Is your money working for you? Many banks have cut interest rates so what you thought your money might be earning in a savings account, it might not be earning any longer. It’s so easy to leave money where it is but moving it to higher interest savings accounts helps to make you money from your money. What is the best easy access savings account at the moment? Let’s take a look.
Why Easy Access?
Personally, I need my savings to be easy access. This is for a number of reasons. The main one being the fact I am self employed and my work could stop at any time. The global pandemic of Coronavirus meant that I lost quite a bit of work so being able to use my savings should I need them, is at the top of my list.
The Best Option?
So, what are the best easy access savings accounts and how much interest will they give you? The highest amount you can currently get is 1.2% interest. There are four banks giving you this at the moment, Marcus, Saga, Investec and RCI Bank. These can all be opened and managed online, which is a huge benefit in the current global situation. They wont all be relevant for everyone though, as the Investec account has a minimum deposit of £10k. The RCI Bank account takes a minimum of £100 whilst the Marcus and Saga accounts can be opened with as little as £1. They all have maximum FSCS protection of £85k.
Could You Lock In?
If you can afford to lock your savings away for a year or more you can earn more interest. Depending on how long you’re willing to lock your cash away for changes how much interest you can earn. The top 1 year fix pays 1.55% interest. The top two year fix pays 1.66% interest. A three year fix could get you 1.8% and a five year fix 1.9%. These can all be opened online and you need to figure out which one works best for you. Is there any point in being unable to access your money for an extra two years (the difference between three and five years) for the extra 0.1% interest? There’s also a bigger jump between one and two years than there is between two and three years.
Easy Access Or Lock In
You need to weigh up if that extra few percentage is important to you, especially in unprecedented times we’re living in. If you need you cash you wouldn’t be able to get hold of it. Is that worth the risk right now? Maybe you could figure out how much you’d need to live on for 12 months should something happen, pop that into the best easy access savings account and then put anything else you might have, locked away.
If you’re not making your money work for you you’re missing out on the benefits of savings accounts. If you have savings, no matter how small a savings pot, putting them into the best easy access savings account should be the minimum that you do with them. They’ll be earning the maximum amount of interest possible but should you need your cash, you can get it instantly.
