Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
I've never had to deal with this situation before. Rates have done nothing but drop or flatline for most of my adult life.
Low interest rates on savings
- Thread starter AnnO'Neemus
- Start date
I hate to state the obvious advice, but I suggest you phone and ask them!
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Depends your account is a fixed rate account for a fixed duration - eg one year, two years, five years (which tend to offer higher rates)
I had a similar problem with the Halifax - I had a five year 2% ISA back in 2015 and this morphed into a variable rate 0.01% ISA a coupe of years back - when everyone else was also offering crap rates anyway.
I suddenly noirce Halifax were doing one year 3.4% ISAs and two year 3.7% one. Incidentally Santander are also in this market with one year, 18 months and 2 year prodcuts up to 4.1%
The Santander ISAs you get the interest at the end of the term - the Halifax also offer monthly interest.
So I tried to upgrade my variable rate ISA online - spent an hour or more and only mamaged to get 2 extra empty accounts with zero balances - plus a printout of an ISA transfer form which I was told to take to the branch.
I therefore spent another 1¼ hours in the Halifax yesterday getting my ISA upgraded from 0.45% variable to 3.4% fixed.It took two Halifax "advisers" - one also hooked up to Halifax ISA HQ in Leeds by skype to get the job done.
Of course it is not in any bank's interest to allow savers to upgrade - and this has gone on for years - see this 2009 article
Warning on 'liquid gold' savings accounts
Millions of savers were last night told to move their money after a survey found 'premier' accounts that pay near-zero rates of interest
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
As I'm sure you know, most big companies now actively discourage trying to do things by phone as it costs them money. Their main way of discouraging you is to make it a miserable experience, in which you either can't talk to anyone for hours, or can only talk to someone so de-skilled that you wish you hadn't. It may come to that but I wanted to get the lay of the land first. Hope that's okay with you.
BristolEcho
Well-Known Member
Doubt it works the same way as with Utilities, but if this is the case you could ring them and say you've looked at different savings and will move if they don't allow you to change your rate.
It might be they upgrade your rates. My savings are currently with Zopa 2.1 percent(ish) as I need easy access and they upgrade it each time they set a new rate. It should say if your rates fixed.
Agree about customer service by the way. I'm still with first direct for my main banking for this exact reason as you can still get through to them when needed.
BassJunkie
Clams on the half shell, and roller skates.
I've just opened an account with Santander - 2.75% instant access. Bye bye to Chase's 1.5%. <Tries not to think about the current rate of inflation>
If you have the phone app it shows accounts you might be interested in and you just click to apply so I assume the switchover would be very simple.
Just did it with one of my accounts, dead easy.
nick
Pleomorphic Adenomas R us
You’re still better off but chase just messaged me to say they are going to 2.1% from 24/10.
If you’re moving your money cool. Keep £1 in your chase to keep it alive - so you can insta swap if rates become more competitive
BassJunkie
Clams on the half shell, and roller skates.
Lol yes. Not long after my previous post they messaged me that. I was like "are they monitoring my U75 posts?!?"
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
My anxiety level is through the roof at the moment. 
I should have employed someone years ago to look after things - rather than cover my eyes and buy lottery tickets ...
I am hideously phobic about money.
In 2003 I had a brief relationship with a trained accountant who retired at 50 and is busy doing up houses ...
I should have been living in a better house rather than have savings.
I had quite a lot of "savings" which I might as well have buried in a hole in the ground. It should all have been in ISAs and so tax-free ... and though my pension is under minimum wage, I am liable to basic tax ...
I finally phoned the bank to make the money available for new fixed rate savings accounts / isa.
And I'm stuck about how long to lock the money up for as there isn't much difference between 1 year and two.
I was supposed to be in France by now and was always hesitant to lock up money I might well need to put towards somewhere to live .
I'm amazed I got this far - even got into my useless Metrobank account recommended by a work colleague
do I trust this Martin Lewis character ?
I should have employed someone years ago to look after things - rather than cover my eyes and buy lottery tickets ...
I am hideously phobic about money.
In 2003 I had a brief relationship with a trained accountant who retired at 50 and is busy doing up houses ...
I should have been living in a better house rather than have savings.
I had quite a lot of "savings" which I might as well have buried in a hole in the ground. It should all have been in ISAs and so tax-free ... and though my pension is under minimum wage, I am liable to basic tax ...
I finally phoned the bank to make the money available for new fixed rate savings accounts / isa.
And I'm stuck about how long to lock the money up for as there isn't much difference between 1 year and two.
I was supposed to be in France by now and was always hesitant to lock up money I might well need to put towards somewhere to live .
I'm amazed I got this far - even got into my useless Metrobank account recommended by a work colleague
do I trust this Martin Lewis character ?
Last edited:
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
Since interest rates are rising and forecast to maybe hit 5% next year, I’d be cautious about locking into a fixed rate for 1-2 years gentlegreen , unless the account you’re thinking of opening will raise its rate for money already invested (do fixed term savings accounts work like that, I’m unsure?)
I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much for past financial decisions that didn’t turn out to be great - none of us have a crystal ball. Don’t let it inhibit you from taking the right decisions now, at least.
I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much for past financial decisions that didn’t turn out to be great - none of us have a crystal ball. Don’t let it inhibit you from taking the right decisions now, at least.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I guess what an entrepreneurial Tory boy would have said is you should have bought up ex-council flats and rented them out on the private market. I could have done this myself when I stopped work 12 years ago. Aside from the morality of perverting the right to buy scheme (which millions seem to have done anyway) like you I have anxiety issues which seem to preclude running a business.My anxiety level is through the roof at the moment.
I should have employed someone years ago to look after things - rather than cover my eyes and buy lottery tickets ...
I am hideously phobic about money.
In 2003 I had a brief relationship with a trained accountant who retired at 50 and is busy doing up houses ...
I should have been living in a better house rather than have savings.
I had quite a lot of "savings" which I might as well have buried in a hole in the ground. It could all have been in ISAs and so tax-free ... and though my pension is under minimum wage, I am liable to basic tax ...
I finally phoned the bank to make the money available for new fixed rate savings accounts / isa.
And I'm stuck about how long to lock the money up for as there isn't much difference between 1 year and two.
I was supposed to be in France by now and was always hesitant to lock up money I might well need to put towards somewhere to live .
I'm amazed I got this far ...
I have a friend in his 70s who claims to have 7 flats out on rental, all in mansion blocks, either council or private. "Oh" he says "they ring up saying the washing machine is broke" and I say "get onto the agent" and its all done in a few hours.
I have enough problems repairing my own washing machine - or as you say marshaling my savings into a suitably competitive ISA. Meanwhile my friend is a chronic alcoholic - have another drink! So all his profits are presumably going into destroying his liver and brain (he's a diehard Thatcherite, so clearly suffering from alcoholic dementia).
There are two things about money
1. you can't take it with you
2. there's no point having it if you don't enjoy it.
This is not an endorsement of being a piss-artist by the way - there are other ways to spend your money.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I decided to go for a 1 year for this reason.
The standard rate at Halifax (which I had) was 0.45% last week, and a 1 year monthly interest ISA got 3.35%
I know I could have gone to the Market Harborough Building Society - but hell its easier to pop into the Brixton Halifax for me. Even if it means a lower income.
And if as you say the rates continue to rise I will take a 5 year fix next year.
The reason I was in the bog standard cash ISA was I has a 2% 5 year fix back in 2015 - which actually amazed most of my friends (and my financially aware brother). But then none of these people would either consider, or qualify for "Marcus". Is that Jacob Rees-Mogg's bank by the way?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Basically yes I would say - the info on there appears to be sound and regularly updated.
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
Looks like you did well as Santander website now showing 2.00% max on that account, unless I’m mistaken. Hope they didn’t tempt you with a higher rate then drop it?
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
When I joined Santander (it was Alliance and Leicester at the time), I think they were giving me 10 percent on my current account with a 10k cap - it was effectively my first savings account. Halcyon days ...
I repeated it with a somewhat less generous Tesco current account (they had oddly not insisted it be your primary account)- but when they closed that part of their operation a while back and I hadn't got around to moving the money (as is my wont), they sent me a hand-written Lloyds cheque which I had to physically take to Santander and feed it into a machine ...
bimble
floofy
Hmm. Now it’s quite a lot less money than it was when I put it in there. Still not a visceral big reaction but doesn’t feel too great, a big red minus 11ish percent.
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
Yeh mine was up last year, then I sold all my Vanguard life funds last October as it looked like things were going bad since it was basically back to where it started. It's just sat there as cash now but at least its not actively going down any more than inflation is. Bonds market going bananas is not helping anything.
Yes, I know the feeling! But you know that these swings go the other way very suddenly.
BristolEcho
Well-Known Member
Think I'm going to do some stoozing using one the 4.5% accounts that are around at the moment along with the M&S 0% interest card. I'll just use it for my shopping which is currently going on an amex cashback card.
bimble
floofy
It just all feels very abstract, up 8% when i looked at it a few months ago, now its down 11, so have i really lost 3% of this money or have i lost about 20% because inflation, or has nothing actually happened at all because its just numbers on a screen which will be different again tomorrow. Would drive me mad if I had to watch this stuff all the time. Obviously, if this was everything I have, or if I was saving for a particular thing with a deadline, i'd see it differently.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Is this a bond fund? if so could be because the underlying gilts and bonds have shrunk due to rising interest rates.
BTW is this Vanguard the American investment company?
I'm always being bothered by HL (Hargreaves Lansdowne) - but I only have a £4,000 Royal London nest egg to invest (if indeed it is still there!) Unfortunately last time I checked it would only yield £200 pa - just about enough to buy the Sun on Sunday every week until I die. I reckon some people are going to get pension shocks in due course.
bimble
floofy
I don’t think ive got much bonds in there and don’t think it’s American but I haven’t really got much of a clue. Has a nice easy user interface and a logo of a clipper ship.
ETA it’s this
Vanguard Asset Management | Personal Investing in the UK
Absolute chaos in all markets across the world in the last 6 months have seen huge great swings backwards and forwards of 15%, 20%, you name it. It’s bad news if you are forced to sell at the trough. Otherwise, I’d close your eyes and wait for it to settle down again.
Yes, anybody with perfect hindsight could have sold at each peak and bought at each trough and made a fortune. In reality, however, anybody actually attempting this would be just as likely to do the reverse and lose a fortune. I just view it that I owned 0.000001% (or whatever) of Microsoft and I still own 0.000001% of Microsoft, and any profits of 0.000001% of Microsoft will continue to accrue to me. I have no intention of selling, so all I’m interested in is that future profit.
Yes, anybody with perfect hindsight could have sold at each peak and bought at each trough and made a fortune. In reality, however, anybody actually attempting this would be just as likely to do the reverse and lose a fortune. I just view it that I owned 0.000001% (or whatever) of Microsoft and I still own 0.000001% of Microsoft, and any profits of 0.000001% of Microsoft will continue to accrue to me. I have no intention of selling, so all I’m interested in is that future profit.
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
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You can create an online account.
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