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| DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
| Savers... check what your accounts pay now Martin: "What's happening to savings is a mirror of mortgages (above), except here higher rates are good, lower bad. The rate you can fix at has dropped, as they're based on longer-term interest-rate predictions, while the top paying variable (easy-access) rates haven't, as they're based on the UK base rate, which the Bank of England held last week. So while normally you tend to get better rewarded for locking money away in a fix, right now you don't. "The market consensus is the UK base rate will be cut in November, so easy-access rates are likely to drop 0.25 percentage points then, but that'd still leave the best of them on par with current fixes, so it's looking good, especially if you want access to your cash. Though the benefit of fixing is long-term rate surety, so if you want to ensure a certain rate, and not risk big future drops, fixing and fixing longer does that (and as fixed rates may creep down a touch over the coming months, sooner is likely safer). "For everyone though, the key rule is there are HUGE variances between the best and the bog-standard rates in each category, so check what you earn, and ditch and switch if you can. Over to the team now to run through the best deals of each type (& do check out the special savings with big rate boosts checklist at the end too)." All accounts listed have full UK £85,000 per person savings safety protection. If you've more, consider spreading it over multiple institutions to keep it all protected. Top notice accounts: 5.25% variable. Not easy-access, not a fix, but somewhere in between. Investec's 5.25% 90-day account* (min £5k, max £250k) pays monthly interest. It's less flexible than easy access, but a higher rate, and more flexible than a fix, as you can ask to withdraw whenever you want, but it takes 90 days - an option for those who may need money but won't be in a rush. Or for a shorter notice period, there's Vanquis Bank's 5.05% 60 days (min £1k, max £250k). These accounts are variable though, so they can change rates, but they must tell you long enough in advance of rate reductions so that you can get the money out before it drops. See top notice accounts.Top easy-access rates: 5.1% variable in a tax-free cash ISA, 5% variable in normal savings. Easy access simply means you can put money in and take it out whenever you want - it's the bog-standard type of savings. Rates are variable, which mean they can and do move, often with Bank of England base rates, but also as banks may drop them for their own competitive reasons. Currently, the top cash ISA actually beats normal savings. A cash ISA is just a savings account you never pay tax on. Trading 212's 5.1%* lets you put in up to £20,000, allows unlimited withdrawals, and allows you to transfer (without limit) existing cash ISAs in too. So if you've yet to use this year's ISA allowance, even if you won't earn enough to pay tax on savings, you may as well do this in order to bag the higher rate. Full info in top cash ISAs. As for normal easy-access savings... Top but limited withdrawals: Chip's 5% (min £1, max £1m), but you can only withdraw free 3x a year. Top unlimited withdrawals: Oxbury's 4.87% (min £25k, max £500k), followed by Santander-owned Cahoot's 4.85% Simple Saver (min £1, max £500k). There are far more options in top savings, including top big-name savings, plus higher rates if you have (or open) the right current account. Top fixed savings: up to 4.85% guaranteed if you can lock money away. With fixed savings, you can't usually withdraw your money until the end of the term, but in return the interest rate is guaranteed. So only lock away what you definitely won't need access to. Full info and more options in top fixes, but today's top rates are: - 6mth fixes: Zenith 4.85% 6mth fix (min £1k), or 5.3% (min £20k) via a savings platform - see top short fixes. - 1yr fixes: Monument 4.81% (min £25k), Zenith 4.8% (min £1k). - 2yr fixes: RCI Bank 4.7% (min £1k), Birmingham Bank 4.68% (min £5k). - 3yr fixes: Birmingham Bank 4.53% (min £5k), Hodge Bank 4.52% (min £1k). - 5yr fixes: Hodge Bank 4.37% (min £1k), Birmingham Bank 4.36% (min £5k). Want to fix but with a get-out-of-jail-free clause? If you are worried you may need access to your cash, fixed-rate cash ISAs can't permanently lock your money away (instead, withdraw early and you pay an interest penalty). The trade-off is the rates are lower... 4.61% for 1yr, 4.42% for 2yrs, and 4.35% for 3yrs. SPECIAL ROUTES TO BOOST INTEREST FURTHER? - 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. - Got expensive debt? Paying it off is often more lucrative than saving. See Should I pay debt with savings? - Earn up to 8% on smaller amounts, if you can save monthly. See Top regular savings. - Prefer to invest? Higher returns, but more risk. See Stocks & shares ISAs. |
| Stop press. New cheapest 1yr energy fix STOPS next week's 10% energy price rise. EDF's just launched its Essentials Fixed Oct25 1yr fix* for new & existing customers, locking in the current Price Cap in every region for a year. As the Price Cap will rise next Tue (1 Oct) by 10%, this means an almost immediate saving. Always compare: Exact costs depend on location and usage, so do an Energy Club comparison which'll also show other fixes including a new one from Octopus. Important: For most it'll show no saving as it's against today's Price Cap, but the real saving comes after 1 Oct. Urgent. Trick to get 30% off almost all Boots No7 beauty products. See No7 trick. New & ending. Top 0% balance transfers - shift card debt to 29mths INTEREST-FREE. A balance transfer is where you get a new credit card which pays off debt on old cards for you, so you owe it instead, but interest-free for a set time. Joint longest are the just-launched HSBC up to 29mth 0% (3.5% fee) and MBNA's up to 29mth 0% (3.5% fee) - which is being withdrawn on Sunday. So use our eligibility calc NOW to see which you're most likely to be accepted for while both are available. It may show you're 'pre-approved', which means you'll definitely get the full 0% length (the 'up to' means some accepted can be given shorter 0% deals). Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum & clear the card before the 0% ends, or both jump to 24.9% rep APR interest. Full help & options in Top balance transfers. Ends 11.59pm Wed. £1 for a YEAR's Tastecard - gets 2for1 or 25% off at 1,000s of restaurants. Includes chains such as Zizzi, Burger King, Beefeater as well as many independents, but check for excluded dates. Quids in Pay for your energy by monthly Direct Debit? It's METER READING WEEK. The Energy Price Cap rises 10% on 1 Oct. If you've not got a WORKING smart meter, aim to give an up-to-date meter reading within a few days either side of this date, reducing the risk that your supplier estimates that you've used more at the new higher rate than you have. See firm-by-firm when & how to do a reading. Got a non-smart elec prepay meter - top up NOW? The meter is told of the price change at top-up, so topping up more now and not topping up as long as possible after 1 Oct, let's you extend the current cheaper rate. For full details of which suppliers this is likely to work with, see prepay top-up trick. 10,000 FREE pairs of £14ish Ideal Home Show Christmas tickets. London, 27 Nov to 1 Dec. Ideal Home Car insurance renewal due? Our Compare+ tool can save you £100s... September (and March) tend to be the busiest time for renewals. With our Compare+ Car Insurance tool you fill in just one questionnaire, and it gives you a comparison result, shows you the cheapest time to buy, and whether to add an extra driver and check other comparisons, plus more tips to save. As Mary emailed this month: "After receiving an outrageously high renewal quote I used your car insurance tool & saved over £300 by switching! Thanks so much." £80 Kärcher upright steam cleaner £55. MSE Blagged. Cheapest we've seen it. 1,500 available. Kärcher New. A whopping 100GB/mth data, unlimited minutes & texts on a '£6/mth' Sim - cheapest ever. 100GB data is huge and should cover almost everyone. Newbies to iD Mobile (uses Three's network) pay £5/mth for the first 3mths, then £10/mth for the remaining 9mths, plus you can CLAIM a £35 Amazon or Currys voucher. Factor that in and it's equivalent to £5.84/mth over the 12mth contract. Want a different network? Use our Cheap Mobile Finder. Aged 18 to 40 & hope to buy a home one day (or your kids are)? Free cash for first-time buyers | Real reason many smart meters don't work | Money back on flights YOU cancelled (& ones they did) | Xmas financial mistakes. All this & more in Martin's latest podcast - listen via BBC Sounds | Spotify | Apple or wherever you get your Martin fix. |
| Martin's Pension Credit clarion call update Pension Credit is a critically underclaimed top-up of the state pension for those on lower incomes that I've been urging people to check out for over a decade. On average it's worth £3,900/yr. Yet over 800,000 eligible pensioners likely still miss out. That's why it's frustrating that it's the new main gateway for the £200 (£300 for over-80s) Winter Fuel Payment - which until now was paid to all pensioners. I've been loudly making noises on that, but for now the key is to get as many people as possible who are due Pension Credit to get it... Last week, we ran Lucinda's message: "My mum was just over the threshold, so we didn't apply, but worried about the Winter Fuel Payment, no free TV licence, cheaper broadband etc. Then I saw Martin's email saying: 'If you're only just over, try anyway.' A (long) call to the Department for Work and Pensions later and mum told me she'll get Pension Credit. My dad died earlier this year, so not only has mum been going through it, but money is tighter. I can't thank you enough. She's relieved & thrilled." And that's led to many more people telling us similar, for many reasons. First, though, my rule of thumb...
"Thank you for bringing AA to my attention. I've successfully claimed for my dad who has chronic arthritis - so he now gets an extra £72/wk. He has struggled for years, he'd not been able to claim Pension Credit previously as he has a small private pension. Now he has AA, he's also eligible for a further £35/wk Pension Credit, and his Housing Benefit has been increased by £40/wk. So a total extra £150/wk - a huge help, and he will still be eligible for Winter Fuel Allowance, so will receive annually almost £8,000 extra. It will change his life and I'm really grateful to you." You could still be due Pension Credit if you've savings. Savings or investments under £10,000 are ignored for Pension Credit assessments. If you've more, for every £500 over £10,000, it counts as £1/wk income (if only it really generated that much!). As Anne just emailed: "Hi, my mum is widowed and in her 80s. Her state pension is just below the single person level, but as she had some savings we didn't think she'd get Pension Credit. After reading your recommendation, she made an application but didn't hold out much hope. Surprisingly, she was successful and will get Savings Credit, and a 3mth back payment. Now she will be eligible for Winter Fuel Allowance and an over-75s' free TV licence too. All thanks to you Martin, and all the advertising to apply even though you may think you're not eligible. I would recommend everybody try." Me too - though I'd nuance it to... everyone on a lower income. What is the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit? This applies to the three in four state pensioners who are on the OLD state pension (roughly those aged 72+). It is designed to reward those who saved towards retirement. For each £1 of income (including savings) you have above £190/wk, you get 60p of Savings Credit, though once you hit £218/wk, your Pension Credit is reduced by 40p for every £1 above (numbers differ for pensioner couples). It's all a bit complex, so just check if you're due. High housing costs (even in assisted living) will be taken into account when you apply. Again, this means you can qualify if you earn above the standard Pension Credit threshold (and may mean a council tax reduction), and you may be due Housing Benefit or Support for Mortgage Interest. Wendy emailed about this: "Like Lucinda, I didn't think my mum would be entitled to Pension Credit because of her savings. However, when I checked I found out that her housing costs, including high ground rent and the service charge in her assisted living apartment, would be taken into consideration. She could be entitled to Pension Credit according to the calculator. This would make her future so much more secure. Thanks for the encouragement, keeping my fingers crossed!" |
| M&S up to 50% off clothes & home sale. Online & in store on 1,000s of its own items, plus brands including White Stuff, Reiss & FatFace. M&S sale Ends Thu. Fast 264Mb Virgin fibre broadband '£22.45/mth'. MSE Blagged. Switchers in 60% of UK homes can get this 264Mb Virgin broadband & line deal for £28/mth, plus they get an automatic £100 bill credit, making it equivalent to £22.45/mth over the 18mth contract. Can't get Virgin? See MSE's broadband comparison for other options. 30+ birthday FREEBIES, from Krispy Kreme, Greggs, Nike, Hobbycraft & more. Statistically, 26 September is the most common birthday (why? We'll let you work it out), and some firms give you freebies just for getting older. 'We got back £7.5k on our council tax - thank you so much.' Our success of the week is from Gordon, who said: "Martin, we challenged our council tax band earlier in the year after watching your show and doing the relevant checks on your website. Seven months later, it's been confirmed we've gone from band E to band D. We've also received our refund of overpaid council tax - a whopping £7.5k. Thank you all so much - we would not have done this without you." If we've helped you save (on this, or owt else), send us your successes. |
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| AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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| THIS WEEK'S POLL Have you remortgaged in the last two years? Interest rates have risen dramatically over the past two years, affecting homeowners with mortgages who have seen cheap fixed deals end and then had to meet much higher monthly repayments. So this week, we want to know whether you've remortgaged during this period, and how much (if anything) your mortgage has gone up by. Vote in this week's poll. More than two-thirds of MoneySavers were delayed on their last flight. Last week, we asked whether you'd experienced a flight delay on your most recent holiday. Almost seven in 10 (68%) said they had, the majority for more than three hours. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of those respondents said they'd then gone on to claim compensation. See full poll results. |
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| MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should my friends gift my only child more money since they each have two children? My five friends and I are all parents and we get each other's children Christmas gifts. This year we've agreed not to buy toys, but to give each child £30 for their junior ISAs instead. I have one child, while my five friends each have two - if we go through with this, I'll be spending £300 on their children while our household will only get £150 from them. Should I ask my friends to each give my child £60? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should my friends gift my only child more money? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs |
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| MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 25 SEPT ONWARDS) Thu 26 Sept - Co-presenting Good Morning Britain, ITV1, from 6am |
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