Why throw cash away?

So my 1st blog of the year will 1st focus on helping you understand the importance of cash and making the most of it.

Many people blame being too busy at work or forget, for reasons why they do not manage their money correctly. However this is what banks rely on! I bet many of you are in bank accounts and ISA’s paying 0.5% or below.

If you have £30,0000 in a standard savings account at 0.5% interest and move it to one paying 2.5%, you will earn an extra £600 for no work whatsoever. It honestly takes 10 minutes to do.

Then there are the ISA allowances in the UK. Whatever you do, you must use all of your yearly allowance. It is £3600 this year and £5000 next tax year. Saving tax will become so important over the next 10-15 years as the government increases tax rates, to recover from the credit crisis.

Here are the 2 instant savings accounts I see as the best at the moment:

Santander direct ISA Issue 3 – 3% AER, 2% bonus rate for a year. Move ISA in one years time

Santander eSaver Issue 2 – 2.5%, with 2% bonus rate. Move savings in one years time.

After one year, I`ll be moving my money out of these accounts to the best paying ones.

One last tip is make sure you apply to move your ISA, 6 weeks in advance, as it takes about that amount of time to move it. You don’t want to lose 2 or 3% interest over 6 weeks.

My next blog will talk about my Investment Portfolio! This is where the real money can be made.