What ISA... (Bye bye Nat West)

What ISA... (Bye bye Nat West)

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Discussion

CubanPete

Original Poster:

3,630 posts

188 months

Friday 6th November 2015
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So, NatWest have just emailed, saying they are reducing their ISA rate to 0.25%.

Yep, that's a measly £25 for every £10,000 invested per year.

Transfer in order... Can anyone recommend a decent instant access ISA, I can transfer to? Either cash or stocks and shares?

nyt

1,807 posts

150 months

plfrench

2,350 posts

268 months

Monday 9th November 2015
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I've just had the same from HSBC (reducing from 1.4% to 1.2%), so thought I'd have a look at what was out there... As it turns out, 1.2% for an unlimited instant access ISA isn't actually too bad at all...

33q

1,550 posts

123 months

Tuesday 10th November 2015
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Mrs 33q had her letter today. I had taken my eye off the ball. Didn't realise it was only 0.5 now

As above anyone recommend a good ISA stocks and shares. Not gone down this route on ISA. I don't fancy trading myself. Any good managed funds?

droopsnoot

11,904 posts

242 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Unfortunately (as I'm looking as well) with S&S ISAs it's not just a case of picking one. You need to pick a platform (i.e. the company you use to buy the funds and handle income, decent comparison on Monevator) and then pick what investments to buy via that platform. I've got an S&S ISA with the Nationwide for historical reasons, but now I'm looking into what to buy inside that ISA, I'm finding they only offer a very small sub-set of what's available, and very few of what appears to be decent performers are available there.

I'd also say have a look around the Savings and Investment forum on Moneysavingexpert, and the various investment-related boards on the Motley Fool forum, though the latter (in my personal opinion only) is an exercise in how not to lay out a forum. Lots of very useful, in-depth information though, if you can get past that.

Obviously there are better interest rates at the moment on some current accounts with a bit of juggling to satisfy the various requirements of each account, but I just can't stomach the idea of spending a few years taking advantage of the ISA allowance and then throwing it away for a few years of slightly better interest. There's a web site around showing how to maximise the income from these accounts, and by utilising almost £50k they can produce interest of around £1200 per annum.

HoHoHo

14,987 posts

250 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Ive also just had my letter from HSBC and the premier rate has gone down to 1.4%

I've got quite a lot in my ISA's and Coventry BS are offering 2.4% until 2020, instant withdrawal but with a loss of 120 days interest. This will increase my interest by nearly 4 figures a year and I'm moving ASAP.

Feck it, bite with your wallet and move I say yes

droopsnoot

11,904 posts

242 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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And remember to transfer, not withdraw and pay in, if you're moving from one ISA to another.

budgie smuggler

5,376 posts

159 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Same position with my GE ISA.

Just to confirm, if you go through the transfer process, you can move to another ISA and still use this years allowance? (I know you are normally able to do this at the start of the new tax year).

Reason I ask is despite the advice on MSE that you can, there is wording in the ISA providers T&C to the effect of "I promise that this is the only ISA I have for this financial year". However it isn't. For an (albeit brief) period, I will have two.

ReallyReallyGood

1,622 posts

130 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Thanks for the heads-up, got my rate cut in half also. Will transfer out, it's not even getting inflation now.

droopsnoot

11,904 posts

242 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
quotequote all
Yes, transfers don't count towards your ISA subscription. So you can open one and transfer an old ISA into it (as long as the new ISA allows transfers in) and open another one and put new cash into it. There was talk about them relaxing the withdrawal rule so that you could move cash from one ISA to another where the new provider doesn't support transfers, but it hasn't come into force yet.

Edited by droopsnoot on Wednesday 11th November 13:16

Craikeybaby

10,403 posts

225 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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I was in a similar position a few months ago and after startibg a thread on here and reading a lot of advice on the monevator website I set up a S&S ISA through Cavendish Online and invested into one of the Vangaurd LifeStrategy passive funds. Unfortunately my timing was spectacularly bad - it was a few weeks before the China crisis, so my investment is worth less than I started with, but climbing back up steadily.

davek_964

8,809 posts

175 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Just had the same NatWest mail - time to do some ISA research and move it seems.

CaptainSlow

13,179 posts

212 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Me too, fed up with their poor rates now. Just looking at setting up a Virgin Money account.

trickywoo

11,754 posts

230 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Craikeybaby said:
I was in a similar position a few months ago and after startibg a thread on here and reading a lot of advice on the monevator website I set up a S&S ISA through Cavendish Online and invested into one of the Vangaurd LifeStrategy passive funds. Unfortunately my timing was spectacularly bad - it was a few weeks before the China crisis, so my investment is worth less than I started with, but climbing back up steadily.
I went S&S through Fidelity. The platform is pretty good and they have a huge range of funds to choose from.

However, my timing was off too and despite a wide spread of funds they still don't look too happy off the whole China thing.

Still, unless capitalism fails they will come back if held long enough.

condor

8,837 posts

248 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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I have an easy access cash isa with Nationwide that pays 1.4% still

BoRED S2upid

19,683 posts

240 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
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Just had the same from Halifax I will be moving it to TSB current account for 5% it's only a grand or so, no point in a cash ISA at these levels of interest.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

246 months

Thursday 12th November 2015
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trickywoo said:
Still, unless capitalism fails they will come back if held long enough.
^^^ This. It's got to be better than holding cash and watching your money evaporate relative to inflation - with absolutely no potential upside.

ISA tax benefits are perfect for stocks & shares, sheltering both the income and any potential capital gains.

Piersman2

6,597 posts

199 months

Thursday 12th November 2015
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I also got the note from Natwest and it's yet another very good reason to just pay off a chunk of my mortgage with the ISA money.

Or go and buy a new car with it! smile

Monty Python

4,812 posts

197 months

Thursday 12th November 2015
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Virgin Money pays 1.56% on a cash ISA - my TSB one is heading there after they dropped the rate to 0.2%.

DSLiverpool

14,733 posts

202 months

Thursday 12th November 2015
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33q said:
Any good managed funds?
CF Woodford Equity Income Fund C GBP Acc

19% up before charges since inception