Clarity about adding money into ISA

Octopusprogram

We want to open an online account to save money. We cannot our regular amounts in, but only when we have spare cash. We don’t necessarily need access. But would like a fair interest rate ? Are we looking at an isa ? No idea! Any support offered would be great
thanks

masonic

Unless you'd pay tax on your interest and exhaust your Personal Savings Allowance then there is no reason to favour an ISA over any other savings account. There may be normal savings accounts are available that beat the best ISA rates. For a typical saver, with only a small amount saved, ISAs are not particularly useful.

colsten

You could have a look at Regular Saver accounts. Despite their name, not all of them require regular deposits. 
 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6106986/regular-savings-accounts-the-best-currently-available-list

Albermarle

We cannot our regular amounts in

In which case look at these :

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/

Ignore the one at the top of the list 'Investec' as there is a minimum opening amount of £10,000. The others will be a lot less.

Octopusprogram

Thanks to all for helpful comments 🙂 very grateful
Was looking at Saga online fixed one year in particular , but couldn’t tell if can add when want to 😌

badger09

Check the T&Cs of the Saga account, but most Fixed Rate accounts allow you to deposit for only a very short time after opening - typically 14 - 30 days. 

Albermarle

Check the T&Cs of the Saga account, but most Fixed Rate accounts allow you to deposit for only a very short time 

From main Saga page for one year fixed rate 

On opening your account, you've got 14 days to pay in all the money you want to save there. You can make as many deposits as you like, up to a maximum balance of £100,000. When the 14 days are up, the account locks down so you can't pay any more in

soulsaver

Albermarle said:

Check the T&Cs of the Saga account, but most Fixed Rate accounts allow you to deposit for only a very short time 

From main Saga page for one year fixed rate 

On opening your account, you've got 14 days to pay in all the money you want to save there. You can make as many deposits as you like, up to a maximum balance of £100,000. When the 14 days are up, the account locks down so you can't pay any more in

But if they're still available you can open a 2nd and a 3rd...?

hermante

An ISA is a setting for all types of accounts. All accounts are either ISA or non-ISA.
ISA or non-ISA has no bearing on the interest rate, how long you are able to deposit money, and whether/when you can withdraw.
If an account is an ISA you don't pay tax on the interest or gains, forever unless the government changes the rules.
If an account is non-ISA you may have to pay tax on the interest. But basic rate taxpayers don't pay tax on the first £1000 of interest. So the reasons to use an ISA are if you will have more than £1000 of interest, or in the future you are likely to have more than £20K per year to save/invest which is likely to generate more than £1000 interest or you wish to move it to stocks and shares in the future.

eskbanker

hermante said:

ISA or non-ISA has no bearing on the interest rate, how long you are able to deposit money, and whether/when you can withdraw.

On the contrary, ISA status does affect withdrawal rights, in that ISA legislation mandates that holders must be allowed to withdraw their money, a condition that doesn't apply to non-ISA accounts.  So, most fixed-rate/term non-ISA accounts prevent withdrawals during the term, whereas the equivalent ISAs have to allow it, albeit they'll usually impose penalties for doing so.

Albermarle

But if they're still available you can open a 2nd and a 3rd...?

You can open a fixed rate ( non ISA ) account , make a deposit . Then open another one, say two months later and make another deposit. However the interest rates on offer vary and you can only have the interest offer prevailing at the time you open the account ( and usually for 14 days afterwards but not always) . The interest rates vary with market conditions and different providers have different marketing strategies.

For example three weeks ago I started a two year fixed ISA @1.45% and there were a few providers with the same rate. A week later there was only one provider @1.45% and the best you can get now is1.35% . The one I went with is now 1.1% for new accounts ( presumably they had enough inflow of money for now)