Best savings account?

I don't know anyone who has a private pension in the public sector (or the NHS atleast), I'll be honest I don't know why, potentially an annual allowance/taper issue making you not eligible for tax relief?
Annual allowance could mean your comment makes sense - but that is unlimited (for now).
 
Another savings account question from me, as I am classed as a higher band tax payer,

I have been on the checker sites, and due to my income through work, my personal savings allowance if i were to use a normal savings account (non isa)


I done a quick calculator test based on an example of a £10k deposit in to a normal savings account, when im classed as a higher tax rate payer, example savings account of 5.5% interest rates



the calculator outcome is


Results​



Amount of savings interest you will earn in 12 months

£550.00

Your PSA allowance

£500.00

Would you need to pay tax on your savings?

Yes





I assume this means that if i save £10k in such account (normal savings) the first £500's worth of interest will be earned tax free, any interest earned over the £500 will be taxed? is this correct? how much would they typically tax me on £10k and earning interest over £500 ?




If i do the same calculation but lower the interest rate to 5.0% it says would you need to pay tax on your savings, it states no, i assume this is because 5% of 10k is 500, so either i suck up and pay some tax, or if im using a normal savings account just keep it so the interest earned is under £500
 
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Another savings account question from me, as I am classed as a higher band tax payer,

I have been on the checker sites, and due to my income through work, my personal savings allowance if i were to use a normal savings account (non isa)


I done a quick calculator test based on an example of a £10k deposit in to a normal savings account, when im classed as a higher tax rate payer, example savings account of 5% interest rates



the calculator outcome is


Results​


Amount of savings interest you will earn in 12 months

£500.00

Your PSA allowance

£500.00

Would you need to pay tax on your savings?

No





I assume this means that if i save £10k in such account (normal savings) the first £500's worth of interest will be earned tax free, any interest earned over the £500 will be taxed? is this correct? how much would they typically tax me on £10k and earning interest over £500 ?
Yes, 40% of anything over £500 assuming you're not into the £100k earnings where tax starts shifting again.
 
If i do the same calculation but lower the interest rate to 5.0% it says would you need to pay tax on your savings, it states no, i assume this is because 5% of 10k is 500, so either i suck up and pay some tax, or if im using a normal savings account just keep it so the interest earned is under £500
How close to £100k are you?
 
How close to £100k are you?


Well my taxible income is all work at the moment, and is not fixed its variable due to on call and overtime which adds quite a bit , so far my taxible pay this year (as of Dec 2023) is a tad over the

six


three


all my savings at the moment are in a tax free environment,
 
so either i suck up and pay some tax, or if im using a normal savings account just keep it so the interest earned is under £500
Yes, but if you are going the savings route with everything then paying tax is preferable to earning nothing but if you have so much cash i'd look into S+S etc, cash rarely outperforms inflation long term.
 
Well my taxible income is all work at the moment, and is not fixed its variable due to on call and overtime which adds quite a bit , so far my taxible pay this year (as of Dec 2023) is a tad over the

six


three


all my savings at the moment are in a tax free environment,
The thing to watch then, is that the £500 whilst "tax free" is still considered income.

So basically, it isn't tax free. It is actually taxed at like 60%.

E.g. you earn £100k after pension and deductions (not your gross)
you then earn an extra £500 in interest

That interest is then over £100k, so you lose 50p for each £1 you are over, and the 500 is then taxed at 40% - or effectively, 60% tax.

You're left with £200.
 
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The thing to watch then, is that the £500 whilst "tax free" is still considered income.

So basically, it isn't tax free. It is actually taxed at like 60%.

E.g. you earn £100k after pension and deductions (not your gross)
you then earn an extra £500 in interest

That interest is then over £100k, so you lose 50p for each £1 you are over, and the 500 is then taxed at 40% - or effectively, 60% tax.

You're left with £200.


Really? as reading it, it looks different according to the .gov.uk website


It states you pay tax on anything AFTER your PSA ?




Income Tax bandPersonal Savings Allowance
Basic rate£1,000
Higher rate£500
Additional rate£0



Interest covered by your allowance​


Your allowance applies to interest from:


  • bank and building society accounts
  • savings and credit union accounts
  • unit trusts, investment trusts and open-ended investment companies
  • peer-to-peer lending
  • trust funds
  • payment protection insurance (PPI)
  • government or company bonds
  • life annuity payments
  • some life insurance contracts

If you go over your allowance​


You pay tax on any interest over your allowance at your usual rate of Income Tax.




Surely this means that if i earn interest over the £500 (which would be my current PSA because im a higher rate tax payer), i only pay interest on anything OVER £500 ? not anything up to £500,

I will only pay tax on anything over the £500,
 
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Really? as reading it, it looks different according to the .gov.uk website


It states you pay tax on anything AFTER your PSA ?




Income Tax bandPersonal Savings Allowance
Basic rate£1,000
Higher rate£500
Additional rate£0



Interest covered by your allowance​


Your allowance applies to interest from:


  • bank and building society accounts
  • savings and credit union accounts
  • unit trusts, investment trusts and open-ended investment companies
  • peer-to-peer lending
  • trust funds
  • payment protection insurance (PPI)
  • government or company bonds
  • life annuity payments
  • some life insurance contracts

If you go over your allowance​


You pay tax on any interest over your allowance at your usual rate of Income Tax.




Surely this means that if i earn interest over the £500 (which would be my current PSA because im a higher rate tax payer), i only pay interest on anything OVER £500 ? not anything up to £500,

I will only pay tax on anything over the £500,
You have to declare the £500 as income (separate spreadsheet/maths altogether).

My maths may not be totally correct, i.e. the 40% may not be taken off as it was savings - but the reduction to your personal allowance (an effective 20% tax) will be.

So £500 would mean a reduction of personal allowance by £250, which would then be taxed at 20% - so net gain £450.
 
How much is in your pension?

What I have stated is over an issue if your ADJUSTED NET goes over £100k (i.e., salary post pension, any other deductions).

How old are you?


I have no idea how much is in my pension, I only have a workplace pension, and no private pension, the workplace pensions i had were combined in to one single workplace pension provider now (Legal and General) , im not sure if the value if the pot has dropped ? is that even a thing? Probably not a lot! just checked - forty two k ish

I am 39 years young.

Unfortunately i started a pension in later years, back in the "day" workplace pensions were not a thing and were not auto signed up to, and you had to contribute yourself i think, my first few jobs using them they were only paying 2.5 or 3% and i was not contributing, then i started contributing a bit, now i have joined a company which has a decent default contribution which the employer pays and i can either choose to contribute myself or just let them contribute


I tend to put my own in savings rather than pension
 
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Same. Think I leveraged a rule where H2B rules were updated so in the end I made about £8k across two people in the space of 13 months.

Yes I did the same. Started with HTB on max interest (Halifax I think) then dumped it into LISA. Added the 4k for that year and then again in April.
 
I have no idea how much is in my pension, I only have a workplace pension, and probably not, im not sure if the value if the pot has dropped ? is that even a thing? Probably not a lot! just checked - forty two k ish

I am 39 years young.

Unfortunately i started a pension in later years, back in the "day" workplace pensions were not a thing and were not auto signed up to, and you had to contribute yourself i think, my first few jobs using them they were only paying 2.5 or 3% and i was not contributing, then i started contributing a bit, now i have joined a company which has a decent default contribution.

I thought you were older. Must be mixing up with someone else.

I'm same. My first company didn't have a matching pension. And tbh I didn't think about it. So I only started properly saving late 20s. Can't remember when. Very late 20s.

In a similar position to you as all companies I've worked for have only matched 4-5pc
 
I have no idea how much is in my pension, I only have a workplace pension, and no private pension, the workplace pensions i had were combined in to one single workplace pension provider now (Legal and General) , im not sure if the value if the pot has dropped ? is that even a thing? Probably not a lot! just checked - forty two k ish

I am 39 years young.

Unfortunately i started a pension in later years, back in the "day" workplace pensions were not a thing and were not auto signed up to, and you had to contribute yourself i think, my first few jobs using them they were only paying 2.5 or 3% and i was not contributing, then i started contributing a bit, now i have joined a company which has a decent default contribution.
I think you want to take a look at your full portfolio. If you able to free up 3k a month for savings, if paid into a pension, it would happen "before tax". As a higher rate payer that means you are getting a 40% top-up effectively.
 
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