Fixed ISA recommendations

pookey

I'm looking to transfer last year's cash ISA to a fixed ISA. Its currently in YBS Loyalty Six ISA at 5.2%

So i need an ISA that's fixed but allows early closure or to remove money. Ideally i don't really need the money but there's a very small possibility that i might. If there's a fixed ISA that is flexible that would be great. So far the best I've seen is the Virgin one at 5.85% that allows withdrawals with 60 days loss of interest. However I've read that a lot of people have had problems with Virgin so I wanted to see what else is available

Thank you

Ocelot

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/isa/3-year-fixed-rate-isas/?quick-links-first=false

All fixed rate ISAs allow you access to your money (with a penalty). None are 'flexible' (apart from easy access ones), allowing penalty-free access to your money, as far as I'm aware.

I've found Virgin Money to be fine.

VNX

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/isas-tax-free-savings

Albermarle

I'm looking to transfer last year's cash ISA to a fixed ISA

To be pedantic both easy access and fixed term are both cash ISA's

Bigwheels1111

Not taken money out of my Virgin isa, but, changed the rate from 5.2 to 5.5% and then 5.55% in the first 3 weeks.
All within each new isa cooling off period.
Took 2 minutes and no issues whatsoever.

Beddie

Virgin are fine, no issues at all. How much money do you have? Why not move some to Virgin and keep the rest on the good easy access rate with Yorkshire, in case you need to draw on it. But if you think you might need all of it you may as well stay where you are.

Assuming you have the maximum in Yorkshire - £20k at 5.2%. The extra over a year in the fix (assuming variable rates don't change) is 0.6% i.e. £120. The penalty if you withdraw would be £192.

Apologies to the pedants if the figures are not quite right, but you get the idea.

pookey

Beddie said:

Virgin are fine, no issues at all. How much money do you have? Why not move some to Virgin and keep the rest on the good easy access rate with Yorkshire, in case you need to draw on it. But if you think you might need all of it you may as well stay where you are.

Assuming you have the maximum in Yorkshire - £20k at 5.2%. The extra over a year in the fix (assuming variable rates don't change) is 0.6% i.e. £120. The penalty if you withdraw would be £192.

Apologies to the pedants if the figures are not quite right, but you get the idea.

I didn't realise i could move part of it, i thought i had to move all of it. 
I have 20k in it but wanted to fix it in case the rates go down. I don't think I'll need the money, but would prefer to have access to it in case of anything. I've got the same ISA for this year too but haven't maxed out out yet. Was thinking to keep that in there for emergencies and fix last year's ISA

35har1old

pookey said:

Beddie said:

Virgin are fine, no issues at all. How much money do you have? Why not move some to Virgin and keep the rest on the good easy access rate with Yorkshire, in case you need to draw on it. But if you think you might need all of it you may as well stay where you are.

Assuming you have the maximum in Yorkshire - £20k at 5.2%. The extra over a year in the fix (assuming variable rates don't change) is 0.6% i.e. £120. The penalty if you withdraw would be £192.

Apologies to the pedants if the figures are not quite right, but you get the idea.

I didn't realise i could move part of it, i thought i had to move all of it. 
I have 20k in it but wanted to fix it in case the rates go down. I don't think I'll need the money, but would prefer to have access to it in case of anything. I've got the same ISA for this year too but haven't maxed out out yet. Was thinking to keep that in there for emergencies and fix last year's ISA

If you have last years allowance available to transfer do a transfer to say Virgin at 5.85 leaving just over £10000 in YBS then transfer the £10000+ to Santander 5.6 + gift card for £50 = 0.5 after a short period

lohr500

Just for info. on the above posts.

Santander 5.6% 1 year fix cash ISA has been discontinued 
Virgin 5.85% 1 year fix cash ISA is only available to Virgin current a/c holders.

pookey

35har1old said:

pookey said:

Beddie said:

Virgin are fine, no issues at all. How much money do you have? Why not move some to Virgin and keep the rest on the good easy access rate with Yorkshire, in case you need to draw on it. But if you think you might need all of it you may as well stay where you are.

Assuming you have the maximum in Yorkshire - £20k at 5.2%. The extra over a year in the fix (assuming variable rates don't change) is 0.6% i.e. £120. The penalty if you withdraw would be £192.

Apologies to the pedants if the figures are not quite right, but you get the idea.

I didn't realise i could move part of it, i thought i had to move all of it. 
I have 20k in it but wanted to fix it in case the rates go down. I don't think I'll need the money, but would prefer to have access to it in case of anything. I've got the same ISA for this year too but haven't maxed out out yet. Was thinking to keep that in there for emergencies and fix last year's ISA

If you have last years allowance available to transfer do a transfer to say Virgin at 5.85 leaving just over £10000 in YBS then transfer the £10000+ to Santander 5.6 + gift card for £50 = 0.5 after a short period

Sorry what do you mean by 0.5 after a short period? 

refluxer

pookey said:
I need an ISA that's fixed but allows early closure or to remove money. Ideally i don't really need the money but there's a very small possibility that i might. If there's a fixed ISA that is flexible that would be great. 

If you want a fixed rate but with the ability to withdraw some cash without penalty, then the Barclays Flexible Cash ISA is a fixed rate ISA that allows up to 3 withdrawals per year (up to a maximum of 10% of the balance each time) and, because it's flexible, any withdrawals can be paid back before the end of the tax year without counting towards your ISA allowance. Another potentially good aspect about this particular ISA is that you can continue to contribute to it throughout the duration of the fixed rate period, which could come in useful if rates continue to fall (if you opened one now, you'd be able to add your 2024-25 allowance to it after 6th April next year)

The downside to this ISA is that the rate isn't the highest (5.45% for 1 year) and, if you needed access to a large amount of the cash, 3 x 10% penalty-free withdrawals means that you'd only be able to withdraw just less than 1/3 of the balance in total without penalty, so you'd have to pay their 90-day penalty if you needed access to more than that. People who aren't current Barclays customers have also struggled to open this account in the past (as a branch visit/appointment is needed) and some have resorted to opening a current account in order to gain access to online banking, where opening the account is much more straight-forward. 

With all that in mind, if you're not already a Barclays customer then you'd have to weigh up whether the ability to withdraw some cash from this ISA penalty-free is worth both the potential hassle involved in opening the account and also the hit you'll take on the rate vs the best currently available elsewhere (you'd be £70 PA better off by going with OakNorth at 5.80% on £20k or £80 better off with Virgin at 5.85% if you're a Virgin customer).