ISAs vs Saving accounts etc.

quirkydeptless

I have been using Cash ISAs, but only flexible ones. When rates were better last year, I took the money out and shovelled it into my Regular Saver Merry go round. As they dropped, I moved it back into my ISAs, which with a 1.2% (Tesco with  bonus) and a 1.16% (Family Building Society) are decent enough compared to easy access and I benefit from the tax saving. I could also transfer them into a S&S ISA, possibly even with a switching bonus, but I prefer to have the cash buffer at the moment.

So the advice of "ignore cash ISAs" doesn't apply to everyone, you have to find a way to make them work for you  

coachman12

Zanderman said:

coachman12 said:
may I add that my degree in Economics and Politics never prepared me for some of the comments on these Forums   

Not a very good course then?

PS If you need a course that (I'd guess) explains the different types of ISAs and why there is more to the concept than the bog-standard cash ISA try this brand new one from, er, Martin Lewis himself:  https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/mses-academy-money/content-section-overview

No, not a great course, Zanderman------Edinburgh Uni is certainly no LSE or Oxbridge. And what I learned is probably out of date now anyway. Doesn't time fly ?
Thank you for the old footage of Martin Lewis which makes me sorry I did not use the Open University to better my education. 
I refer you to the recent Martin Lewis video where he says, inter alia, "Cash ISAs are really not worth bothering with" >>>>>>  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4O_vI-1euc
I welcome free exchange of views and argument but don't get caught up in the ethos of several on this thread who never bother with the original poster who started the thread ( as in this case, the O/P couldn't give a monkey's about Junior ISAs or any other specialist ISAs----I think his opening posting was quite clear). I happen to know a great deal about ISAs and in their day they were noteworthy. But I believe there is room for all opinions to be treated fairly .....and at the end of the day, I normally stick to what I feel about the O/P and his/her genuine question, not about pretentious cyberspeak that so many O/Ps, especially newbies, do not want to hear. It's best kept simple, I think : the O/P asks about ISAs vs other savings vehicles and , like Martin says in his video link which I have placed for you in this post, I merely want to answer the O/P with the same opinion as Martin's ( which I believe in ,even if Martin had taken an opposing view)-----"Cash ISAs are really not worth bothering with". And no cyberbullies are going to stop that. I've always regarded you , Zanderman, as one of the decent guys on this Forum and I have no reason to change my view on that. All the best.

grumiofoundation

coachman12 said:

Zanderman said:

coachman12 said:
may I add that my degree in Economics and Politics never prepared me for some of the comments on these Forums   

Not a very good course then?

PS If you need a course that (I'd guess) explains the different types of ISAs and why there is more to the concept than the bog-standard cash ISA try this brand new one from, er, Martin Lewis himself:  https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/mses-academy-money/content-section-overview

No, not a great course, Zanderman------Edinburgh Uni is certainly no LSE or Oxbridge. And what I learned is probably out of date now anyway. Doesn't time fly ?
Thank you for the old footage of Martin Lewis which makes me sorry I did not use the Open University to better my education. 
I refer you to the recent Martin Lewis video where he says, inter alia, "Cash ISAs are really not worth bothering with" >>>>>>  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4O_vI-1euc
I welcome free exchange of views and argument but don't get caught up in the ethos of several on this thread who never bother with the original poster who started the thread ( as in this case, the O/P couldn't give a monkey's about Junior ISAs or any other specialist ISAs----I think his opening posting was quite clear). I happen to know a great deal about ISAs and in their day they were noteworthy. But I believe there is room for all opinions to be treated fairly .....and at the end of the day, I normally stick to what I feel about the O/P and his/her genuine question, not about pretentious cyberspeak that so many O/Ps, especially newbies, do not want to hear. It's best kept simple, I think : the O/P asks about ISAs vs other savings vehicles and , like Martin says in his video link which I have placed for you in this post, I merely want to answer the O/P with the same opinion as Martin's ( which I believe in ,even if Martin had taken an opposing view)-----"Cash ISAs are really not worth bothering with". And no cyberbullies are going to stop that. I've always regarded you , Zanderman, as one of the decent guys on this Forum and I have no reason to change my view on that. All the best.

If your real aim was simply to inform less knowledge posters (as opposed to arguing for the sake of it and refusing to admit your mistakes) maybe you should go back and edit your posts and change the references to “ISAs” to make it clear you are referring to “cash ISAs” (*for most people)? 

Maybe some people don't have your in-depth understanding of ISAs and therefore maybe specific and accurate information (surely accuracy and specifics were stressed in your degree?) would be helpful to them? 

P. S. someone disagreeing with you doesn’t make them a cyberbully! 

coachman12

I am sure you must be quite right , grumiofoundation. Thank you for your erudite contribution to the happy club that we all enjoy so much. 

d63

i dare say someone has already mentioned this, but another reason why a cash ISA is still worth considering is that if one is looking to get a long term fixed rate account, if something unexpected were to occur you can still get access to your funds albeit by paying some sort of penalty charge, whereas an ordinary typical long term fixed rate account won't let you do that until the maturity date.

masonic

Sometimes there is an incentive that enables one to earn a higher overall return in a cash ISA than a corresponding standard savings account. Sometimes holding a cash ISA enables one to qualify for another financial product from the same bank which is gives more value than the difference in rates. Though this sort of lateral thinking might not be adequately encouraged in university courses.

Yorkshire_Pud

potatobrains said:

Hi All. Do the banks/govt not want us to use cash ISAs any more? The NS&I Direct Saver is 1% interest, their Direct ISA is 0.9%. I've got £45k in a cash ISA, but it seems like it'd be best to move some or all of it out & into something else, and the NS&I ones don't look much worse than the rest. Have people generally given up on cash ISAs & I'm the last to do so? Would putting it all into the NS&I bonds be an even better idea (I've already got some investments in an stock & shares ISA)? I'm a basic rate tax payer & I don't see me getting enough to exceed the £1k interest=no tax barrier. Any thoughts please?

Cash ISAs. That’s CASH ISAs for those that can’t resist bringing in every type of ISA there may be.
Are pretty ungood these days. The banks have helpfully deducted the 25% tax from the untaxed ISA rate so that it makes no difference or you are often worse off with the return for a CASH, that’s a CASH, ISA even if you pay income tax at basic rate.

Previously CASH ISAs had good/fantastic rates mostly, even up to 15%, now they are by comparison absolute rubbish taking in the differential that used to exist between CASH ISA rates and taxable savings rates.
If they work for you great but it’s very hard to see how apart from possibly a few scrapings of cash here and there they offer anything but comparably meagre pickings to the standard savings rates nowadays.
So Martin is right.

potatobrains

I'm sorry if I opened a can of worms! My thread title probably should have explicitly said Cash ISAs, but that was what I was asking about in my first post, as quoted above. Thanks for all the responses. I am in the process of moving my money out of my Ford Money cash ISA (0.85%) to spread it mostly across the ns&i income bonds (1.16%), and Moneybox (1.65% until August, then 1.25%, 90days withdrawl), and a bit into ns&i Direct Saver (1%), my Vanguard S&S ISA.

I'll read the above in more detail later, but just wanted to say thanks & to update folks on my plan, as someone asked.

masonic

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Previously CASH ISAs had good/fantastic rates mostly, even up to 15%, now they are by comparison absolute rubbish taking in the differential that used to exist between CASH ISA rates and taxable savings rates.

I don't remember any cash ISAs offering rates of 15% in the past (the best rate I can recall from when ISAs were in existance is a 12% non-ISA regular saver), but needless to say, anyone offering a 15% ISA today should be avoided like the plague.

coachman12

potatobrains said:

I'm sorry if I opened a can of worms! My thread title probably should have explicitly said Cash ISAs, but that was what I was asking about in my first post, as quoted above. Thanks for all the responses. I am in the process of moving my money out of my Ford Money cash ISA (0.85%) to spread it mostly across the ns&i income bonds (1.16%), and Moneybox (1.65% until August, then 1.25%, 90days withdrawl), and a bit into ns&i Direct Saver (1%), my Vanguard S&S ISA.

I'll read the above in more detail later, but just wanted to say thanks & to update folks on my plan, as someone asked.

No need to be sorry potato. Those of us  who respect newcomers with valid questions like yours are quite used to the can which is permanently open-----you came for advice and got into something sadly all too common here. 
I congratulate you on your choice to dump the poor ISAs ( it was implicit to anyone with your potato brain and my cabbage brain that you meant Cash ISAs in your opening post)  and head towards NS&I. As it is exactly what I have been recommending ( as well as I recommend courtesy to newcomers), I am sure your NS&I will gain for you what little extra interest payments can currently be squeezed from the wilting savings' tree. All the very best and good luck ( and please come back and don't be frightened away----there are some really good people on MSE  )