best option for saving??

emma86_2

hi im new to this site and would appreciate any advice or tips...
basically my husband and i have set a target of saving enough money (at least 15,000) to put down a deposit on a house in the next five years.

We already have 3,000 as a starting block just sitting in a current account.
What sort of savings account would suit us best? heard of isas, high interest accounts amongst others but not sure whats best to do
obviously the higher the interest the better, doesn't need to be instant access

thanks!

lisyloo

What are both your tax rates? 0%, 20% or 40%?

emma86_2

we are both 20%

lisyloo

You are probably best using cash ISAs.
These are tax free, so unless you can find something more than 20% better (unlikely) then it's your best bet.
They are individual so you cannot have a joint account, but you can have one each with an allowance of £5100 each tax year on contibutions.

You could also consider NS&I index linked certificates.
You need to tie the money up for 12 months.
You could get at in before that but you would get no interest.
You are paid RPI+1% on these.
RPI for the LAST 12 months is 4.4% so if you'd have this in the last 12 you'd get 5.4%, however no one can tell you future RPI figures.
Personally I think inlfation will stay high.
We cannot as a nation pay back our debts so we have no alternative but to devalue them. These are tax free also.

But start with the highest cash ISA you can find.

emma86_2

great, thanks for that. i'll have a look on comparisson websites to see who offers the best rate

Lokolo

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=4603369&postcount=1

You can use that instead if you want.