ISA Season Ends Very Soon - Here Are Some Of The Best Mini Cash Saving Rates
March 2006
We've all only got until April 5th 2006 to sort out our ISA accounts. ISAs are tax free saving accounts that enable anyone to invest up to £3,000 in a cash account or a combination of £3,000 in cash and £4,000 in the stockmarket. More adventurous investors can forget about the savings account and invest a total sum of £7,000 in the stockmarket should they choose.
This article however just looks at some of the best mini-cash ISA deals available right now. The phrase 'mini-cash ISA' is used when describing the cash savings part of an ISA. Remember, the maximum allowance is £3,000 but you can open most accounts with just £1. It's also possible and a good idea for many savers to deposit regular amounts into an account up to the £3,000 level, perhaps saving £100 a month etc.
- Halifax ISA Saver Direct - Pays 5% interest per annum (remember it's tax-free interest) alongside unlimited withdrawals with no notice period or loss of interest. Can be opened in the Branch, online or by telephone
- Alliance & Leicester Direct ISA pays 5.2% but 0.7% of this is a bonus which expires in April 2007. If you don't mind moving your money in a year's time then this is a pretty good deal
- The Portman Building Society offers 5.25% interest on its ISA account. Again, this has a bonus of 0.75% BUT it only lasts for 6 months, the deal overall is not as good as the A&L. However, here's a good reason why checking the small print is advisable. The Portman charges a transfer fee of £30 if you want to move you money to a different bank. For this reason we'd steer well clear of it and any other bank that imposes these greedy fees when many of their competitors don't
- Kent Reliance - This is a postal ISA account that pays a steady 4.96% without any bonuses. It's a good rate but the Halifax beats it alongside having branches on most High Streets
Summary
One of the key points with successful management of your money is how organised are you? Are you the sort of person that keeps a close eye on things alongside having time for paperwork? If so then always go for the ISA account with the best interest rate which will normally always include a bonus rate such as the A&L deal above. Then, when the bonus expires do the necessary work to transfer the account to the next best paying provider. Wash, rinse and repeat (don't forget to keep an eye open for those transfer fees)
If you're not that organised or can't really be bothered to squeeze another few pounds out of your savings then always go with the best paying ISA account that doesn't pay a bonus. Right now this would be the Halifax's account, in fact credit to the Halifax because their product has held this 5% interest rate steady for the last few years. It's always nice and refreshing when a bank or building society looks after its clients.
Ultimately though whichever ISA account you choose it will be solid financial step to take.
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