Savings

If your money is set aside for the long term, amazing things could happen. Whether you invest in the stock market or keep your cash in a savings account, any money that you can set aside for the long haul gives you an advantage.

When the Bank of England halved the base rate from 0.5% to 0.25% in August, most banks cut to new, low interest rates on their savings accounts and cash ISAs too. Some cut them almost immediately, while other cuts are only being felt today, months after the Bank of England’s move.

If you’re made redundant, you have more pension options than you might realise. Being made redundant is an upheaval and it’s not fun, but one thing that you can sort out relatively easily is your workplace pension.

Do you hold premium bonds? Your chance of winning just nose-dived.

The new Lifetime ISA has sparked a lot of interest, especially among younger people. It also provides an opportunity for the canny older investor looking to help the next generation now and minimise the amount of inheritance tax their estate pays one day.

The Innovative Finance ISA means you’ll be able to invest in peer-to-peer lending platforms without paying any capital gains tax on your returns. Find out all about it and approach it carefully. Armed with the facts, it could be a new way for you to invest¹.

Last year’s Autumn Statement delivered good news for UK savers and investors with the Chancellor revealing that new inheritance rules will ensure ISAs retain their tax benefits when passed on.

Do you know more about ISAs than your bank? In a recent survey by Which?, the consumer group, only 16 out of 180 advisers gave correct answers to all its questions about ISAs. Of the 15 major providers contacted, advisers at National Savings and Investment came top with 72 per cent correct answers. The worst major bank got only 33 per cent.

The bitter Siberian winds aren’t the  only unseasonal thing about the UK at the moment. The banks are also refusing to get into the Spring spirit. The last few weeks of the tax year – the so-called “ISA season” – have traditionally seen household names falling over themselves to attract new customers with eye-catching rates. This year, however, has been a huge disappointment for savers. A brief glance at the best-buy tables for Cash ISAs tells you all you need to know. Even by locking your money away with Halifax for five years at 3.1 per cent, you’d fail to beat the RPI annual inflation rate of 3.3 per cent.