ISA help needed please

janiejakemum

Hi

I am hoping someone will be able to help me as i am in a bit of a pickle about my ISA.

I currently have one that runs along side my current account, i can move money very easily when doing internet banking so its great but i dont know if i am getting a very good rate with it. I dont plan on needing the money any time soon but would like the option so i think another ISA is the way to go but i dont know who to go with and how to do it. I understand that i can only put a certain amount into an ISA each year but can i still move the ISA? - i have already put in the maximum amount this year, am i better off moving the one i have or starting with a new one on 5th April?

Thanks for any help.

Lokolo

You can do both...

You can put £3600 each year. Not just once...

If you want to transfer, find one which pays a better rate, and with that bank or building society, fill in an ISA transfer form. You can easily do that.

Then in April, open a new ISA and put more money into that one.

MrExample

Ideally you want to find one that is likely to stay at a decent rate. Then you can put next year's allowance into the same ISA. If you don't know what your rate is with your current ISA, phone up and find out... if the account isn't paying well, move your custom elsewhere.

janiejakemum

I rang up Natwest who i am with and they aren't sure but she thought i was probably getting 4.8%, they advertise a 7% rate at the moment for new customers but she said that isnt even valid at the moment the new rate is only just 6% and continually changing - she didn't really know to be honest but the only way i think i'll be better off is to move to one that is a postal only one and then it takes away the convenience so i'll probably leave it be for now, unless anyone can say any different............

She did help me by suggesting i transfer some of my money into my Direct savings account rather than an old current account, so at least i benefitted a bit from the call.

Rose2White_2

If you want the best from your money with internet access then I would first ask if you are a UK tax payer, if not then you can have tax free savings in a saving account (so long as the interest and any other income you recieve stays below your personal tax allowance for the year), otherwise I would take a look at the best buy savings accounts on the market and weigh these up against the Cash ISA's available, just remember you can transfer your current ISA to a new ISA, but the minute your savings stop being an ISA you are then left with your annual limit of investment.

So if your a tax payer with your limits at risk see if you can find a good Cash ISA that will fill your needs before choosing a savings account. Remember Tax on interest is 20% of the interest earned.

Good luck in which ever you choose.

Mikeyorks

janiejakemum wrote: »

but the only way i think i'll be better off is to move to one that is a postal only one and then it takes away the convenience

Not necessarily? Whilst you may need to initiate the transfer 'postally' via the new provider ..... once the account is set up you can fund most via your online Banking via BACS. It's only if you want to move money out of the ISA regularly that it starts to become inconvenient .. and I don't read that as a requirement from your post?

Have a look at the Moneysupermarket link among the links at the top of this thread. But I operated an ISA for my Mum ..... and found this one quite easy. Not quite the best rate - but sounds 1% above what you're getting now :-

http://www.krbs.co.uk/directisa.aspx

(it does say that all additional deposits need to be made postally ... which isn't the case. Once you have the account details you can set up a bill payment on your current account and then make deposits by BACS)

janiejakemum

Big thanks to everyone that posted to try to help me, I'll have to have a good look at the advice given and see what i think will work the best for me.

Thanks.