Cash ISA advice

thebennyboy

thebennyboy

thebennyboy

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I have decided to open a Cash ISA account to start saving some money, i was offered 0.5% interest. I took it as i think it would be easier to manage as i have my current account, credit card and now cash ISA with them, can all be managed in one online banking account.

Should i have shopped around a bit more? Just from a glance around on moneysavingexpert i found one offering from NS&I offering 1.5% with easy access. Should i just stick with Natwest?
 
If you are wiling to not touch that money for at least a few years, get a stocks & shares ISA.

If not, there are current accounts offering far better interest rates than cash ISAs.
 
What is the money to be used for? If it's for a house deposit, wait until Autumn for the Help To Buy ISAs to start. They Government will give you £50 for every £200 you deposit, up to 12k, plus whatever interest rate the bank offers you on top. It will likely be the best, safe way to save for a deposit that will be around.
 
How much are you putting in and how much do you plan to save a month?

There are better alternatives than an ISA just now but I would need to know the answer to these 2 questions first.
 
Arsonist said:
What is the money to be used for? If it's for a house deposit, wait until Autumn for the Help To Buy ISAs to start. They Government will give you £50 for every £200 you deposit, up to 12k, plus whatever interest rate the bank offers you on top. It will likely be the best, safe way to save for a deposit that will be around.
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That sounds fantastic, I'm not looking to buy a house but would love to know how I could get on that scheme ?
 
Richie said:
How much are you putting in and how much do you plan to save a month?

There are better alternatives than an ISA just now but I would need to know the answer to these 2 questions first.
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Sorry to jump in but if you are offering advice, I would love to take it:

£15,000 lump sum, no monthly input
 
your best bets at the moment are to make use of the current accounts, Santander 123 at 3% up to £20,000.

Then if you've got a partner you can open another in their name and do the same.

Then you can open a TSB Current account which will give you 5% on up to £2000
Then There's a nationwide Flexdirect account giving you 5% on up to £2500
Then there's Tesco offering 3% on up to £3000.

All these you have to do a little juggling as they require you to pay in £1k or £750 per month but you can set up standing orders to move things around automatically.
 
The Geezer said:
That sounds fantastic, I'm not looking to buy a house but would love to know how I could get on that scheme ?
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From what I've read, they will become available over the counter or online from 'regular' banks just like a normal ISA, but under this particular scheme.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...data/file/413899/Help_to_Buy_ISA_Guidance.pdf

If you've not opened an ISA this financial year yet, do not, until these are out. You will otherwise waste 6 months saving time (equivalent to £350, before any interest)* on having to wait until April next year to open one.

*(6 months @ maximum deposits of 200 = 1200. 25% of 1200 = 300, with an additional bonus of 50 if you also deposit an extra 200 with the first months 200 [which they've said you can do], so making 350 in total for free for the first 6 months [and you will also get standard interest rates as per normal ISAs, so potentially up to 2.5% on a fixed term 5 year account, meaning potentially another £900 / total = making almost £16,000 over 5 years on £12000 monthly deposits)
 
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Arsonist said:
*(6 months @ maximum deposits of 200 = 1200. 25% of 1200 = 300, with an additional bonus of 50 if you also deposit an extra 200 with the first months 200 [which they've said you can do], so making 350 in total for free for the first 6 months [and you will also get standard interest rates as per normal ISAs, so potentially up to 2.5% on a fixed term 5 year account, meaning potentially another £900 / total = making almost £16,000 over 5 years on £12000 monthly deposits)
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Just a couple of small points on this.

1) You can actually put £1,000 + £200 in the first month to get you on your way - not just an additional £200 - so you'd hit that £350 bonus much quicker if you can afford the initial larger deposit.
2) The minimum bonus the government will give you is £400 so you need to be in the Help to Buy ISA making deposits until you reach £1,600 (I.e 3 full months if you can afford £1,200 in the first month plus another £200 for the next two months).
3) The maximum you will get a bonus on is £12,000 so there isn't much point saving up to £16,000 in this particular ISA.
 
I've been sticking money in my ISA for a few years and have £50k sat in there right now. It's just with my bank so it's not the greatest of rates so I guess I should do something about it.

My question is, can I transfer the whole sum to say Santander and get 3% on all of it or do I only get 3% on this years money (ie £15k worth)
 
eidolon said:
I've been sticking money in my ISA for a few years and have £50k sat in there right now. It's just with my bank so it's not the greatest of rates so I guess I should do something about it.

My question is, can I transfer the whole sum to say Santander and get 3% on all of it or do I only get 3% on this years money (ie £15k worth)
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Isnt something like £20k a year limit? Also dont forget you have to pay tax on that as well. An investment ISA is by far the better option IMO and its interchangable between a cash and investment ISA without any penaties
 
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eidolon said:
I've been sticking money in my ISA for a few years and have £50k sat in there right now. It's just with my bank so it's not the greatest of rates so I guess I should do something about it.

My question is, can I transfer the whole sum to say Santander and get 3% on all of it or do I only get 3% on this years money (ie £15k worth)
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Nope. The santander 123 account is a current account not an ISA. If you transfer all the money out of the ISA you can't get it back in again.

The 123 account will only give you 3% on up to 20k anything over that and your making 0. Check my post above for some alternatives if you max out the 123 account.
 
eidolon said:
Ahh, I see. I think I'll just leave it alone in that case.

Cheers for the advice.
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You nay as well put 20k in the 123 account. Remember you get a new £15k allowance each year. So unless you plan on saving that much each year for the next few years, you can always put most of it back in quickly.

ISA rates will be less than 3% minus tax for a couple of years probably.
 
muon said:
You nay as well put 20k in the 123 account. Remember you get a new £15k allowance each year. So unless you plan on saving that much each year for the next few years, you can always put most of it back in quickly.

ISA rates will be less than 3% minus tax for a couple of years probably.
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Think carefully about this. Once you take money out of your ISA you can't put it back in. So when rates go back up, it'll take you over a year to put that 20k back in again.
 
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