Top Cash ISAs

soulsaver

cslogg said:

Thanks for the calculations refluxer thats great help.
We are both pensioners so I assume our tax situation is fairly common.
We would prefer receiving the interest monthly as it supplements our inome.

Open a NW Flex account before you close everything there. Then deposit a nominal £100 (?) in it and that will keep your membership continuous & thus entitled to a bung in the event it converts.

Then do what you like with the ISA.

I think you'd need to have been a continuous member now for maybe 25 years or more to have avoided signing the 'gifting proceeds to charity' undertaking.

DJFearRoss

Does anyone know what Cash ISA (easy access type) offers the best rate WITHOUT a bonus* included in the said rate?
If interest rates are likely to go, I'm looking to keep transferring to the highest rate ISA.  Kindly advise on this theory as well.

*these bonuses kind of keep you locked in for 12months.

gwapenut

Don't write off all bonus accounts, it can work to your advantage. It can be a floor if interest rates go down, in other eras, but it does not mean the variable element of your rate won't sometimes go up with rates, such as with tesco internet saver.

Also it doesn't tie you in because you can just leave £1 or whatever the minimum is, in the account to honour the bonus conditions while moving the rest out to a better rate

refluxer

DJFearRoss said:

Does anyone know what Cash ISA (easy access type) offers the best rate WITHOUT a bonus* included in the said rate?
If interest rates are likely to go, I'm looking to keep transferring to the highest rate ISA.  Kindly advise on this theory as well.

*these bonuses kind of keep you locked in for 12months.

Do the T&Cs of the ISA accounts you're talking about definitely include a requirement to hold the ISA for 12 months in order to receive the bonus interest ? As far as my experience of their non-ISA equivalents goes, the bonus interest is either paid out at the end of the bonus rate period (eg. on the 12 month anniversary of opening the account) OR when the account is closed, so I would have presumed that ISAs that include a bonus rate would operate in the same way (swap 'transferred' for 'closed').

If that is also the case for the current top easy access ISAs, then any of those would be available to you. If my presumption is wrong for some reason, then Shawbrook (@0.92%) comes pretty close and is bonus-free, although there are a couple who pay more if you're OK with a Sharia account (Al Rayan) or live in the Bath area (Bath BS) - see here for a list of the top bonus-free Easy Access Cash ISAs.

Another_nerd

Hi, I am one of those few who have saved for my future care home costs, so I might die with dignity and be nicely cared for. Hence I exceed the tax allowance on savings interest (£1000) on my savings accounts. In this day and age, this allowance is miniscule, but that's another topic!!. And of course, I saved from my already taxed income...!
 So for me an ISA is a good way to keep some savings without paying tax on interest. However the interest rates for say a 3 yr fixed term ISA are consistently far below a similar Fixed term savings acct or bond. WHY IS THIS?- anyone shed any light? (or can Martin start a campaign on this discrepancy!??)

So again, I am penalised in some way for daring to have sufficient savings for my old age. Almost says to the average person, don't bother saving, go and spend everything.

eskbanker

Another_nerd said:

Hi, I am one of those few who have saved for my future care home costs, so I might die with dignity and be nicely cared for. Hence I exceed the tax allowance on savings interest (£1000) on my savings accounts. In this day and age, this allowance is miniscule, but that's another topic!!. And of course, I saved from my already taxed income...!
 So for me an ISA is a good way to keep some savings without paying tax on interest. However the interest rates for say a 3 yr fixed term ISA are consistently far below a similar Fixed term savings acct or bond. WHY IS THIS?- anyone shed any light? (or can Martin start a campaign on this discrepancy!??)

So again, I am penalised in some way for daring to have sufficient savings for my old age. Almost says to the average person, don't bother saving, go and spend everything.

If it's a substantial sum of long term money (enough to earn more than £1K in interest), have you considered investing at least some of it instead of saving it, as it'll lose real-terms value to inflation, more so than usual at the moment?

The discrepancy between ISAs and taxable accounts is a long-running gripe, but to be fair, there is some additional admin involved in ISAs and they're not truly fixed term in that access must be permitted under ISA regulations, so neither Martin Lewis nor anyone else is going to get that gap eliminated.

If you stick to savings, just work out the net (i.e. post-tax where applicable) return when comparing accounts, rather than trying to avoid tax as a point of principle....

george4064

eskbanker said:

Another_nerd said:

Hi, I am one of those few who have saved for my future care home costs, so I might die with dignity and be nicely cared for. Hence I exceed the tax allowance on savings interest (£1000) on my savings accounts. In this day and age, this allowance is miniscule, but that's another topic!!. And of course, I saved from my already taxed income...!
 So for me an ISA is a good way to keep some savings without paying tax on interest. However the interest rates for say a 3 yr fixed term ISA are consistently far below a similar Fixed term savings acct or bond. WHY IS THIS?- anyone shed any light? (or can Martin start a campaign on this discrepancy!??)

So again, I am penalised in some way for daring to have sufficient savings for my old age. Almost says to the average person, don't bother saving, go and spend everything.

If it's a substantial sum of long term money (enough to earn more than £1K in interest), have you considered investing at least some of it instead of saving it, as it'll lose real-terms value to inflation, more so than usual at the moment?

The discrepancy between ISAs and taxable accounts is a long-running gripe, but to be fair, there is some additional admin involved in ISAs and they're not truly fixed term in that access must be permitted under ISA regulations, so neither Martin Lewis nor anyone else is going to get that gap eliminated.

If you stick to savings, just work out the net (i.e. post-tax where applicable) return when comparing accounts, rather than trying to avoid tax as a point of principle....

Premium Bonds is an option (not sure if @Another_nerd has them already), providing tax free wins and backed by the finest British government!

canaldumidi

george4064 said:

eskbanker said:

Another_nerd said:

Hi, I am one of those few who have saved for my future care home costs, so I might die with dignity and be nicely cared for. Hence I exceed the tax allowance on savings interest (£1000) on my savings accounts. In this day and age, this allowance is miniscule, but that's another topic!!. And of course, I saved from my already taxed income...!
 So for me an ISA is a good way to keep some savings without paying tax on interest. However the interest rates for say a 3 yr fixed term ISA are consistently far below a similar Fixed term savings acct or bond. WHY IS THIS?- anyone shed any light? (or can Martin start a campaign on this discrepancy!??)

So again, I am penalised in some way for daring to have sufficient savings for my old age. Almost says to the average person, don't bother saving, go and spend everything.

If it's a substantial sum of long term money (enough to earn more than £1K in interest), have you considered investing at least some of it instead of saving it, as it'll lose real-terms value to inflation, more so than usual at the moment?

The discrepancy between ISAs and taxable accounts is a long-running gripe, but to be fair, there is some additional admin involved in ISAs and they're not truly fixed term in that access must be permitted under ISA regulations, so neither Martin Lewis nor anyone else is going to get that gap eliminated.

If you stick to savings, just work out the net (i.e. post-tax where applicable) return when comparing accounts, rather than trying to avoid tax as a point of principle....

Premium Bonds is an option (not sure if @Another_nerd has them already), providing tax free wins and backed by the finest British government!

148 MPs on the government benches seem to have doubts about that!

Though I second your suggestion about PBs....)

simoncorkswill1

Can you put 20k into a stocks and shares ISA and another 20k into a cash ISA in the same tax year ? Or is it just 20k in total in one tax year ? Thanks in advance .

savit4l8er

simoncorkswill1 said:

Can you put 20k into a stocks and shares ISA and another 20k into a cash ISA in the same tax year ? Or is it just 20k in total in one tax year ? Thanks in advance .

No, £20K is the total new money you can put into them in the same tax year whatever the split.