advice gratefully received

jobytc

I'm about to cash in £400 worth of premium bonds and set up my 1st ISA - yes I know how slow I've been

I'll probably try and top up my initial balance to £500-600. I've recently opened a current account with Alliance and Leicester and taken up the 10% linked savings account.

Question: Would I be better off opting for A&L's current 5.2% ISA offer (with an extra 0.7% bonus) given the convenience of already having an A&L account or should I look elsewhere?

I've got no issue with opening up a seperate account with another bank/BS although, of course, it is helpful to have all my eggs in the same basket - but not essential.

My only real concerns are reasonable customer service and access to the money - if possible - avoiding having to pay a fee to withdraw.

Cheers

Joby

grumbler

jobytc wrote:

...Question: Would I be better off opting for A&L's current 5.2% ISA offer (with an extra 0.7% bonus) given the convenience of already having an A&L account or should I look elsewhere? ..

AFAIK it is the best deal at the moment - don't waste time looking elsewhere. When (if) they drop interest rate later start thinking about better deal. You can transfer your ISA to other provider at any time.

jobytc

That's really handy - cheers

meant to say - all other views welcome!

Judi101

I dont know if the A&L Premier Regular Savings account paying 10% gross will let you but if you could pay the £500-£600 in via altering your monthly payments you might be better off in the longer term. Yes you'll pay income tax on the interest but for a basic rate taxpayer that just brings the rate down to 8%, still higher than the ISA rate. You could then transfer the balance of that account into a Cash ISA in 12 months when it matures. Of course thats all dependant on you not already planning to fully fund your 2006/07 cash isa. Look at the terms and conditions of the premier regular saving account in detail though 'cos I am not familiar with it.

Something else to think about anyway.

jobytc

Thanks Judi

In practice I could do that next year - I don't think you can withdraw any money within 12 months without forfitting the 10%. but thanks for the suggestion!

Judi101

I meant you could invest the money you are withdrawing from the premium bonds into the HSBC regular saver account instead of into the ISA getting 8% net as a basic rate taxpayer rather than about 5.2% in the ISA.