Maturing ISA no interest rates

the thing is, some of us are having to live on our savings, so cannot risk spending it. and we don't know how much we will need, so seems best to just continue spending as little as possible, esp as income is less than 10 pound a day. obviously bills are much more, and there may be unknown changes/ charges to deal with.
but i think premium bonds are a good idea. i always mean to get some more, but i find it difficult now that you can't buy them at post offices. i rather do things in person. that way i can understand what i'm doing.

Well done sf101 - I was going to say ‘sod it, flash new car would do me’.
I think it’s just bred in us to save for a rainy day. It’s here, can’t take it with you and nowhere to spend it!

I decided to invest in diamonds and bought myself a lovely ring.

C, my water has been saying that for many years, monthly, in fact. Thinking I might resort to alcohol!

I agree re premium bonds- I win something most months. Next month will definitely be the big one- I can feel it in my water!

travelsafar. That will be for a very limited regular saver account. HSB has it too.
Nobody is giving a decent amount on savings. Best we spend it.

Apologies. I was referring to my granny bond in my post above.

Right..... just done this. I usually fix for one year but found an instant access which has as good an interest rate (rubbish) as I can get for a fix. Reckon that way I will be free to fix if a better rate flukes along. No, I don't anticipate this but that's my option. My new BS was mentioned by Martin in his latest circular.

If you bank at Nat West they are doing a special saving account paying 3%. I have been with them 50 odd years and the information popped up on an email they sent me. I will investigate after Xmas.

Received a letter yesterday inviting me to reinvest. Apparently if I lock in my money for a year each £1000 will become £1001.
Aye, that’ll be right!
Next they will be charging us.
Time for those new carpets I think.

It’s a dire situation isn’t it?
When we were first married and buying our first home the interest rate on the mortgage at one point was 17%
Now we have savings the rate is around 1% or lower.

We have had the worst of both worlds. ☹️

We have two bond maturing shortly. The new interest rates on offer if you reinvest for three years are laughable. Less than one percent. If you left the funds in for another three years the amount you would make would be under five hundred pounds.

There is very little that small amounts can be invested in that will match inflation with low risk, with the uncertainty of Brexit UK shares are always going to be uncertain.

Don’t discount currency fluctuations, Sterling is low so hold on to cash, over the months it will increase as the uncertainty ends. This is why overseas investors are willing to lend at low rates when the pound rises they make money.

Larger investments, property has always been good, but increasing regulation and taxation will eat into any gain, bearing in mind that you may be a high rate taxpayer even that may not be worthwhile. So if the mortgage is paid off, your pensions are good and you have spare cash, spend it or give it away. If you have children or grandchildren that will benefit, that is probably better than leaving it in the bank at .25%.

Sounds good Woodmouse.

I think my cash ISAs are earning between 1/2 and 1/4% at the moment! I transfer money from the to my current account to top up my pension so I don’t want to tie them up. I do have some other savings in a managed fund which despite the pandemic, has made a slight gain this year.

We bought a lot of bonds (each of us) 18 months ago. Between us we have won from £25 to £175 every month. Around 1.8% interest.

We also took a risk with shares. It was part of an inheritance. They've done even better than the premium bonds. Around 9% interest.

We decided to do this for a couple of years but then cash quite a lot in to complete our house plans.

Might as well have stuffed it under the mattress as invest it in an ISA.

Same!

Ssame here. Might look at bonds.

With interest currently extremely low it might be time to spend those savings if there is anything you have being putting off spending money on. Home improvements, a different car, a trip to family abroad (once travel resumes).

If you are saving to leave to your family give it to them now so you can get the pleasure of seeing the difference it makes to them.
If you don’t mind a bit of risk you could try the stock market

Please don’t be tempted by accounts offering largish returns. They are almost always scams.

Well, I have quite a lot of bonds bought 60 years ago. I have never won anything!

I think Premium Bonds will be the answer come the New Year.

We bought bonds too. The annual rate for the prize fund is currently 1% - if you have average luck, that is.

I've bought Premium Bonds as at least there is a chance of a nice surprise win. I won £25 in my first month ,nothing this month, but still more exciting than any other investments I can find at this time.

I know the feeling.