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NS&I rates

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raybarrow
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NS&I rates

#324787

Postby raybarrow » July 9th, 2020, 10:09 am

Hi Folks,

When my Tesco internet saver drops from 1.21% to a miserly figure, 0.25% or thereabouts, in August, I need to find 'the next best thing'.

Looking a NS&I rates Income Bonds 1.15%, Direct Saver 1%, Direct ISA 0.90%. They look quite good at the moment. Are there any rate changes in the offing that current holders know about but potential customers don't? I was informed about the Tesco rate drop a months ago.

I have sort of asked this question before but have moved on. Mrs B and I have a Ford Money ISAs 1.25% just before they suspended new applicants and transferred previous year's ISA money into them, to the £85,000 FSCA figure, no 2020 new money. Are we still OK to open 2020 ISAs and put new 2020 money into them and/or transfer (if the ISA allows transfers) any other previous year's ISA money.

I'm undecided, as is everyone, where the payback this massive UK debt is going to hit. ISAs, Income Tax, National Insurance, VAT, Interest rates. But pay it back we will and probably our children and their children. Considering it was 2015 when we paid off debt to pay Compensation to Slave owners after the abolition of slavery.

Happy days,
Ray.

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Re: NS&I rates

#324797

Postby Loup321 » July 9th, 2020, 10:33 am

I am in a similar situation, with my bonus rate at the Post Office dropping next week to 0.01% (I think). I looked at Income Bonds and Direct Saver myself this morning.

I sort of gathered on various thread on TLF that NS&I keep rates competitive but not the best most of the time, but if the government needs money they make their rates the best. As the accounts you mention are all instant access, as long as you keep your eye on the ball does it matter if you have to change again soon? It's savings, not current accounts or credit cards, so no impact on your credit score and the time it takes to read around things and procrastinate is probably better spent switching.

I did notice that Income Bonds (with the slightly better rate) has minimum deposits and withdrawals of £500. The account I need is to be used for putting a regular amount in each month and drawing out as we need for clothes, presents, dancing lessons, eye tests, etc. Not every month has a £500 withdrawal. So I'm going to open a Direct Saver to keep under £500. If I need >£500 one month, take it directly from the Income Bonds. If I need <£500, take it from the Direct Saver, but if the Direct Saver doesn't have enough move £500 from the Income Bonds to the Direct Saver.

Right, time for me to stop procrastinating and do it.

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Re: NS&I rates

#324815

Postby didds » July 9th, 2020, 11:27 am

Not really an answer but I've recently cashed in all my/our ISAs and slung the lot in premium bonds. For now its too much hassle for us to tie our money up in varied vehicles that pay stuff all, may have some tie in ie not immediately available (not that weve any huge financial plans) . In theory we _could_ win a million though the odds are very low and im not unatrracted by the theory on the PB thread that in fact million quid winners are a fabrication to retain "interest".

Others mileage may vary obviously :-)

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Re: NS&I rates

#324827

Postby didds » July 9th, 2020, 12:29 pm

Back to the income bonds...

https://www.nsandi.com/income-bonds

Rate 1.15% gross/1.16% AER
Access No notice, no penalty
...
Suitable for savers who:
want a monthly income at a variable rate
want easy access to their money
have £500 or more to invest

Not for savers who:
are looking for guaranteed returns
want interest to build up so the investment grows in value



My query then would be

* "want interest to build up so the investment grows in value"
I'm assuming from that that the interest is paid to eg a bank account and not just added to the income bond. So is there anything to stop one from
just then topping the income bond up with the interest paid to the bank account? ie sporadic small top ups?

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Re: NS&I rates

#324828

Postby swill453 » July 9th, 2020, 12:33 pm

raybarrow wrote:Looking a NS&I rates Income Bonds 1.15%, Direct Saver 1%, Direct ISA 0.90%. They look quite good at the moment. Are there any rate changes in the offing that current holders know about but potential customers don't?

So a rate drop to 0.7% for the Income Bonds was announced, but then cancelled in April when the Chancellor decided he needed to attract savers to fund ... something.

Whether there's a danger of the cut coming back imminently? Who knows. Personally I doubt it in the very short term.

Scott.

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Re: NS&I rates

#324829

Postby swill453 » July 9th, 2020, 12:34 pm

didds wrote: I'm assuming from that that the interest is paid to eg a bank account and not just added to the income bond. So is there anything to stop one from
just then topping the income bond up with the interest paid to the bank account? ie sporadic small top ups?

I think the minimum top up is £500.

Scott.

Loup321
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Re: NS&I rates

#324839

Postby Loup321 » July 9th, 2020, 1:02 pm

Yes, minimum topup and minimum withdrawal on the Income Bonds is £500.

But coupled with a Direct Saver (which is only a bit lower interest rate anyway) it will probably work for me.

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Re: NS&I rates

#324862

Postby richlist » July 9th, 2020, 3:18 pm

Another benefit with NS&I is that it's not limited to the £85K guarantee......with NS&I it's unlimited and underwritten by the Treasury.

raybarrow
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Re: NS&I rates

#324877

Postby raybarrow » July 9th, 2020, 4:23 pm

Thanks Folks,

Interesting about no upper limit (re £85,000 guarantee). Hadn't picked up on that.

Cheers,
Ray.

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Re: NS&I rates

#325030

Postby AF62 » July 10th, 2020, 8:06 am

richlist wrote:Another benefit with NS&I is that it's not limited to the £85K guarantee......with NS&I it's unlimited and underwritten by the Treasury.


Can you conceive of a scenario where the £85k guarantee is needed but there is still a functioning government? It was irrelevant the last time there was a run on a bank and is it credible it would be any different in the future.

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Re: NS&I rates

#325032

Postby mutantpoodle » July 10th, 2020, 8:15 am

take care though
they currently taking 6 weeks to respond to applications due to 'unexpected workload and some odd staffing issues'

and when your letter gets to the top of the heap they seemingly dont liase with other N S and I divisons re signatures etc etc

so you asked to supply another signature.(witnessed)..and....back to bottom of the pile!


any rate reductions require 60 days notice......so once you are 'in' there is plenty time to find alternatives


though not easy!

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Re: NS&I rates

#325052

Postby Alaric » July 10th, 2020, 9:16 am

AF62 wrote:
Can you conceive of a scenario where the £85k guarantee is needed but there is still a functioning government?


A lot of money is placed with an under resourced organisation that proceeds to fall over, possibly due to fraud.

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Re: NS&I rates

#325064

Postby richlist » July 10th, 2020, 9:41 am

Alaric wrote:
AF62 wrote:
Can you conceive of a scenario where the £85k guarantee is needed but there is still a functioning government?


A lot of money is placed with an under resourced organisation that proceeds to fall over, possibly due to fraud.

For most of us it's comforting to know our money is safe and should there be a problem we get all of it back within 7 days.

Income bonds have an investment limit of, I think, £2 million........placing a very large sum in the account (or aggregating it with other ns&I products) would mean I'd prefer to know if was all 100% safe and underwritten by the Gov'.

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Re: NS&I rates

#325065

Postby richlist » July 10th, 2020, 9:43 am

mutantpoodle wrote:take care though
they currently taking 6 weeks to respond to applications due to 'unexpected workload and some odd staffing issues'

and when your letter gets to the top of the heap they seemingly dont liase with other N S and I divisons re signatures etc etc

so you asked to supply another signature.(witnessed)..and....back to bottom of the pile!


any rate reductions require 60 days notice......so once you are 'in' there is plenty time to find alternatives


though not easy!
I

That's not my experience. Just opened an income bond and they sorted it within 3 days......I didn't experience any delays whatsoever.

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Re: NS&I rates

#325070

Postby kiloran » July 10th, 2020, 9:50 am

richlist wrote:
mutantpoodle wrote:take care though
they currently taking 6 weeks to respond to applications due to 'unexpected workload and some odd staffing issues'

and when your letter gets to the top of the heap they seemingly dont liase with other N S and I divisons re signatures etc etc

so you asked to supply another signature.(witnessed)..and....back to bottom of the pile!


any rate reductions require 60 days notice......so once you are 'in' there is plenty time to find alternatives


though not easy!
I

That's not my experience. Just opened an income bond and they sorted it within 3 days......I didn't experience any delays whatsoever.

Probably depends if you already have an NS&I account, to which you are adding an Income Bond, or starting from square one.

--kiloran

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Re: NS&I rates

#325083

Postby richlist » July 10th, 2020, 10:07 am

Yes. Good point.

Loup321
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Re: NS&I rates

#325110

Postby Loup321 » July 10th, 2020, 10:52 am

I opened the Direct Saver yesterday via the website as a completely new customer (NEVER had an account with NSandI before). I deposited £1 by debit card, and got a couple of automated emails there and then. I got another two automated emails overnight saying the account was open. I assume that means it is open, and I can deposit as I wish, but I don't have time today to look (yeah, yeah, posting on TLF instead of working...)

I think the limit on the Income Bonds is £1 million, and the limit on Direct Saver is £2 million. I DON'T think it's possible to move money directly between the two accounts (as I had planned), with all transactions having to go via a nominated account. So basically you can only withdraw to one account (I assume you can change this if necessary), and it can take a couple of days to get the money in the current account.

Over the weekend I will be closing my Post Office Savings account, and putting the money into the Direct Saver. I'm still in two minds about whether the Income Bonds account with the fractionally higher interest rate is worth the agro of the deposit and withdrawal limits, and having to go back online two days apart if I want to move money between the two NSandI accounts.

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Re: NS&I rates

#325158

Postby AF62 » July 10th, 2020, 1:19 pm

Alaric wrote:
AF62 wrote:
Can you conceive of a scenario where the £85k guarantee is needed but there is still a functioning government?


A lot of money is placed with an under resourced organisation that proceeds to fall over, possibly due to fraud.


Even then, do you really think the government would not step in? They did with the Icelandic banks.

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Re: NS&I rates

#325178

Postby Bouleversee » July 10th, 2020, 2:26 pm

I thought I had submitted a post in this thread earlier today but it doesn't appear to be here. Was it deleted for some reason or just disappeared into the ether?

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Re: NS&I rates

#325182

Postby staffordian » July 10th, 2020, 2:32 pm

Bouleversee wrote:I thought I had submitted a post in this thread earlier today but it doesn't appear to be here. Was it deleted for some reason or just disappeared into the ether?

I had that yesterday.

I think that if someone else posts between you starting your post and submitting it, then when you hit the submit button, rather than actually submitting your post, it asks you to review if you still wish to, in the light of the new post. However this action is, IMHO barely made evident, so it is easy to assume you've posted when you haven't.

Even though I'm aware of this, it still sometimes fools me.


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