Type of Account | Features |
Instant Access Accounts | A good place to save emergency funds.They can pay more interest than a normal current account, and you can access your funds when required. |
Regular Savings Account | For saving a regular amount of your income. There are limits on how much you save and take out, you are likely to get a slightly higher interest rate. |
Fixed-Term Deposit Accounts | For saving money for a fixed length of time. A fixed rate of interest is set in advance, so you know exactly what your return will be. |
Index-Linked Accounts | Similar to fixed-term accounts, but the interest rate changes in line with inflation – you won't necessarily know the exact final return. |
Cash ISAs | A way of saving money TAX-free. You get an annual allowance. A Cash ISA is normally a simple savings account. You can get a Cash ISA from the age of 16, or a Junior ISA for under 18s. |
• Banks and building societies are no longer providing face to face advice – insurers pulled out of the same service years ago leaving many people left on their own in need of ongoing advice. This applies to not just pensions but also investments such as Bonds and ISAs. • Bonds and ISAs incur annual management charges just like pensions – modern platforms for ISAs can be far cheaper than the traditional ISA whilst also providing a far broader range of investments funds which in turn provides greater levels of growth. • ISAs can be transferred from one provider to another just like a pension, Bonds can be surrendered (the majority of which are penalty free these days) and placed into an ISA for tax efficiency purposes as well as increased fund choice, performance ,and improved management. However, the surrender of a bond can be complex – in some circumstances, it may not be feasible. • As an example – someone has previously received advice from Lloyds - they will have arranged a Scottish Widows ISA offering approx. 20 different investment funds whilst incurring an annual management charge of approx. 1.5%. Their money will be placed into the Scottish Widows Mixed Fund (all of it) which is predominately invested in the UK. As an example you could possibly transfer an ISA to the Aviva Platform where they will have access to over 1400 investment funds (including Scottish Widows Funds), reduce the annual management charge to approx. 1%, place your investment into a wider portfolio of global funds with reduced risk via increased diversification with the added benefit of improving future performance whilst gaining ongoing servicing and advice which you no longer receive from the bank. • Meeting with a financial adviser could improve the performance / reduce risks / reduce the costs / consolidate your investments to give you a better outcome.
Book a review