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Managing a savings portfolio

Getting the most from your accounts

If you have a large sum of money that you want to save, you’ll probably not want to put all your eggs in one basket. You'll probably need some flexibility in accessing your funds and possibly some protection against fluctuating interest rates.

Here are some quick tips to help you get the most from our accounts.

Spread your savings

Spreading your savings across a number of different types of account can be a good idea for several reasons:

  • Access - you’ll probably not want to lock all your money away. A combination of easy access and fixed term accounts means you can withdraw some of your money when you need it and take advantage of better long term savings rates for the rest
  • Staggered maturity - by using a number of fixed term accounts with different terms, you’ll have accounts maturing at different times. This means all of your funds aren't tied in for the long term and you can more regularly take advantage of new savings opportunities as they arise
  • Interest rate volatility - fixed term accounts mean you know exactly how much your savings will earn and over what time period. Interest on easy access accounts will change. The key is to find the balance you're comfortable with.

Use your tax free Cash ISA allowance

No matter what type of saver you are, you shouldn't ignore your ISA allowance. The maximum amount you can invest in the current tax year is £20,000. You can choose to invest your full allowance into a cash ISA, a stocks and shares ISA or an innovative finance ISA or any combination of the three.

Alternatively you can split your allowance by investing up to £4,000 in a lifetime ISA and the remaining allowance between any combination of the other three types of ISA, as long as you don't exceed £20,000 in total across your ISAs.

As the years progress you'll be able to shelter more of your savings in ISAs. Over the long term, this can make a real difference to your savings pot.

ISAs >

Watch out for charges

Remember, you could face a charge if you withdraw money early from a fixed term account. As far as possible, try to only save what you can afford to lock away in a fixed term account and only make withdrawals in an emergency. A single withdrawal might have little impact but if you make regular withdrawals the charges could stack up.

FSCS – protecting your money. Find out more here.

Gross rate means that we will not deduct tax automatically from your interest. You are responsible for paying any tax due to HM Revenue and Customs.

AER means Annual Equivalent Rate. AER illustrates what your interest rate would be if interest was paid and compounded each year and allows you to easily compare different offers.

Tax free is the contractual rate of interest payable where interest is exempt from income tax.

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