Why I’ve decided to drain my savings….

Savings rates are rubbish right now so I’ve decided to drain my savings and track down some better ways to boost my cash.

Doors slammed on new savers

It spells crazy days in savings world when a ‘chart topping’ account; one paying just a smidge over 1% in interest, is so inundated with savers, all desperate to get some kind of return on their cash, that it closes its doors.

Well that’s exactly what happened with the Marcus online savings account, from Goldman Sachs investment bank. It pays 1.05% interest, yet the account is no longer open to new savers. But that said, you’d still need to stash away £5,000 just to earn £50 a year. And with the ‘average’ easy access option now paying 0.24%, crazy as it sounds, that 1.05% was a far more lucrative option.

Savings rates have fallen to even more pitiful levels since the Bank of England slashed the base rate to 0.1%. According to the financial data group Moneyfacts, rates on ‘easy access’ accounts fell from an average of 0.59% in January to 0.24% in July and even a one year fixed deal that could have earned you 1.2% in January is now down to 0.7% this month.

So any whiff of a return on cash savings, rather than risk the money being nibbled away by inflation and we’re there banging on the door.

Why I’m stashing my cash in premium bonds

With shabby savings rates right now I’ve been draining my cash savings to pile my money into Premium Bonds as I think it’s more than worth a punt in the current climate.

Ok so big prizes aren’t guaranteed, but I’m happy to risk losing that scraping of interest for the chance to win big. Plus your money’s totally safe as National Savings & Investments is backed by the Government.

I’m no gambler…..

Now I’m no gambler, well ok that’s unless you count my passion for seaside pier amusements when I can happily rack up a tenner playing that horse racing game at 10p a time…….

And ok on a trip to Vegas, we enjoyed a flutter playing roulette in some of the casinos, (came out £20 up!), but unlike gambling, with Premium Bonds, your ‘stake’ is 100% safe as it’s backed by the Treasury.

You can get your cash back when you want it, plus the big bonus is the chance to win a million quid each month.

In fact the only ‘gamble’ as I see it, is throwing away the pittance of interest you could earn on your savings, in exchange for the chance to win big bucks.

Premium Bond countdown

  • Premium Bonds are £1 bonds. You can buy from a minimum of £25 up to a limit of £50,000.
  • Prizes start from £25, and there’s multiple prizes at every level all the way to two prizes of one million pounds each month.
  • Last month over 3 million cash prizes were dished out worth over £104 million.
  • All winnings are tax free.
  • Average return is 1.4% based on prize winning potential; however that’s no guarantee of success.
  • You can find out more and buy Premium Bonds here.

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