Considering Ive just got a job I decided it would be nice to save some in the form of an ISA. Can someone recommend me a mini cash ISA with good rates please. Im a bit of a n00b when it comes to stuff like this.
I setup an Abbey ISa along with an Abbey e-Savings account so that I could syphone money from my wages account into the e-savings account. then when the amount in savings hits ~Ã,£500 I bung it into the ISA (upto a maximum of Ã,£3k per year).
The rates were fantastic with the Abbey a couple of years ago but I think they have fallen inline now. Your best bet is to look at all the deals online.
As a general guide Ive always found the following site to be a damn good source of info for this:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
ING and abbey had good rates when I last looked but not checked for a while. The best deals will be on that site in the savings section Im sure:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings
Didnt look deep but a couple of articles down is one called "The Best Mini-Cash ISA":
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1077487692,12362,
Quote* The Top Payer (needs Ã,£1,000 to open it). For a top rate, the National Savings & Investments (NS&I) Direct ISA pays 5.05%, and this rate is guaranteed to be 0.55% above base rate until 5 April 2008. So you can put your money here and be assured of a decent rate without hassle for a couple of years.
The only negative with this account is you need Ã,£1,000 to open it and every deposit or withdrawal must be at least Ã,£250.
Alternatively Bradford and Bingley?s 5% paying e-Savings ISA again requires Ã,£1,000, but you can make no-notice, no-penalty withdrawals of any amount.
* The Top Payer (needs Ã,£1 to open it). If you can?t manage the Ã,£1,000 minimum balance, or want a branch or postally operated account, go for Kent Reliance Building Society?s Direct ISA
And links to a daily ISA comparison service:
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/ISA/Default.asp
^^^ wot he said tbh..
moneysavingexpert is a very good site.
Just one thing though - if you dont need instant access to your savings and so can save long term then it might be worth looking at the stock market - maybe just invest in a tracker fund - historically equities have beaten cash over the past 100 years or so.