Top Cash ISAs Discussion Area

leaphaze

gunmaker wrote: »

The answer is in the name of the account. Individual Savings Account.

They can only be held by individuals, not in joint names.

Yes, that right, hence my wondering what "Maximum 1 account holder" actually means.

There's nowhere that they state it's an Account and can only be used for Savings, for instance.:D

KTF

They mean 'maximum one account per holder'. A typo I suspect.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Hi folks, quick question on ISA's...

If the interest on an ISA is paid annually, (i.e. M&S ISA) does that mean I have to keep the money in there for a year?

I am worried that if the rate goes down or a better account comes along, I don't want to be tied into M&S if I have to wait until the end of the year to get the interest.

ejv

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

If the interest on an ISA is paid annually, (i.e. M&S ISA) does that mean I have to keep the money in there for a year?

Interest is calculated daily and will be paid to you pro rata if you transfer out early(but,watch out for any early transfer penalties)

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

I am worried that if the rate goes down or a better account comes along, I don't want to be tied into M&S if I have to wait until the end of the year to get the interest.

Its very unlikely any provider would come up with a sweeter deal after couple of months into the FY.
Best deals come between Feb and June

Consumerist

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

I am worried that if the rate goes down or a better account comes along, I don't want to be tied into M&S if I have to wait until the end of the year to get the interest.

If it's not a fixed-rate ISA, you can always transfer it to another provider. Interest will be paid up to the date of transfer and be included in the amount transferred. The interest payment does not count as part of your allowance.

richdd

Newbie so go easy ...

Martin always says 'if you have savings then you should have an ISA'. What about those of us who have savings as part of an offsetting mortgage? These savings earn the same rate of interest as the current mortgage rate. At the moment my mortgage rate is over 3% - is there any advantage to be gained by moving this into an ISA? I am assuming 'yes' as long as the ISA rate is higher.

DragonQ

I don't know how offset mortgages work but in simple terms...

Short-term, you'll get a better return if the ISA has a higher interest rate (you must take into account tax taken off of your current interest earnings to compare properly - e.g. 3% tax-free is better than 3.5% if you pay 20% income tax).

Long-term, you'll have money that will earn interest tax-free forever (or until you withdraw it) and you'll have used your ISA allowance for the 2012-13 tax year. If you don't use your current ISA allowance by 05/04/2013, you lose it forever.

Consumerist

richdd wrote: »

At the moment my mortgage rate is over 3% - is there any advantage to be gained by moving this into an ISA? I am assuming 'yes' as long as the ISA rate is higher.

Hi Richdd and welcome to the forum.

At the moment there would seem to be nothing to choose between them but what about the future?

Historically, mortgage rates have been higher than savings rates so paying down a mortgage with savings makes sense. However, if an offset mortgage effectively pays the same interest rate on the savings element as you are paying for your mortgage then you will probably be better off, in the long run, by keeping the savings with the offset mortgage.

One drawback, however, is that some lenders have started using such savings as mortgage repayments to reduce the LTV on the outstanding mortgage. If you are saving for a particular purpose, e.g. a holiday, you could suddenly find your holiday money has been used to pay down the mortgage balance without warning.

wrenlegs

This is probably a stupid Q but one that has just dawned on me. Can my husband and I have separate ISAs? I.e. does my husband have an ISA allowance and do I also have one? We had one ISA last year and its only just dawned on me that we could have one each in a tax year

10_66

wrenlegs wrote: »

This is probably a stupid Q but one that has just dawned on me. Can my husband and I have separate ISAs? I.e. does my husband have an ISA allowance and do I also have one? We had one ISA last year and its only just dawned on me that we could have one each in a tax year

You can only hold ISAa in sole names, not joint, so yes, you and your husband can each have ISAs.