I’m glad that we acted fast in opening Cash ISA accounts at the start of the new tax year earlier this month. I though that the rates weren’t great on the 6 April, but we plumped to put our annual allowances of £5,760 into a Halifax ISA Saver Fixed Account which was paying 3%. When I [...]

I’d love to see a radical overhaul and simplification of UK personal pensions, which are currently far too complex and weighted toward the interests of the financial services industry and higher rate taxpayers. I’ll be able to access my stakeholder pension next year. I couldn’t believe that I won’t have the option of a taking [...]

Interest rates on savings accounts seem to be falling on a daily basis. The bonus rate period on our Santander eSaver, currently paying 3.2%, expires in June and our Halifax Reward Saver, currently paying 2.5%, expires in August. I’m also aware that the 3% variable rate being paid on balances between £3,000-£20,000 in the Santander [...]

I’m searching for the best fixed rate Cash ISA savings account. The new tax year began on 6 April 2013 and the annual Cash ISA limit is now £5,760 per person. I can’t even find Cash ISA paying a rate of interest that is equal to the rate of inflation; RPI currently stands at 3.2%. [...]

I’ve been aware for some time that the annual growth rate of 7% used to illustrate the projected value of my stakeholder pension at retiral was far too optimistic. One year the value of my fund dropped, even though I’d paid into it. Now, it would take a mighty big increase in subsequent years to [...]

My husband’s reading a near-future fiction novel about China by Chan Koonchung called The Fat Years. One of the economic policies described in the book is to force savers to spend 25% of their money held in savings accounts. Savers are given vouchers to the value of 25% of their savings, which can only be [...]

Currently, if the firm with which you deposit your savings goes bust,  your savings up to maximum value of £85,000 are guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). I think it’d make life a lot simpler if there was a significant increase in the current £85,000 limit per firm. This is for two reasons. [...]

Update 12 April 2013 – The current Issue 3 of the Cheshire BS ISA Saver pays 2.3%, which includes a fixed rate bonus of  1.8%, payable until 31 October 2014. The Cheshire Building Society is currently offering 2.5% interest on their ISA Saver (Issue 1), made up of 2% fixed rate bonus, until 31 July [...]

With the current low rates of interest being paid on savings accounts at traditional institutions such as banks and building societies making it hard to even maintain the value of your savings, fixed rates of 3.55% for one year and 5.0% for three years with the peer-to-peer lending company RateSetter look pretty alluring. The highest [...]

Making regular payments into my stakeholder pension is leaving me feeling jittery. I can’t accurately gauge what my pension pot will be worth when I want to retire, as its value is dependent on the stock market. In addition, I’m getting an increasingly uneasy feeling that my state pension could be reduced if I have [...]