Best savings account?

Just had an email from zopa

I'm on the flexible cash ISA.



"

We wanted to let you know about some upcoming changes to our Access ISA pot rate.

New customers who open a Smart ISA between 15th January and 6th April 2024 will receive a bonus rate of 0.5% AER*/gross** fixed on top of the underlying Access ISA pot rate.

This bonus rate will be applied to their Access ISA pots until 6th April 2025.
What this means for you
Don’t worry, as an existing customer, you won’t be missing out on any extra interest!

We’re reducing the underlying Access ISA pot rate for new customers only. This means you’ll be earning the same rate as them once their bonus is factored in.

Access ISA pot rates:
Your rate: 5.08% AER (4.96% gross) variable
New customer rate: 5.08% AER (4.96% gross) variable. This is made up of the new underlying rate of 4.58% AER (4.48% gross) variable, plus the fixed 0.5% AER/gross bonus rate
Don’t forget, the underlying Access ISA pot rate is variable, which means it can go up or down.

Just to let you know, the rates in this email are what we’re offering now, but they may change in the future. You can see the exact rate you’re earning at any time in the Zopa app."





Does this mean they will be soon dropping the rate ? IE probably march or April.? Or will it stay at 5.08% as I'm an existing customer ? I may call them tomorrow
 
DJMK4 said:
Just had an email from zopa

I'm on the flexible cash ISA.



"

We wanted to let you know about some upcoming changes to our Access ISA pot rate.

New customers who open a Smart ISA between 15th January and 6th April 2024 will receive a bonus rate of 0.5% AER*/gross** fixed on top of the underlying Access ISA pot rate.

This bonus rate will be applied to their Access ISA pots until 6th April 2025.
What this means for you
Don’t worry, as an existing customer, you won’t be missing out on any extra interest!

We’re reducing the underlying Access ISA pot rate for new customers only. This means you’ll be earning the same rate as them once their bonus is factored in.

Access ISA pot rates:
Your rate: 5.08% AER (4.96% gross) variable
New customer rate: 5.08% AER (4.96% gross) variable. This is made up of the new underlying rate of 4.58% AER (4.48% gross) variable, plus the fixed 0.5% AER/gross bonus rate
Don’t forget, the underlying Access ISA pot rate is variable, which means it can go up or down.

Just to let you know, the rates in this email are what we’re offering now, but they may change in the future. You can see the exact rate you’re earning at any time in the Zopa app."





Does this mean they will be soon dropping the rate ? IE probably march or April.? Or will it stay at 5.08% as I'm an existing customer ? I may call them tomorrow
Click to expand...
They do this as they can pull the bonus from the offered rate with zero notice, effectively lowering the rate on the account for new customers without affecting existing customers who they need to give notice to.
 
Sorry for an ignorant question but what sort of pension funds would you explore say when you retire at 65+?

Suppose you reach that age and take the 25% tax free drawdown but leave the rest invested surely the index funds are more volatile and vanguard retirement funds may have surpassed your age as technically the 2020 and 2025 funds have peaked?

Any pointers in the right direction to research for someone looking to retire but leaving funds in a pension to tick over for a while longer yet?
 
ddoubleep said:
Sorry for an ignorant question but what sort of pension funds would you explore say when you retire at 65+?

Suppose you reach that age and take the 25% tax free drawdown but leave the rest invested surely the index funds are more volatile and vanguard retirement funds may have surpassed your age as technically the 2020 and 2025 funds have peaked?

Any pointers in the right direction to research for someone looking to retire but leaving funds in a pension to tick over for a while longer yet?
Click to expand...

Speak to a financial advisor :-)
 
ddoubleep said:
I knew that was coming :)

Probably the best route.

In a nutshell looking to help father consolidate all his random pensions into one pot and then he can decide what route he wants to take as they currently aren't performing at all.
Click to expand...

It’s just the best option. An IFA will be doing regular exams, have necessary qualifications and will be in the industry around it all the time.


When it comes to your personal finance, you don’t want to get it wrong :-)
 
I invisisge by April I will be close to topping my zopa cash flexible ISA (5.08%) account ..I am planning to leave a £300-£500 buffer in place so I don't go over the £20k tax year limit.. so end of march I may have in £19,500

Hopefully they don't drop the rates for existing customers. When the new tax year starts in April I should be able to continue saving over the 20k limit as it's a new tax year. Anyone else with zopa from 2023-2024 and sticking with it ?
 
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ddoubleep said:
Sorry for an ignorant question but what sort of pension funds would you explore say when you retire at 65+?

Suppose you reach that age and take the 25% tax free drawdown but leave the rest invested surely the index funds are more volatile and vanguard retirement funds may have surpassed your age as technically the 2020 and 2025 funds have peaked?

Any pointers in the right direction to research for someone looking to retire but leaving funds in a pension to tick over for a while longer yet?
Click to expand...
Check out James Shack's youtube videos to help strategise. Also, taking 25% tax free out of your pot up front could be an expensive mistake (this one).
 
ddoubleep said:
I knew that was coming :)

Probably the best route.

In a nutshell looking to help father consolidate all his random pensions into one pot and then he can decide what route he wants to take as they currently aren't performing at all.
Click to expand...

I couldn't find an ifa that would touch my size of pot .over 60k under 100k.
Vanguard was really easy to consolidate all my pots though and you can hold as cash while deciding 3.6% iirc
It's also easy to destroy your fund picking the wrong ones ,even using their age related fund choosing tool.
It pointed me towards bonds just as bonds crashed,I bailed out with minimal loss but the fund lost 12 percent plus that year
 
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ddoubleep said:
I knew that was coming :)

Probably the best route.

In a nutshell looking to help father consolidate all his random pensions into one pot and then he can decide what route he wants to take as they currently aren't performing at all.
Click to expand...

yeah an independent financial advisor is the best route.

but it’s possible to open a SIPP and transfer different pensions into it without it being part of the 25% tax free.

I’m planning to live a long life as we tend to do in our family, so the idea of investing in bonds from the age of 55 isn’t well suited for me. I’m going to speak to my pension companies nearer to the 55 age and ask them not to transfer my pension fund into bonds. Those who can’t/won’t… will likely get transferred to an account that will.
ddoubleep said:
Sorry for an ignorant question but what sort of pension funds would you explore say when you retire at 65+?

Suppose you reach that age and take the 25% tax free drawdown but leave the rest invested surely the index funds are more volatile and vanguard retirement funds may have surpassed your age as technically the 2020 and 2025 funds have peaked?

Any pointers in the right direction to research for someone looking to retire but leaving funds in a pension to tick over for a while longer yet?
Click to expand...

The retirement dated funds doesn’t have to be the actual year you retire. It’s just a date where the index funds have been converted to 100% bonds.

for example, you could have one for 2045 when you decide to switch from full time to part time, another at 2055 when you actually retire but have enough savings to help you get by for a few years and then another for 2060 when you have to rely on it fully. By the 2060 fund maturity, you will have all three funds providing income.
 
Thanks for some valuable input in-regards to a SIPP at 65+
Will explore this further this week to find a local IFA and also to see what possible options he has.
 
Zopa cash ISA peeps or ISA peeps

Chatting to zopa at the moment as I want to clarify .

I can see the 5.08% is available until April 2025 now which is good..

I have £13k in now, opened in Dec 2023 so still in this tax year


In the new tax year in april, can I continue to save In to this account as it's a new tax year ? Or would they have to create me a new Isa accout with a balance of 0? Essentially then having two separate ISA accounts with zopa ?


They are not being clear in the chat and the lines are closed atm.

IE can I have the one account and when the new tax year starts continue saving over £20k?




Zopa said this, can someone confirm?

"You can no longer contribute to an ISA of the same type from any previous years after the new tax year begins."


I asked if I would have to create another isa account with them. They said

Not neccesarily you will have the ISA pots in app but you wont get more than the £20k limit on top of what you've currently invested by that time.

So basically I can't save more than £20k using the zopa ISA?
 
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DJMK4 said:
Zopa cash ISA peeps or ISA peeps

Chatting to zopa at the moment as I want to clarify .

I can see the 5.08% is available until April 2025 now which is good..

I have £13k in now, opened in Dec 2023 so still in this tax year


In the new tax year in april, can I continue to save In to this account as it's a new tax year ? Or would they have to create me a new Isa accout with a balance of 0? Essentially then having two separate ISA accounts with zopa ?


They are not being clear in the chat and the lines are closed atm.

IE can I have the one account and when the new tax year starts continue saving over £20k?
Click to expand...
The bonus rate of 0.5% runs until April 25, the underlying rate is variable.
 
i keep looking at app based saving (yeah i know i am a dole boy now) but keep getting put off by the reviews, especially the 1 star ones where people cant access their money and have to talk with bots, will have a look again through this thread but if anyone can but my mmind at rest maybe ?
 
Has anyone seen any deals on business savings accounts? Currently have an easy access at 3.25% but considering putting someone of that into their 1 year fixed which is 4.5%.
 
Dg834man said:
You should be able to, i have a isa with a different provider and my allowance just reset to £20k on the 6th of april.
Click to expand...

Yeh i had a further chat with Zopa this morning, they confirmed this, i think the initial person i was talking with there was getting a little confused, but they clarified it just resets 6th of april and i can continue paying another up to £20k in the same isa account for the new tax year and I will continue to get 5.08% on the total balance..

Should be able to easily in about 5-6 months get it to a £39.5k balance, 19.5k from this year (2023-2024) and 20k from 2024-2025 tax year
 
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Just had an email from Tandem. They are reducing the instant saver interest rate down from 5% to 4.9% on the 6th March. Looks like there are still some options on MSE for easy access savers >5%
 
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