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ker-ching

I have already paid my allowance for this financial year into my old cash isa. Can I transfer this into a new isa?

10_66

ker-ching wrote: »

I have already paid my allowance for this financial year into my old cash isa. Can I transfer this into a new isa?

Providing your existing terms and conditions allow the transfer (ie if fixed there's usually a penalty or no access until maturity), then you can transfer to a new ISA. As long as you keep THIS year's subscription together (ie you can split up previous years' subscription) you can make a transfer. Don't make the transfer yourself (ie don't close the account and transfer yourself), you have to make the transfer through the new provider.

RVM

Hi all,

Like most people i am trying to find the very best ISA to begin saving (its for a deposit on a house and wedding so need every last interest rate!). I have come across the Buckinghamshire Building Society Chiltern Gold Nugget ISA which seemingly pays 3.5% aer on anything over £500, however find it odd that this account isn't recommended anywhere on MSE. So just wondering if there are any huge pitfalls that I am missing??

I see that you have to pay the same each month, which is a little annoying as I would like to put in th max possible, but this often changes.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

bankhater_1965

RVM wrote: »

Hi all,

Like most people i am trying to find the very best ISA to begin saving (its for a deposit on a house and wedding so need every last interest rate!). I have come across the Buckinghamshire Building Society Chiltern Gold Nugget ISA which seemingly pays 3.5% aer on anything over £500, however find it odd that this account isn't recommended anywhere on MSE. So just wondering if there are any huge pitfalls that I am missing??

I see that you have to pay the same each month, which is a little annoying as I would like to put in th max possible, but this often changes.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

i have mine in the cheshire building society, always been a very good rate

dhs87

RVM wrote: »

Hi all,

Like most people i am trying to find the very best ISA to begin saving (its for a deposit on a house and wedding so need every last interest rate!). I have come across the Buckinghamshire Building Society Chiltern Gold Nugget ISA which seemingly pays 3.5% aer on anything over £500, however find it odd that this account isn't recommended anywhere on MSE. So just wondering if there are any huge pitfalls that I am missing??

I see that you have to pay the same each month, which is a little annoying as I would like to put in th max possible, but this often changes.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

With Bucks, you have to put in a certain amount each month and it has to be the same amount. And can only withdraw once.

Nottingham BS pays 5% on it's regular saver ISA, but no withdrawals are permitted. However, you can miss as many payments as you like and change the amount you pay each month if required, making it much more flexible. Branch-based, but possibly only for the process of opening of the account. Bucks is branch or postal based.

The Bucks one looks like a recurring regular saver, so you can't top it up at the end of the tax year. Nottingham Starter ISA allows you to do that in April.

Also, as you can only put in a maximum of £470 a month, for the first month with Bucks, you must only get 3% interest, as it's not over the £500 balance for the 3.5% interest rate to be applicable.

These accounts are also no good if you want to put in a lump sum, which is why they tend not to be as popular.

gaildv1980

Hi,

I have about £4.5K in a normal savings account and wanted to transfer it to an ISA (or more than 1 to accommodate what I have)
BUT I need to withdraw this money out around April/May next year to put as a deposit on a house. Is an ISA the right savings account for me in this case?

Won't I lose my tax-free benefits if I withdraw it and probably get penalised as well?

Thanks for you help - I have looked everywhere but not really gotten a YES or NO answer.

Gail:rotfl:

Spiggle

Hi Gail,

You would be better putting the £4.5k in an instant access variable rate ISA. Look for the best available here. You want an instant access account variable rate - a fixed rate ISA (FRISA) would give you penalties if you wanted to withdraw within the 12 month period (assuming you looked at one year fixes).

Looking at the list the Cheshire BS will give you the best rate at 3.35%.

You won't be penalised for withdrawing at any time from this account and yes, once money is withdrawn it loses it tax wrapper. But if you're using it for a house deposit this makes no difference. The total amount you can put into one ISA in this tax year is £5,640 by the way.

Yes, you would be better putting it in an ISA for the tax free interest.

Hope that helps,
Spigs

mafield

It's all very well having online application forms for Santander, but when they require a mobile number, and do not accept numbers starting with 07411 it is very frustrating, and has never been sorted!

Consumerist

gaildv1980 wrote: »

Won't I lose my tax-free benefits if I withdraw it and probably get penalised as well?

Hi Gail and welcome to the forum.

Just to clarify :-

• You won't be penalised for withdrawing from, or transferring, an instant access ISA (variable-rate). Such penalties normally only apply to fixed-term (normally fixed-rate) ISAs.
• You will not lose the tax-free benefits already earned when you withdraw from the ISA. You will get tax-free interest on the ISA account balance, whatever that is, until the ISA is closed. For example, if you withdraw, say, £3k in December this year, you will get tax-free interest on the full £4.5k until December and then continue to get tax-free interest on any outstanding balance (i.e. £1.5k) until the ISA is closed or the money is withdrawn in, say, April/May next year. If you add money to the ISA (up to £5,640 in total this year) then that money too will earn tax-free interest until withdrawn or the ISA is closed.

uksavergirl

Does anyone have any experience of the M&S ISA? Thinking about the 1 year fixed. I can invest the full amount, but nervous about locking it in for too long in case I need it towards the deposit on a house. I was looking at Santander, but all of my savings are with them already and I want to spread the risk a bit..

I also need one for my husband. Is it better to get a different one - again spreading the risk, or should we just both go for the one we think is best?