Savers over the age of 65 were given a “beacon of light” in an otherwise bleak savings landscape last week when pensioner bonds, which pay up to 4% interest, went on sale. Such was the excitement at the launch of the bonds that the NS&I website crashed under the pressure within an hour of the bonds launching (it was back up at the time of writing).
Other savers were also given some good news when it was announced last Tuesday that inflation had hit a 15-year low.
But although the value of savers’ money may not be being eroded as quickly as it was, almost 30% of savings accounts in the UK are not paying enough interest to beat it according to website savingschampion.co.uk. One of the worst pays a pathetic 0.06% interest and still expects you to give 10 days’ notice to get your money out (see “The ones to switch out of now” below).
So, if you don’t want to risk your money on the stock market where do you go for the best returns – and is it worth the bother?
If you are over 65
If you want to achieve the highest return on your money over a set period of time grab one (or two) of the pensioner bonds while you can.
“They are the only beacon of light for savers,” says Susan Hannums of savingschampion.co.uk. “The rates are so competitive in the current market that when they were announced we thought the NS&I had made a mistake.”
Savers aged 65 and over can access a three-year savings bond paying 4%, and a one-year version paying 2.8%. Pensioners will be able to put up to £10,000 into each bond “per person per issue of each term”. They will be able to invest singly, or jointly with one other person aged 65-plus. In other words pensioners will be able to stash away up to £20,000 each, or up to £40,000 for a couple.
However you can’t take monthly income from the bonds and they cannot be held in an Isa, meaning the interest is subject to tax.
While NS&I was quick to say last week that the bonds would be around for “months rather than weeks” this looks unlikely given the demand. So get in there quick.
Savers should apply for the bonds online at www.nsandi.com, by phone on 0500 500 000 or by post to NS&I, Glasgow, G58 1AD.
If you are under 65 and have a lump sum of less than £5,000
Current accounts now pay up to 5% interest, but only on limited balances and they come with a number of other terms and conditions that need to be scrutinised. Neverthless they are worth the hassle of applying.
“Current accounts are now pseudo-savings accounts,” says Hannums. “If you have a smaller amount to invest this is undoubtedly where you will now be better off.”
Of the current accounts paying high credit interest, TSB and Nationwide pay the most. TSB pays 5% on balances up to £2,000, while Nationwide’s FlexDirect pays the same on balances up to £2,500 but only for the first year. Both require a minimum monthly deposit of £500.
Lloyds Bank offers up to 4% for balances of between £4,000 and £5,000 in its Club account – but you will have to pay in at least £1,500 a month.
Santander’s 123 account pays 1% on balances between £1,000 and £2,000; 2% between £2,000 and £3,000; and 3% between £3,000 and £20,000. You can earn up to 3% cashback on a variety of household bills.
If you want to save regular amounts of up to £250 a month
Regular savings accounts pay the highest interest rates but on small amounts. Typically you pay in between £25 and £250 a month for a return of up to 6%. You have no access to the money within that year and then the provider will usually transfer the money into a very low interest rate account after 12 months.
“Savers wanting to build a steady nest egg over the short term would be wise to consider regular savings accounts because they offer higher interest rates,” says Rachel Springall of price comparison website moneyfacts.co.uk. “You must abide by the account rules or risk losing the interest.”
The best regular savers are tied to current accounts and include 6% from First Direct, HSBC and M&S Bank.
“Because the high interest is always on small amounts, if you are not a starter saver there are probably better options,” says Hannums.
If you have more than £5,000
If you have already invested money into a current account and have some left over you may want to look at a one or all of the following, depending on how much you have to save.
First stop: Isas. Since July last year, savers have been allowed to stash up to £15,000 in an Isa (or Nisa as they are sometimes now known). “Although rates are poor now, any money in them is tax free for life,” says Hannums. She says the following offer some of the best rates.
■ If you are prepared to give 120 days’ notice: Hinckley & Rugby building society has a notice Isa paying 1.6% on a minimum investment of £500. The account does not accept transfers in of existing Isa money.
■ If you are prepared to give 90 days’ notice: the Furness building society pays 1.6% on balances over £9,000 and 1.5% on balances over £3,000. Transfers in are allowed.
■ For instant access, NS&I pays 1.5% on a minimum of £1. No transfers in allowed.
If you are happy to tie your money up for at least a year, you can get better rates on fixed-rate Isas and even better on fixed-rate bonds outside of an Isa. Whether you opt for the Isa-able accounts partly depends on whether you feel comfortable investing with some of the newer challenger banks.
The best fixed-rate bonds are:
■ The Punjab bank pays 2%, 2.3% and 2.55% on fixed-rate bonds of one, two and three years respectively, while Vanquis bank pays 3.02% on a five-year bond.
The best bets for fixed-rate Isas are:
■ Virgin Money, which pays 1.7%, 2.15% and 2.5% on one, three and five-year bonds respectively. For a two-year bond, the Post Office tops the table with a 1.95% interest rate.
If you want to try something different ... with a bit of risk
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders, such as Zopa, RateSetter and Funding Circle act as middlemen by matching people who have some money to invest with people or small businesses who want to borrow it.
The way many of the websites now operate means that investing money through them can seem similar to putting money in a normal fixed-rate savings account – but the returns are much higher at a typical 4% to 6% for between three and five years.
The returns are quoted gross and you are responsible for paying the tax. They are not yet able to be held within an Isa – although the Treasury has recently consulted on changing this and is expected to announce its findings soon.
Several sites have a scheme to cover losses if a borrower defaults on the loan, but your money is not safeguarded by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the provider were to go bust.
Grace Vidler, a 27-year-old nurse from London, invested several thousand pounds with Zopa at the end of last year after her dad suggested it. “I liked the idea of lending money to other people and being able to see where that money is going,” she says.
“Obviously a massive part of the attraction was also the interest rate which, at 5%, is much higher than I could get from a savings account.”
The ones to switch out of now
Some savings accounts are truly abysmal. With the help of website savingschampion.com we have picked our top three offenders.
TSB Branch 10 account. This was available to Cheltenham & Gloucester customers before the building society became part of Lloyds Bank, and more recently, TSB. It pays 0.06% interest on balances between £1,000 and £3m. You have to give 10 days’ notice to access your money.
Remember those Arthur Daley ads from the 1980s where George Cole, playing Daley, promised the Leeds building society Liquid Gold account would be a ‘nice little earner’? Well that account now belongs to the Halifax and the 60 Day Gold version pays just 0.10% interest and requires you to give two months’ notice to get your money out. In a bizarre move, Halifax recently increased the interest on this from 0.05%. Not really a reason to stay.
First Direct may be the champion of customer service but its Easy Access Savings Account, still open for new business, pays 0.05% interest on balances up to £10m. Steer clear.
