Buyers Guide: Cash ISAs

INTRODUCTION The plight of savers during the current "credit crunch" and recession has been well highlighted. The cut in the Bank of England base rate to 0.5% since March 2009 has seen the interest earned from cash savings diminish and has given a massive financial headache to savers who were reliant on this money. However, all is not completely lost. You can still earn a fairly reasonable return on your hard earned money by using up your cash ISA allowance. The review below describes in detail about: - Cash ISA's in summary; - The ISA allowances; - Types of cash ISA's; - ISA interest rates; - Transferring ISA's; ...  Read the complete review

Cash ISA's These things are great, they are savings accounts in which interest you earn you don't have to pay tax on, meaning you get more of your interest back! A basic taxpayer pays around 1/5th of the amount of their savings interest in tax, and a high rate taxpayer pays about 2/5ths! This doesn't sound like much but over time this can mean big bucks being handed over to the taxman, and why should they earn tax on money that you have saved? epecially if you have already paid income tax on this money?! Each year you are allowed to save £3600 into a cash ISA, but if you remove any of this money it can't be put back in. So remember the golden rule ...  Read the complete review

I have heard it said that "the reward for saving your money is being able to pay your taxes without borrowing", but in my experience the reward for saving your money is often to pay a chunk of anything you earn on it straight to the taxman before you ever set eyes on it. While savings interest may not rank as one of this country's most unpopular taxes (we apparently hate inheritance tax, stamp duty and fuel duty a whole lot more) it is still not much fun effectively being charged for your prudence. This is why I like ISAs so much - they allow me to save money and keep all of my interest without HM Revenue & Customs taking its slice of the profits. This ...  Read the complete review

Hands up how many folks had a bet of the Grand National at the weekend. I’ll bet it was a few of you. Well, investing can have similar considerations to betting and you need to decide how much certainty you want. I mean, how exciting would it be if you knew which horse was going to win the race? I’ll wager that some folks would love to know the eventual outcome and go and bet all of their hard earned on the jockey with the blue outfit riding Nessie the Nag. Saving money can have the same connotations. You can fix the odds or take a punt and see what happens with interest rates over the short, medium or long term. This review focuses on just one area ...  Read the complete review

The Government in it's infinite generousity has allowed every adult resident in the UK a tax break on their savings in the guise of the ISA or Individual Savings Account. Everybody should have one of these account as the rates are generally good and any interest is tax free. There, that's an ISA, at least a mini-cash one! Really a lot has been said about ISA's and it has confused a lot of people, at least those I have spoken to. The main advise I can give is to shop around for the best rates, but also check the small print. The Government have awarded the CAT standard to ISA's which comply with certain guidelines, CAT standing ...  Read the complete review