Jump to content

Recommended Posts

we're in a position where we are some way to saving money for a deposit on a house, a fortunate position I know. I'm an avid follower of Money Saving Expert and currently have the Santander 123 Accounts. After reading the blog about it on MSE it still seems the best option, when considering bank/savings accounts.


It now seems that the stock market is more lucrative, but I can't quite make my peace with the risk.


Is anyone else in this boat? Where are you putting your money?

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/118997-where-to-save-money/
Share on other sites

As you're saving for something specific (deposit) you would be mad to put it in shares, so I think you're stuck with low rates.


Investments & Savings are different things, really.


I thinks savings accounts if you have spare cash are crap and then you should be thinking about investment BUT you are not you are saving for a deposit...stay with poor returns in a savings account

I would say premium bonds. The amount you "lose" in interest is so tiny compared to the amount you could win. My husband is self employed and saves a large amount every year to pay his tax. But the interest is miniscule, whatever account we put it in, and we only have the money for a maximum of 12 months. So premium bonds it is for us from now on.

DovertheRoad Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I've had ?1000 of premium bonds since birth in

> 1975...quite a lot of money back then....but not

> won any return on that in 41 years. However if id

> invested that in a bog standard low fee FTSE

> tracker....


That's extraordinarily unlucky, with normal luck you should have won between one and two grand by now - I've had ?50 worth since birth in 1968 and won ?300 with them (two separate prizes). Might be worth going on the Premium Bond website and checking your numbers against the unclaimed prizes, if at some point a change of address hasn't been notified then they'll still be holding your prize for you.

Sadly I've done just that rendel. I just checked them for the first time in 20 years. Still perhaps ?1m is due my way next month. At least it's a fun form of saving.


Back to the OP and I genuinely think keeping cash in a regular savings acct is a bad idea unless you are massively risk averse. You'll need to make 3% annually just to beat inflation and keep level. We have a real risk of negative interest rates (your bank charges you to hold yor savings) and house prices are still likely to rise by say 3% pa with continued cheap mortgages.


Equally there are no easy, fast gains in equities unless you have some kind of edge over the markets or are basically gambling.


So what to do? If you can loosen your risk profile slightly I would utilise ISAs to the full and perhaps get an online stocks and shares isa with someone like Hargreaves Landsdowne. Then spread your savings across a mix of low cost tracker funds, perhaps some guilts and keep some in cash (plenty cash only ISAs available). And I would take a long term view of min 5 years. Historically this strategy will beat savings accounts per that timeframe by some margin.

Yes I understand that. If they want a safe place to chuck in a few hundred quid a month they save them a savings account is the only option. But don't expect them to grow on deposit...they'll shrink in real terms and it's important the OP is aware of that.


I was assuming they'd want a modicum of growth....which involves taking some risk.

The Lloyd's monthly saver, is still decent. The rate recently dropped from 4% to 3% gross but in the current environment that's still decent. The max you can keep in there is 5k I think but between you and your partner that's an additional 10k and a decent gross interest rate. Also, for basic rate tax payers, the rules on tax of interest are changing (favorably) so might be better than many saving ISA's out there if either of you pay the basic rate of tax.


Trying to find a sensible place for savings in the current economic environment is a challenge even for professional investors so I'd say stick to what you are doing until you buy a place and then move towards longer term investing strategy incorporating more risk.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Honestly, the squirrels are not a problem now.  They only eat what has dropped.  The feeders I have are squirrel proof anyway from pre-cage times.  I have never seen rats in the garden, and even when I didn't have the cage.  I most certainly would have noticed them.  I do have a little family of mice which I have zero problem about.  If they stay outside, that's fine with me.  Plus, local cats keep that population down.  There are rats everywhere in London, there is plenty of food rubbish out in the street to keep them happy.  So, I guess you could fit extra bars to the cage if you wanted to, but then you run the risk of the birds not getting in.  They like to be able to fly in and out easily, which they do.   
    • Ahh, the old "it's only three days" chestnut.  I do hope you realise the big metal walls, stages, tents, toilets, lighting, sound equipment, refreshments, concessions etc don't just magically appear & disappear overnight? You know it all has to be transported in & erected, constructed? And that when stuff is constructed, like on a construction site, it's quite noisy & distracting? Banging, crashing, shouting, heavy plant moving around - beep beep beep reversing signals, engines revving - pneumatic tools? For 8 to 10 hours a day, every day? And that it tends to go on for two or three weeks before an event, and a week after when they take it all down again? I'm sure my boys' GCSE prep won't be affected by any of that, especially if we close the windows (before someone suggests that as a resolution). I'm sure it won't affect anyone at the Harris schools either, actually taking their exams with that background noise.
    • Thanks for the good discussion, this should be re-titled as a general thread about feeding the birds. @Penguin not really sure why you posted, most are aware that virtually all land in this country is managed, and has been for 100s of years, but there are many organisations, local and national government, that manage large areas of land that create appropriate habitats for British nature, including rewilding and reintroductions.  We can all do our bit even if this is not cutting your lawn, and certainly by not concreting over it.  (or plastic grass, urgh).   I have simply been stating that garden birds are semi domesticated, as perhaps the deer herds in Richmond Park, New Forest ponies, and even some foxes where we feed them.  Whoever it was who tried to get a cheap jibe in about Southwark and the Gala festival.  Why?  There is a whole thread on Gala for you to moan on.  Lots going on in Southwark https://www.southwark.gov.uk/culture-and-sport/parks-and-open-spaces/ecology-and-wildlife I've talked about green sqwaky things before, if it was legal I'd happily use an air riffle, and I don't eat meat.  And grey squirrels too where I am encourage to dispatch them. Once a small group of starlings also got into the garden I constructed my own cage using starling proof netting, it worked for a year although I had to make a gap for the great spotted woodpecker to get in.  The squirrels got at it in the summer but sqwaky things still haven't come back, starlings recently returned.  I have a large batch of rubbish suet pellets so will let them eat them before reordering and replacing the netting. Didn't find an appropriately sized cage, the gaps in the mesh have to be large enough for finches etc, and the commercial ones were £££ The issue with bird feeders isn't just dirty ones, and I try to keep mine clean, but that sick birds congregate in close proximity with healthy birds.  The cataclysmic obliteration of the greenfinch population was mainly due to dirty feeders and birds feeding close to each other.  
    • Another recommendation for Niko - fitted me in the next day, simple fix rather than trying to upsell and a nice guy as well. Will use again
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...