UPDATE: Being redundant, have £20k to invest. Please advise.

greenface

keeping your amount of savings to below the threshold of benefit entitlements would be worth consideration

bee252_2

I have ISA's which are only getting 5.45% interest, I'm thinking of removing £15.000 to invest in the NS&I index linked saving certs. That's also tax free and they guarantee 1.35% above the bank basic rate which today is 5.75%. I pay basic rate tax. Would that be a mistake, and if so why ?

Aegis

Why not transfer your existing ISA into a better paying cash ISA? They're generally going to be better paying than 5.75% if you make a good choice, and once you remove your funds from a cash ISA you can't ever get those tax-free benefits back.

They're also linked to the RPI, not the BoE base interest rate.

missile

Would that be a mistake, and if so why ?

IMHO it would be a "mistake" to take money out of your ISA, better to transfer it to a better ISA.

NS&I indexed linked savings certificates are not the "best" option for everyone - index linked and tax free may be a good option for tax payers concerned about inflation erroding the value of their savings.

Soprano

Okay, just an update. I leave end of November and am starting a new job December 10th! So, I'm pretty happy.

The £20k needs to go somewhere for at least a year, with me topping it up each month.

Any other advice other than the posters above?

I would prefer to put the money into a highstreet bank I can walk into and see really exists and not in cyberspace some where

missile

Congratulations, I hope the new job works out.

Most (if not all?) cyber banks are owned by one of the high street banks or building societies. Some choose ISAs, some fixed term savings where the interest is guaranteed and they are not able to dip in to buy that must have new plasma wide screen TV, others keep their cash under the bed. You may want to consider a savings account with Tesco, Sainsbury or Asda.

scottjack

I was going to post a new thread but rather than clog up the board a bit I supposed I can put it in here as the original poster may also use some of the advice.

I've also got 20k to invest and from what I've read I'd be best putting 3k into the best ISA available and then the rest in the highest interest instant savings account as I'd possibly need access to some of the cash within a week.

Is that correct? (Ignore the debt in my sig, that's to be paid off this week and the 20k is on top of that)

dunstonh

I've also got 20k to invest and from what I've read I'd be best putting 3k into the best ISA available and then the rest in the highest interest instant savings account as I'd possibly need access to some of the cash within a week.

Is that correct? (Ignore the debt in my sig, that's to be paid off this week and the 20k is on top of that)

You say invest but then you only mention savings accounts. If you want to invest then you are incorrect. If you want to save then you are fine.

Given your debt, that would be the priority before investing.

missile

I am not sure which of those debts you intend paying off this week, or is it all? What did you do to earn £42,705.28 in a week? Rob a bank?

scottjack

I won a jackpot at an online casino a few weeks back so using it to sort my debt out finally and then "save" the rest so that's why I was asking.

With the settlement figures I've got for the debt in my signature I'd have about 21k leftover although I can live and save extra (around £500/£600 a month) from my wages now that the debt is repaid in full.