similar situation actually, and I was toyong with the idea of having all of it in my name as I am a basic rate tax payer and dh a higher rate payer. Effectively he will give me x thousand. I THINK this is legitimate - anyone confirm?

i think you have to pay the tax on a joint account at source ie they deduct it straight away and the non taxpayer would the claim it back at end of tax year. if however you invested in an account in your name only you can sign a form so that no tax is deducted. this may be best option for you

titchy, spouses can pass money to each other without any tax problems

Swanseadaddy is right, open an account in your name only Pruni, put the money in that account and then sign a form supplied by the bank or whoever and the interest will be paid gross.
Of course thereafter you may wish to leave your family and the country and enjoy a well deserved break in Barbados with your new found wealth!

we were in a similar position - put £3000 into a cash isa each (if you havn't already used this year's allowance), put rest into easy access account. We used ING but there may be better rates. If one of you is a non-taxpayer put the money in your name, (if you trust each other not to run off to Rio LOL), and get the interest tax free. Also be aware that it can take several days to move money around, so get organised before exchange (for your deposit) and completion (for the balance).

One word of caution -- having a large amount of money in your account makes you a tempting target for fraud, as most people with loads of cash are older and thus harder for a younger person to plausibly impersonate, iyswim. A friend was in exactly your position, renting between selling and buying, and they were the victims of a complex fraud involving the complicity of members of the bank's staff. Better not name the bank involved, but it was a main high street bank. Six figure sums were removed from their account. The fraudsters had all their personal details, including passport numbers, telephone numbers, right down the schools attended by their dc.

So if you do have a large amount stashed somewhere, make sure you keep a very very close eye on it, and take exceptional care with your personal details.

With the dollar at an all time low buy dollars and hold till it goes down.

Message withdrawn

We had the loot in an ING internet account in DH's sole name . We both pay the same rate of tax though.

You might be able to get your solicitor to put the money on deposit for you. We do this for our clients but the terms are fairly inflexible and you need a lot of money before you get a decent rate.

You have to hold premium bonds for a whole month after the month you buy them before they are eligble for a prize; but then the winnings are tax free. If you will only be between houses for a little while I wouldn't bother, but you might find it takes longer to find the new house than you think!

They had £50,000 taken out on a banker's draft. Once they were warned, they moved the lot. The subsequent investigation showed that they'd moved it the day before the fraudsters were planning to go in and clean out the rest, which ran to well over half a million.

They got the money back, as it was clearly the bank's negligence in failing to check the details properly. But they were lastingly freaked out by the amount of personal information the fraudsters had amassed on them, including passports in both their names and details of their lives to the Nth degree.

I occasionally deal professionally with cases like this (not my friends', obviously) and would also suggest being v. careful and splitting large sums up between institutions.

I wouldn't reccommend that your solicitor holds it on deposit. We used to open client accounts for our local solicitor and it was usually the lowest paying instant access account. If you control it then you will try to get the best interest.

Pruni - have you exchanged yet? This is a thick question but the 5-10% deposit that the buyers pay to the solicitors on exchange, does that get forwarded to the vendor before completion?

The fraud issue - don't be scared, but just be aware it can happen. It's not a regular occurance (imo, you're more likely to be a victim of card cloning). I don't know the amount you're investing, but bank workers usually deal with large amounts (£100k+) to invest and transfer daily. It's just numbers to most of them, or a sales opportunity!

Have a look at moneysupermarket.com or moneyfacts.co.uk, open the account in the non tax payers name, fill in an R85 form to have the interest paid gross, and then ask the bank/building society to let your dh have authority to operate the account, so he too can skip the country if he wants. Some banks/building soc's rates increase the more money you put in, eg, over £25K, over £50K, over £100K. Anglo Irish, Ice, HSBC, Principality from memory have decentish rates at the moment - 5.5% gross +. Just be aware that sometimes these rates are internet only, and sometimes money can take up to 10 working days or 2 weeks to clear in and out of the account - and will have no interest paid on them during this time.