Get an ISA now
Okay, each week I’m going to be plucking a plum financial deal from the monetary cybersphere that I think subscribers and readers to Walletwatcher should be getting into. Sometimes they’ll be excellent savings accounts, sometimes a particularly interesting credit card deal, and sometimes a source of free money or other giveaways … hard to believe but yes they are out there. But this week, being a once-a-year occasion, the end of the financial year, there are some particular things you should be looking out for. Our financial deal of the week is ‘ISAs’. Yes all of them. If you did nothing else you should ensure that you have used your ISA entitlement as it’s one of the very few tax-free savings vehicles UK Government gives you. If you have no idea how they work or even, shamefully, you’re not entirely sure what an ISA is, then read my idiots’ guide to ISAs. Okay, I’m assuming you’re back now, suitably fired up and with your credit and debit card at the ready, so where do we start?
With shares looking very volatile just now, cash is looking safer than ever before, but that doesn’t mean you should be earning zero interest on your ready money. There are some excellent deals on cash ISAs just now, with some of the banks and building societies offering rates north of 6.3%, and these could look even better with the Bank of England set to cut the base interest rate still further this year. Watch out of course for conditions on whether your ISA account is fixed or variable rate. Check out more cash ISA best buys here. The other type of ISA is of course the share ISA, and it would be foolish not to use your allocation … providing you’re investing for the long term. Even the most volatile of markets shouldn’t be a problem for a broad basket of stocks held over the long term. Check out share ISA providers here.
