ISA Accounts

[Karoline]

Ok, i already have a savings account but would like to save more, my supervisor at work said it would be best to have an Isa account . I dont know why , but she said it would..

Does anyone else have one? Who do you have it from??
I have just seen an ad on tv for abbey, which is 4.9% or somethin.
But can anyone suggest a great company that has high interest. I want to keep the money in all the time..
Thanks to anyone that can help ..

[Justcracked]

Hey

As far as I am aware an ISA is just like a normal bank account except you get your interest tax free. I think the most you can deposit is £3000 (into a mini ISA) There is also a maxi ISA (I'm not sure on the pros and cons but check here for more info on both)

Now when I said tax free I meant:

Say you have £3000 at say 4.99%. In a normal bank you would really only get interest of 3.992% (as when you receive interest you have 20% (tax) deducted before you actually receive it "taxed at source" )

So £3,000 in a normal bank for a year (3.992%) = £119.76
In an ISA (4.99%)= £149.7

HTH

[proxi]

I think the going rate is around 5% maximum, or as far as I know love, I'm also looking to open an ISA to stop me importing alcohol from abroad when bored! Halifax are my preferred choice at the moment with 5%, plus I'm moving my general savings account to them next month too. I have a fair bit of savings I just want to keep out of reach for a few years.

There's a guide on ISA rates here love but if you've seen an ad where Abbey offers 4.9% it could be a little out of date

[CzarJunkie]

Most banks now do 'regular' saver accounts where you can deposit up to £250 a month, every month for 12 months, then at the end of the 12 months they dump all the cash into your current account and you start all over again.

These offer anywhere between 7% and 10% gross.

[Little John]

I have an cash ISA with the HSBC there were the best at the time I opened it, I drop £3k in it every april and forget about it untill the following april.

Intrest is tax free, they used to be very good interest rates 5-6% but they have droped off slightly to 4-5% but it is still better than my .1% savings with the TSB. you can get a full ISA whihc allows deposits of £7k per year but that involves shares and other stuff you can still only put £3k in cash in it.

There are proberbly better accounts out there now like CJ said giving better interest rates for monthly deposits. maybe check moneysavingexpert.com I think they have a guide ot ISA's and other bank accounts.

[Nikki]

cheers for this. im being looking into getting one, without spending all the cash before hand.

[Mule]

I just use an ING savings account at 4.5% but CJ is right, the real moneys in the regular savers accounts.

[Crags]

Your best bet is to chat to your financial adviser (or find one lol) who may be able to do you a good deal.

My FA has a scheme going with Prudential, that offer him a 9% return on anyone moving to a MaxiISA with them. So basically, every year, he takes all the money out of the Maxi ISA, and moves it to another one, gaining the 9% extra on the savings, keeping 5% and passing the remaining 4% onto me. Means in reality I'm making more like almost 10% a year on the 9k i think it is rather than just 5. something.

Not sure of the intricacies of it though, so don't ask me - speak to an FA lol

[TheFincher]

I know that if your a Barclays customer they are offering you 10% interest through there savings account........ I though it was a good deal although i hate Barclays!

Like i say you must be an existing customer to qualify