Savings Help

[welshjon81]

Hi all, I'm not a usual poster in Finance so I hope you don't mind me asking for some advice?

I'm not great with money. I'm ok at saving but I'm useless as to know where to put said savings. I currently bank with Santander and my savings go into their edge saver where they pay 5-6%ish on anything up to 4K. Trouble is, I have a lot more in there than that and I add to it every month. I've just been lazy with it.

Can anyone a little more savvy than I, suggest what to do with the extra or recommend a different bank with better options? Ideally id like to make at least 5% on my savings with as little hassle as possible. I'm not entirely adverse to locking it away for a set time but as I have two young children, I'm a bit wary as you never know what's around the corner.

I've had a look online but there are so many options and banks that I haven't even heard of that I am just looking for some recommendations.

Apologies if I come across as a financial retard but that's because I am!

Thanks a lot in advance!

[lizardbrain]

Marcus or something like HL active saver if you want to split between providers

[alscar]

Have a look at the likes of the MSE website under Banks and Savings.
Given recent BOE reduction you may struggle to get 5% but using a combination of either Fixed rate or notice access accounts should be able to maximise what is available.
Obviously depends on what amount you have to play with.

[deggles]

Assuming you haven't already used your ISA allowance, find the best paying instant access Cash ISA on one of the comparison sites and use that

[ferret50]

Why limit to cash savings?

There are lots of investment tools out there, keep between three and six months income handy as interest earning cash and stuff the rest into a stocks and shares ISA.
You can either self select your shocks and stares or use a platform that selects them for you.

[welshjon81]

ferret50 said:

Why limit to cash savings?

There are lots of investment tools out there, keep between three and six months income handy as interest earning cash and stuff the rest into a stocks and shares ISA.
You can either self select your shocks and stares or use a platform that selects them for you.

This is exactly what I did yesterday after a bit of research. I didn't realise my bank (Santander) had a stocks and shares ISA account available.

Just going to stick 10k in as a lump sum with a direct debit of £200 a month to keep it ticking over and just forget about it.

Any other savings into the 5% (4K limit) saver, and a good chunk into my pension.

I don't quite earn 50k a year and have two children, so that's about all I can afford to put away for now.

Is that a good plan? Or are there better options?

Thanks for your help chaps, really appreciate it.

[superpp]

welshjon81 said:

This is exactly what I did yesterday after a bit of research. I didn't realise my bank (Santander) had a stocks and shares ISA account available.

Just going to stick 10k in as a lump sum with a direct debit of £200 a month to keep it ticking over and just forget about it.

Any other savings into the 5% (4K limit) saver, and a good chunk into my pension.

I don't quite earn 50k a year and have two children, so that's about all I can afford to put away for now.

Is that a good plan? Or are there better options?

Thanks for your help chaps, really appreciate it.

Plan is OK, but I would compare the Santander rates against someone like InvestEngine.
Fees make a difference over time and why pay them if you don't need to.
Also consider dropping the 10K in over a few month rather than a one time deposit (dollar cost averaging).

[C69]

welshjon81 said:

This is exactly what I did yesterday after a bit of research. I didn't realise my bank (Santander) had a stocks and shares ISA account available.

Just going to stick 10k in as a lump sum with a direct debit of £200 a month to keep it ticking over and just forget about it.

Any other savings into the 5% (4K limit) saver, and a good chunk into my pension.

I don't quite earn 50k a year and have two children, so that's about all I can afford to put away for now.

Is that a good plan? Or are there better options?

Thanks for your help chaps, really appreciate it.

So you'll have £4k in cash savings, and £10k in a S&S ISA? If so, will £4k be enough as a low-risk, instant-access source of cash in an emergency?

The Santander S&S ISA appears to charge a platform fee of 0.35% for holdings up to £50k. That's not outrageous, but I'd first check what funds you can hold on the platform, and what their ongoing charges are. That way, you'll know what the total cost is going to be. You might find that you can get better value elsewhere.

[welshjon81]

C69 said:

welshjon81 said:

This is exactly what I did yesterday after a bit of research. I didn't realise my bank (Santander) had a stocks and shares ISA account available.

Just going to stick 10k in as a lump sum with a direct debit of £200 a month to keep it ticking over and just forget about it.

Any other savings into the 5% (4K limit) saver, and a good chunk into my pension.

I don't quite earn 50k a year and have two children, so that's about all I can afford to put away for now.

Is that a good plan? Or are there better options?

Thanks for your help chaps, really appreciate it.

So you'll have £4k in cash savings, and £10k in a S&S ISA? If so, will £4k be enough as a low-risk, instant-access source of cash in an emergency?

The Santander S&S ISA appears to charge a platform fee of 0.35% for holdings up to £50k. That's not outrageous, but I'd first check what funds you can hold on the platform, and what their ongoing charges are. That way, you'll know what the total cost is going to be. You might find that you can get better value elsewhere.

Yeah, 4K should be enough. Can't see why I would need more, the wife has decent savings too (more than me). You never really know though, I suppose but I am happy with that.

Thanks for the advice, I shall look into charges.

[osterbo]

Guiding your priorities using the FlowChart: https://ukpersonal.finance/flowchart/ wouldn't be a bad step.

Essentially: make sure you have a base level of available liquidity before making longer term investments.