Savings advice

loverington

Hi, I'm a complete novice when it comes to savings,

So I'll try and be brief, basically I have £5000 in an isa with hsbc, I pay about £700 per yer into it, but only get 66p interest on the £5000 per month, is this ok? or should I change it to somewhere else or another type of savings account?

I had a look on some comparsion website but completely got lost with the aer, apr etc of it all.

I just would like the most interest I could get on my savings I know its not a huge amount but every little helps! Any ideas?

Lokolo

Well find out the interest rate on the current HSBC ISA you have.

Look for another one which pays more interest.

There you go... simple as that.

AER stands for annual equivalent rate or words to that effect. So if they are all AER you are comparing like to like.

Sceptic001

66p per month on £5k is a terrible rate (less than 0.2%) but sadly not unusual on old ISA accounts.

Check out the best rates (around 3%) here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/cash-isa-transfers

Don't close your existing ISA - make sure you TRANSFER your ISA to the new provider using the correct procedure. This ensures it keeps its tax-free status.

loverington

Do you know how easy it is to transfer? Do I have to open a current account with a new provider or can I just straight forward transfer it over? Thanks

Baldur

loverington wrote: »

Do you know how easy it is to transfer? Do I have to open a current account with a new provider or can I just straight forward transfer it over?

In general, you simply select a new provider that accepts ISA transfers, complete their transfer form and they must arrange for the transfer to take place, not you.

Lokolo

It's not a straight forward transfer.

The best ISA allowing transfers is :

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/cash_isa/cash-isa.htm
But you must have a current account. If you don't the next and don't want one best one is

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/accounts/cash-isas/isa-direct-reward/

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To transfer to the Halifax one:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/accounts/cash-isas/transfer-your-isa/

Follow those instructions. When you open you should not deposit any money into the ISA, fill out the form and send it, they will do the transfer for you.

VT82

No point messing about with transfers if there is only £5k in it and only adding £700p.a.

Might as well withdraw and pay into the highest ISA for new money only. Is Santander still doing 3.3% with a base rate guarantee?

Only problem would be if you have already put some money into this one since the 5th of April.

TheMatrix_2

Just opened up a AA ISA staight away no problems. I did not go with Santander following all the bad publicity it's getting and issues about transferring out from them after their rates fall.