Top Cash ISAs Discussion Area

Crabman

Liz_Curry wrote: »

I've got £3,000 to put into an ISA in this tax year (yr ending 5th April 2008). I'm slightly confused about what to do with it. Is your advice to put it into the exisiting Barclays Cash ISA for this tax year? If yes, will I then miss out on the 6.5% interest rate for the 2008/09 tax year? Or can I transfer it over after 5th April? From the literature it doesn't look like I can...

Any advice anyone?

Thanks

Assuming you have the cash available to do so, you could deposit £3000 into the Barclays Tax Haven ISA at 6.5% for this year then after 6th April you could then deposit a further £3600 to use up next year's allowance and of course you'd get the 6.5% rate.

After one year when the rate drops you could then transfer the ISA to a new provider, whichever has the better rate at the time

Lindsay-Lou

Thanks Crabman,
but given that I've been saving in ING this tax year surely i cannot open the Barclays one before April 6? (sorry if my first post wasn't clear).

I suppose my real question is: apart from maximising interest (i guess i just need to compare what i'd get with the best transfering isa compared to leaving the ing alone and opening the Barclays one for for 08-09 tax year ) is there any other considerations to be taken into account?

Crabman wrote: »

If you're absolutely sure you won't need to use what remains of your £3000 allowance this tax year (before 6 April 2008) then you could do that and open the Barclays 6.5% account.

After the first year you'll need to ditch Barclays as the 1% bonus rate will end so at that time you could find the best buy provider that accepts transfers in.

big-azza

Im student and i have got 3K just lying in my yorkshire bank earning me a couple of quid. What i want to know is if i deposit the 3K in to a mini cash ISA tomorrow (for example the a&l 6.25% one) when will the interest on that get paid. Is it April 09 or April 08

Thanks

Confused Student

Crabman

Lindsay-Lou wrote: »

Thanks Crabman,
but given that I've been saving in ING this tax year surely i cannot open the Barclays one before April 6? (sorry if my first post wasn't clear).

I suppose my real question is: apart from maximising interest (i guess i just need to compare what i'd get with the best transfering isa compared to leaving the ing alone and opening the Barclays one for for 08-09 tax year ) is there any other considerations to be taken into account?

Ahhh, you already have an ISA this year - in that case you could pay whatever is left of your allowance into the existing ING ISA then and then transfer to whichever account you prefer (see cash isa transfer article for best buys).

After 6th April you'd be free to open the Barclays account with the full £3600.

You asked about other considerations - be aware that after a year the 1% bonus on the Barclays ISA account expires so that will need to be transferred if you want to keep getting a decent rate of interest

Crabman

big-azza wrote: »

Im student and i have got 3K just lying in my yorkshire bank earning me a couple of quid. What i want to know is if i deposit the 3K in to a mini cash ISA tomorrow (for example the a&l 6.25% one) when will the interest on that get paid. Is it April 09 or April 08

Thanks

Confused Student

Interest on the Alliance & Leicester Direct ISA account is paid into the ISA account annually on 1st January, see here for details:

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/savings/index.asp?page=direct-isa&ct=savingshome

Sarahcat

:T I think my questions just been answered.
But to clarify in my mind!

I went onto A&L to transfer my ING ISA but would need to open an account with this year's £3000, which is in ING!

So I obviously have to wait until 6th April, open my A&L ISA with £3600 and then get them to transfer my 07/08 ISA from ING.

Hopefully that's right.

S.

Crabman

Sarahcat wrote: »

:T I think my questions just been answered.
But to clarify in my mind!

I went onto A&L to transfer my ING ISA but would need to open an account with this year's £3000, which is in ING!

So I obviously have to wait until 6th April, open my A&L ISA with £3600 and then get them to transfer my 07/08 ISA from ING.

Hopefully that's right.

S.

No need to wait until 6th April - a transfer won't affect this year's allowance so you could open the A&L account and start the transfer from ING into the A&L Direct Saver ISA (using this form).

alnorris

Hi everyone,

This is my first time on the Forum, so please be gentle with me!!

My mom passed away last year and has left £6k between my two kids (aged 9 & 5). I want to invest it wisely for them and feel that an ISA would be the best option. However, I'm a little confused! I'm aware that the current ISA tax year ends on 5th April. Therefore, would it be best to invest £3k in two ISA's now before the end of this tax year (me and hubby could have one each)? Then, are we allowed to top that up each month from the new tax year or is £3k our complete limit? Or, are we better off waiting until new tax year and investing a little each month to reach our limit that way? At the moment, I'm looking at the A&L online Direct ISA at 6.25%.

Hope you can help.

Thanks,

Anne
x

King_Weasel

Welcome, alnorris.

The first thing to say is that your children are too young to have ISAs in their own name. If, as you imply, the money was left for them and not for you it may not be possible to open ISAs in your names. I don't know the answer to this, but maybe someone who does can clarify this. Maybe you should get your own advice, perhaps from the solicitor that dealt with the will. (I'm assuming there was one or the money would presumably be yours, not your children's.)

The next question to resolve is whether you want to INVEST the money or SAVE it. Investment involves some degree of risk, for instance, through shares, while with savings the capital is safe. If your timescale is ten years or more, conventional wisdom says you can expect more by taking the risk of investing but there are no guarantees and shares aren't worth it if they will only cause you worry every time they take a dive. (By the way, I don't mean owning shares directly as £3K each is too small to give you a good spread, so I would recommend considering a fund or two.)

Finally, coming back to ISAs, if you mean a cash ISA then £3K is your limit each for this year, but it's £7K for a stocks & shares ISA. Next year you can start all over again, when the limits are slightly higher.

Hope this kicks things off and people with more expertise than I can give you more guidance.

ukdutypaid

alnorris wrote: »

Hi everyone,

This is my first time on the Forum, so please be gentle with me!!

My mom passed away last year and has left £6k between my two kids (aged 9 & 5). I want to invest it wisely for them and feel that an ISA would be the best option. However, I'm a little confused! I'm aware that the current ISA tax year ends on 5th April. Therefore, would it be best to invest £3k in two ISA's now before the end of this tax year (me and hubby could have one each)? Then, are we allowed to top that up each month from the new tax year or is £3k our complete limit? Or, are we better off waiting until new tax year and investing a little each month to reach our limit that way? At the moment, I'm looking at the A&L online Direct ISA at 6.25%.
x

Not sure of the rates but I think you'd be better off putting the funds in a special Childrens account (see Halifax). Interest is paid gross anyway, so it would be a better rate than an ISA.

Perhaps not for you, but a Investing the funds, might be a better idea. Certainly given the age of your kids, you're looking at a 10 period there.....

Whole thread on Childrens accounts over here..

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=735217