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| DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
| Martin: Cash ISAs are finally getting nicer (nisa?) The top cash ISA rates are up. Good news for the millions with money in these tax-free savings accounts, who should therefore transfer their often poorly-paying cash ISAs to a higher payer. Yet even with rate rises, many who have cash ISAs should ditch them. Let me take you through first whether an ISA is right for you, and if it is, how to boost your rate. The big question - do you pay tax on your savings interest? The personal savings allowance (PSA) was launched in 2016, meaning for basic (20%) taxpayers, the first £1,000/year of interest in any savings is tax-free. For higher (40%) taxpayers, it's £500 tax-free, and top 45% taxpayers don't get a PSA. So for years, with low savings rates, few have paid tax on any savings interest. Yet now, look at this graph...As interest rates have risen, you now need far less in top savings before you pay tax. At one point, over two hundred grand was needed. Today, for basic taxpayers it's £20,000 in the top 2yr fix, £39,200 in easy-access - and halve that for higher-rate taxpayers. And this is where cash ISAs come in... A cash ISA's just a savings account where interest is NEVER taxed. Neither does the interest count towards the PSA. You can put £20,000 in per tax year (so until 5 April), and then once in, it stays tax-free year after year. So if you're over the PSA limit, cash ISAs are a winner, but for everyone else, as they tend to pay less than normal savings, there's LITTLE POINT IN A CASH ISA UNLESS YOU'LL PAY TAX ON OTHER SAVINGS... Below I've lined up the top payers against each other. It's worth noting if you've had a cash ISA for years and aren't planning to use the money soon, fixes pay a lot more...
Already have cash ISAs? Transfer to a top payer. Check what you're earning right now. If it's less, apply for a new cash ISA. Usually as part of the application, you'll be asked if you want them to transfer your existing cash ISA over for you (don't just withdraw the cash to move it, then it loses its 'cash ISA' status). Don't pay tax on savings? Most should ditch existing cash ISAs. I know for years until 2016 many had it drilled into them (often by me) that cash ISAs were nicer - but now people need deprogramming. If you don't and won't pay tax on savings interest, then just focus on the higher rates in normal savings, with two exceptions... - If you're close to paying tax on savings. If you're near the limit, as interest rates are likely to keep rising, keeping money in cash ISAs now can protect you from future tax. - You want to be able to withdraw from fixed cash ISAs (unlike normal fixes). Though there are big interest penalties. Some can boost interest further. Specialised accounts can pay even more if you qualify: - 50% bonus for many on universal credit or tax credits. See Help to Save. - 25% bonus for first-time buyers aged 18 to 39. See Top Lifetime ISAs. - Earn up to 5.25% on smaller amounts if you save monthly. See Regular savings. - Earn 5.12% on smaller savings. See Current account savings. - Prefer to invest? Higher returns, but more risk. See Stocks & Shares ISAs. | |||||||||||||||
| £50 No7 Advent calendar gives £184 worth of beauty & make-up. Including moisturisers, mascara and more. Plus our MSE Blagged code gives 2x Advantage Card points on it till 11.59pm this Wednesday. Boots' No7 beauty calendar New. FREE £50 investment - just put in £50, get £50 cashback. (10,000 available). Robo-investment firm Wealthify gives newbies £50 cashback after 12 months on £50 invested. So open an account, then put your £50 in and wait - even if your investments flop, at worst you pretty much break even. Full info in Robo-investing cashback. Netflix new £4.99 'with ads' monthly plan. Full details including how many ads, how does it compare and more in our Netflix goes commercial analysis. Related: 20+ streaming savers.
131 flowering bulbs for £15 delivered (£70 separately). MSE Blagged. 6,000 bundles available, but it doesn't deliver to Northern Ireland or parts of Scotland. Thompson & Morgan Get 'PAID' to recycle old clothes, make-up, phones and more. It's National Recycling Week (rescheduled from last month), and there are ways to earn while you do your bit for the environment. Incentives include £5+ for old clothes, 'free' MAC lipstick, £296 cash for an iPhone 11 (256GB) and more recycling rewards. New. Top 25 months' 0% spending card now pays £20 cashback. We prefer you don't borrow, but if you need to, ensure it's for a one-off, planned-for purchase. The cheapest way over the medium term is a 0% credit card, and the longest card, Barclaycard's up to 25 months 0%* (use our eligibility calculator to see your acceptance odds), now gives accepted newbies £20 cashback if spending £250+ within 90 days. Golden rules: 1) Always pay at least the minimum monthly payment. 2) Never withdraw cash. 3) Clear the debt before the 0% ends or you pay 22.9% rep APR. Full help in 0% spending cards. Christmas delivery/collection slots open at Asda, Ocado, Sainsbury's and others - hurry as demand's high. See our store-by-store supermarket Christmas delivery slots round-up. Tonight (Tue 8pm) The Martin Lewis Money Show LIVE is back on ITV. Over to Martin: "We're back, with new hour-long shows. Tonight it's energy, mortgages and far more - all the need-to-knows about what's going on right now. Plus a section dedicated to answering your questions. Do watch or at least set the Betamax. PS: I've also the new The Martin Lewis Podcast via BBC Sounds." |
| New. Cheapest MEGAFAST broadband and line deals... If you've a need, a need for (serious) speed, then this week it's all about you. We always tell you cheap broadband is about pouncing on short-lived promo deals, and this week's are both short and (very) zippy. The cheapest is nearly 10 times the speed but half the price many people are on. And you can go even faster, though you pay a lot more for it. Fast broadband is better for households with multiple users, serious downloads or gaming. As a benchmark, the cheapest standard 38Mb fibre broadband & line is '£14/month'. Below we've only included deals available to at least a third of the country. All links go via our Broadband Unbundled comparison tool where you enter your postcode and see what deals are available in your area.
At least 50% of customers must get the advertised speeds at peak times. All providers above also tell you the estimated max speed you're likely to get before you sign up. Switching usually only means about two hours' downtime. You're told the switch time, and most don't need an engineer to set it up - though about 40% switching to Virgin will (you're told before applying), as will those getting ultrafast speeds for the first time. A few leaving Virgin may need an Openreach engineer. Don't want to switch? Haggle. If you want to stay with your existing provider, use the deals in the table above as a benchmark price to help you haggle costs down. Not sure how? Read our full Broadband haggling tips guide. Members of cashback sites can sometimes undercut deals. In some cases, the cashback can mean these sites undercut promos elsewhere, though sometimes the deal differs - so check carefully. More in Top cashback sites. | ||||||||||
| Chase boosts easy-access savings rate to 2.1%. New and existing savers will earn the new rate from Monday. Yet you can earn more elsewhere - see options in Top savings accounts. 15GB data Sim just '£4.62/month' - cheapest we've seen for this amount of data. MSE Blagged. Newbies to Lebara (uses Vodafone's network) can get a 15GB/month Sim with unlimited mins & texts for £1.34/month for the first six months, then £7.90/month - so an average £4.62/month over a year. Yet it's a one-month contract, so you can cancel at any time. Lycamobile (uses O2) also has a 15GB/month Sim for an equivalent £4.62/month, but with it you can't get Wi-Fi calling, or 5G signal on iPhones. Want less/more data, or a new phone? Use our Cheap Mobile Finder. On smart prepay for energy? We're asking all firms to let you move the £66/month electricity payment to gas. Some firms allow it, but we're calling on the ones that don't to sort it ahead of the November payment. See what your supplier allows & our campaign. Kids eat FREE or for £1, including M&S cafe, Pizza Hut and more. See our round-up of eateries where little ones can enjoy a hot meal for less over half term. Kids eat free. Related: Adults eat 'free' at Frankie & Benny's. Royal British Legion launches up to £2,400 grants for veterans scheme. If you've served in the armed forces, or live with someone who has, and you're struggling financially, you could be eligible for help. See how to check and apply. Get up to 20% off childcare costs. With half term near (or already here), a reminder that if you've a child under 11, Tax-Free Childcare can save you up to £2,000/year. See Help with childcare costs, including extra help if you claim benefits. 2for1 beer, spirits or soft drinks at 500+ pubs across England and Wales. 20,000 free drinks available - see 2for1 drinks (and please be Drinkaware). |
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| AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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| CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK Have you bought or considered energy-efficient home improvements? If you've installed (or thought about installing) green measures such as heat pumps, solar systems, biomass boilers or insulation since September 2020, the CMA - the competition watchdog - wants to hear about your experiences so it can look at whether more consumer protections might be needed. Take its 15-minute survey before it closes on Tuesday 1 November. |
| THIS WEEK'S POLL How much mobile data do you use in a month? Mobile phones are an essential part of everyday life for many, with streaming, gaming, social networking and more all increasingly done on data-hungry mobiles. According to a recent Ofcom report, the average person uses 5GB a month of data, but when we last ran this poll in January, we found it to be about 3GB a month. We want to compare and see if this has also changed for you. Vote in this week's poll. MoneySavers rate Monzo and Starling as the best banking apps. Last week, we asked how you rate your bank's app, and more than 6,000 people responded. App-only bank Monzo once again came out top for features, with 86% rating it 'great', followed closely by digital banking rival Starling at 85%. Starling just pipped Monzo on usability, with 83% rating it 'great', compared with 82% for Monzo. Royal Bank of Scotland did best of the traditional banks - 67% said its app was 'great' for features, 71% for usability. See the full banking app poll results. |
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| MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should we walk away from the window fitter who won't fit our windows? A year ago, we hired a tradesperson to fit a window and patio doors. He tells us he's had them made, but he still hasn't fitted them, and only responds to calls and messages to give reasons why he can't do the job. Winter's approaching and we want this done to stop draughts - we've asked other tradespeople, but they say they won't fit windows or doors they've not personally measured up. We've not paid anything yet, and don't want to leave him out of pocket, but we need this sorted. Should we keep trying to contact our absentee window fitter or walk away? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should we walk away from the window fitter who won't fit our windows? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma |
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| MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 19 OCT ONWARDS) Wed 19 Oct - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm. Listen again MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECT TBC) Tue 25 Oct - BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Mid-morning with Jeremy Sallis, from 10.45am |
| HOW DO YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS? That's all for this week, but before we go... after MoneySavers told us that using half a dishwasher tablet still got their dishes clean, we asked for tips on which other products you can use less of to get the same result. Common themes included washing powder, washing-up liquid and toothpaste. Some also recommended cutting scourers and sponges in half. And on the subject of washing dishes... one MoneySaver posted a video of their dog licking the plates in the dishwasher clean. It's a barking suggestion, but we're also not convinced it's effective, hygienic... or MoneySaving! Tell us how you get the most from your products in our Facebook and Twitter conversations. We hope you save some money, stay safe, |
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