ISA virgin advice

[singhr]

I realise I am probably the last person in the world to have an ISA, allways having prefered to spend any spare cash on wine, women and song. This year, the mighty Singhr corporation has posted a tiny profit and there is some cash left over. With a complete mistrust of all things stock market, very little financial savvy, and with appalling interest rates I find my pen hovering over a one year fixed rate cash ISA. Am I or being a

[d000hg]

If you want to save it, just stick it in a cash ISA. You might get 2-3% interest. You need to make sure the rate doesn't drop to 0 after a year, or, simply switch it next year which is totally normal.

I just got one with Santander. Compare Santander Cash ISAs
It shows up as a regular online bank account, you can even take the money out and spend it.

[MarillionFan]

I realise I am probably the last person in the world to have an ISA, allways having prefered to spend any spare cash on wine, women and song. This year, the mighty Singhr corporation has posted a tiny profit and there is some cash left over. With a complete mistrust of all things stock market, very little financial savvy, and with appalling interest rates I find my pen hovering over a one year fixed rate cash ISA. Am I or being a

I'll double that 5K for you. Just let me have your account number and sort code and I'll do the rest.

Money back guarantee

Old Greg

[VectraMan]

2 years ago I put £3K into a cash ISA, and £4K into a stocks and shares ISA, as was the limits at the time. The cash ISA of course did pratically bugger all with the way interest rates have been; the stocks and shares one promptly plumeted to be worth about £2K in 6 months, but climbed back and now is up 20% over 2 years.

Of course if I'd been clever enough to put money in at the low point, it would have more than doubled in 18 months.

I think the moral of the story is, as long as you can keep a cool head and look at it long term, the stocks and shares approach is always better, even if there's a recession. But YMMV.

[wurzel]

I realise I am probably the last person in the world to have an ISA, allways having prefered to spend any spare cash on wine, women and song. This year, the mighty Singhr corporation has posted a tiny profit and there is some cash left over. With a complete mistrust of all things stock market, very little financial savvy, and with appalling interest rates I find my pen hovering over a one year fixed rate cash ISA. Am I or being a

I'm in the same boat as you - I'm useless when it comes to financial matters. Here's a person who took out a 3 year fixed rate mortgage in June 2008 at 5.75%

The way I see it with interest rates being so low & inflation so high you'll still end up in real terms with less than what you started off with if you invest in a cash ISA. You're better off investing it elsewhere. I'm thinking of something tangible like wine or fine art.

I've also got a company pension scheme but I'm only really investing in that when I'm caught by IR35 to avoid paying too much tax. Problem is, when I throw money at that I really feel like it's vanishing into the ether - I never have a clue how my funds are performing because I'm too thick (or too lazy) to understand the bollocks they send me through the post every year.

[d000hg]

You can get as high as 5% if you lock-in. Regardless a savings account might equate to a small real-world depreciation BUT this is known in advance. Anything else is much higher risk... put money you can afford to lose in stocks or commodities, put money you rely on somewhere safe.

If you really don't need the money even medium-term, throw it in a pension.

[TheFaQQer]

Top easy-access deal is Santander's Flexible ISA (issue 3) which pays 3.3% AER and tracks UK base rate for a year. The AA's ISA pays a higher 3.35% AER (min £500), but doesn't track.

Top 1 year fix is 3.3% (Bank of Cyprus, not covered by UK bust bank protection). Nationwide do 3.1% fixed, and you're only allowed one deposit. Santander does 3.7% fixed for two years.

[PAH]

Is fixing over a year or few a good idea if there's a chance interest rates could rise significantly during the period?

I see that the monthly BOE interest rate review is gradually getting more backers for a rate rise, so if that carries on we could see some movement upwards soon, which would be great for savers on variable rates.

[Dearnla]

I wouldn't recommend longer than a year in a cash ISA, as interest rates are bound to rise and there will be better offers this time next year. Or, go for the one that tracks base rate -
take a look at Money Saving Expert: Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more

[singhr]

Is fixing over a year or few a good idea if there's a chance interest rates could rise significantly during the period?

I see that the monthly BOE interest rate review is gradually getting more backers for a rate rise, so if that carries on we could see some movement upwards soon, which would be great for savers on variable rates.

Thanks for all the advice. I was really tempted by the double your money offer but in the end went for fixed rate 1 year cash isa (just finished clicking the buttons online). I'll report back in a years time.