Discussion
cuprabob said:
ISAs kind of lost their place when the £1k tax free savings allowance was launched.
You can get bonds from NS&I that pay 1.5% for 1 year and 2.2% for 3 year.
The days of high interest rates on savings are.long gone and it's be a while before they return, if they ever do.
Thought so.You can get bonds from NS&I that pay 1.5% for 1 year and 2.2% for 3 year.
The days of high interest rates on savings are.long gone and it's be a while before they return, if they ever do.
Will investigate the bonds, thanks.
Hoofy said:
Just having a browse. If I lock away £20k in an ISA with 0.35%, I get £65 rather than, say, £20.
For all the arsing about setting up an account, is it worth the £45?
I remember when ISAs were 8-10% or whatever.
Think longer term. For most people who aren’t higher rate taxpayers, Cash ISA aren’t relevant. But (and using that example) if you may be HRT in the future, accumulating ongoing years’ allowance in a Cash ISA now *might* eventually prove beneficial - especially if you want to later switch from a Cash ISA to an Investment ISA. If you don’t use the annual allowance, you lose it. For all the arsing about setting up an account, is it worth the £45?
I remember when ISAs were 8-10% or whatever.
Although ISA rates are dire, you should still be looking at 1%+ not 0.35%... find a better provider!
As others have mentioned above they are of reduced benefit these days, although I try to put some in mine in the hope that I'll be able to do something more useful with it in future as it's in the ISA wrapper.
If you didn't want an ISA you should be able to get better rates even on instant access savings - I think I got 1.3% recently.
As others have mentioned above they are of reduced benefit these days, although I try to put some in mine in the hope that I'll be able to do something more useful with it in future as it's in the ISA wrapper.
If you didn't want an ISA you should be able to get better rates even on instant access savings - I think I got 1.3% recently.
egomeister said:
Although ISA rates are dire, you should still be looking at 1%+ not 0.35%... find a better provider!
As others have mentioned above they are of reduced benefit these days, although I try to put some in mine in the hope that I'll be able to do something more useful with it in future as it's in the ISA wrapper.
If you didn't want an ISA you should be able to get better rates even on instant access savings - I think I got 1.3% recently.
Any suggested providers? I've only been looking at the retail banks, really.As others have mentioned above they are of reduced benefit these days, although I try to put some in mine in the hope that I'll be able to do something more useful with it in future as it's in the ISA wrapper.
If you didn't want an ISA you should be able to get better rates even on instant access savings - I think I got 1.3% recently.
Look here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-...
Also look at NS&I products which aren't ISA but which have full government backing.
Also look at NS&I products which aren't ISA but which have full government backing.
Hoofy said:
Any suggested providers? I've only been looking at the retail banks, really.
For ISA or instant access?ISA I went with Virgin Money. Instant access I went for Tesco Bank (this has an bonus rate, so I'll have to see what's about when it drops).
Both of them were pretty pain free to open, so don't worry about that bit too much.
Cash ISAs can be especially handy if you intend to save over a longer time and add to it each year. Interest rates are low now and might not get up to 10% any time soon but even if they hit 5% then you could have a useful amount stashed without paying tax on interest (the £20k outside an ISA at 5% would be the tax free limit). For smaller amounts a high interest current account makes sense as you are limited on the balance that pays interest and won't hit the £1000 personal saving tax allowance.
NS&I cut the rate on the growth bonds this week but other tax efficient savings include Premium Bonds (no interest but safe and a change to win big) or invest in a Stocks and Shares ISA (some risk involved so best for long term only).
NS&I cut the rate on the growth bonds this week but other tax efficient savings include Premium Bonds (no interest but safe and a change to win big) or invest in a Stocks and Shares ISA (some risk involved so best for long term only).
It was less than 10 years ago that the ISA limit was £3k. Its now £20k. To me that's a gift horse and worth maxing out where possible just to ring fence it.
It was only 4 years ago the limit jumped £10k. You never know when that might be pushed back down.
For easy access you should be able to find rates of around 1%. Nationwide and Virgin both do rates of just over 1%.
Closer to 2% for longer fixed terms.
Ok so still the wrong side of inflation but as mentioned above you can always move the funds to a S&S ISA later if you wanted. Or wait for rates to rise, etc.
It was only 4 years ago the limit jumped £10k. You never know when that might be pushed back down.
For easy access you should be able to find rates of around 1%. Nationwide and Virgin both do rates of just over 1%.
Closer to 2% for longer fixed terms.
Ok so still the wrong side of inflation but as mentioned above you can always move the funds to a S&S ISA later if you wanted. Or wait for rates to rise, etc.
Yes your ISA account can have inputs of upto £20k per year. It used to be £3k so its a massive rise.
Any interest / gains / divs are tax free.
I think someone who maxed out their ISA each year has c.£150k contributions since the start of the scheme. If they went with S&S ISA they probably have a lot more than that in there!
In the past you used to have to pay in / withdraw at the bank or building society or over the phone and it was a slow process but now with online services you can manage accounts a lot easier.
Some accounts also allow you to withdraw funds and replace again before the end of the tax year.
Others allow you to use funds that generate an income which can be paid into another account as cash. A lot of retired people use this type of fund.
There are also other types of ISAs. I don't know much about those though.
Any interest / gains / divs are tax free.
I think someone who maxed out their ISA each year has c.£150k contributions since the start of the scheme. If they went with S&S ISA they probably have a lot more than that in there!
In the past you used to have to pay in / withdraw at the bank or building society or over the phone and it was a slow process but now with online services you can manage accounts a lot easier.
Some accounts also allow you to withdraw funds and replace again before the end of the tax year.
Others allow you to use funds that generate an income which can be paid into another account as cash. A lot of retired people use this type of fund.
There are also other types of ISAs. I don't know much about those though.
I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted here, but do remember that if you're getting 1% interest and the "Cost of Living/Inflation", whatever you want to call it, is approx. 3%, you are, very tax-efficiently, losing 2% every year.
Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
bobclayton said:
I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted here, but do remember that if you're getting 1% interest and the "Cost of Living/Inflation", whatever you want to call it, is approx. 3%, you are, very tax-efficiently, losing 2% every year.
Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
Yeah. I'm tempted to do a massive chunk in a cash ISA and next year (in a month) drip-feed an S&S ISA.Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
bobclayton said:
I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted here, but do remember that if you're getting 1% interest and the "Cost of Living/Inflation", whatever you want to call it, is approx. 3%, you are, very tax-efficiently, losing 2% every year.
Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
Yeah, right.Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
That's what I though. My S&S ISA is currently worth 1% less than was transferred to it from my cash ISA, and that's after only 5 months.
PurpleMoonlight said:
bobclayton said:
I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted here, but do remember that if you're getting 1% interest and the "Cost of Living/Inflation", whatever you want to call it, is approx. 3%, you are, very tax-efficiently, losing 2% every year.
Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
Yeah, right.Yes, it's tax free, but remember you also get that with Stocks & Shares ISA's too. Fine, there's risk, but any S&S ISA worth it's money will keep up with inflation...
That's what I though. My S&S ISA is currently worth 1% less than was transferred to it from my cash ISA, and that's after only 5 months.
PurpleMoonlight said:
Yeah, right.
That's what I though. My S&S ISA is currently worth 1% less than was transferred to it from my cash ISA, and that's after only 5 months.
Stocks, shares, funds etc are not short-term investments - if you're monitoring rises and falls on a daily basis they aren't for you. There was a relatively hefty dip a few weeks ago, hence your short-term reduction in value. Most investors see that as an opportunity to buy more.That's what I though. My S&S ISA is currently worth 1% less than was transferred to it from my cash ISA, and that's after only 5 months.
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