Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

Froggitt

Thinking of putting a maturing cash ISA at 4% or so into P2P ISA.

brewerdave

Froggitt wrote: »

Thinking of putting a maturing cash ISA at 4% or so into P2P ISA.

I know it was discussed after last year's budget -but are any P2P ISAs yet available ??

brewerdave

jimjames wrote: »

If you want 5% and 6% accounts then don't bother with cash ISAs, use current accounts and regular savers

...got a couple of Santander 123 accounts already filled. Just thinking of keeping the tax free status on the maturing accounts:)

Froggitt

brewerdave wrote: »

I know it was discussed after last year's budget -but are any P2P ISAs yet available ??

Dunno. I emailed Zopa and Ratesetter at the weekend.

jimjames

brewerdave wrote: »

...got a couple of Santander 123 accounts already filled. Just thinking of keeping the tax free status on the maturing accounts:)

Tax free seems pointless to me if you can get a better return and pay tax. If it's long term money then I put that in a S&S ISA. Either way for me at least, I can't see any need to have a cash ISA.

Consumerist

jimjames wrote: »

. . . If it's long term money then I put that in a S&S ISA. Either way for me at least, I can't see any need to have a cash ISA.

In the present climate, cash ISAs don't seem that attractive but if you're thinking longer-term and you don't fancy the risks of the stock market then there is still a place for the cash ISA.

How long will 3%+ interest rates be available on current accounts? When (if) savings rates improve then you need to consider how long it will take you to pile your cash into ISAs. If you've less than about £30k in savings then it will only take a year max to pile it in but if you've more then you could be paying tax on it for some time.

It's a question of jam today or jam tomorrow, in my view.

Froggitt

brewerdave wrote: »

I know it was discussed after last year's budget -but are any P2P ISAs yet available ??

Zopa......

We are preparing to offer the new ISA from as early as possible in the new financial year - ideally from the 6th April. However, as with all other P2P platforms, we await full regulatory permission before it can be offered. We will absolutely get more definitive news out as soon as we possibly can.

To get money into the ISA wrapper with us it has to be available as cash. You will be able to utilise existing Zopa funds but the terms surrounding that are tbc. External cash can of course come on to the platform as well and we will accept existing cash and stocks & shares ISAs from previous years as well, but perhaps in a controlled volume as we cannot flood the platform with too much cash at once.

jimjames

Consumerist wrote: »

How long will 3%+ interest rates be available on current accounts? .

4 years ago people said it was a short term gimmick. I can't see any immediate change. So that's 4 years plus of at least double or triple the return by using current accounts not ISAs.
7 years ago the consensus was that interest rates would soon rise. I can't see that happening either.

gwapenut

It's just worth bearing in mind that for a higher rate taxpayer, you can barely exceed putting a year's ISA allowance in current accounts before the extra returns become negligible currently (and negative just one year ago).

masonic

Consumerist wrote: »

How long will 3%+ interest rates be available on current accounts? When (if) savings rates improve then you need to consider how long it will take you to pile your cash into ISAs. If you've less than about £30k in savings then it will only take a year max to pile it in but if you've more then you could be paying tax on it for some time.

It's a question of jam today or jam tomorrow, in my view.

It's no longer a question of either/or anymore. With the fully flexible ISAs your money only needs to visit the account once a year, as the tax year rolls over, to preserve the ISA status, so you can get the best of both worlds.