Money Management the Easy Way
Anyone watching the news at the moment would be forgiven for thinking that the world is once again in financial meltdown, with the troubles experienced by the euro, a volatile stock market, a massive public debt, and high inflation, things are looking pretty bad and it would be easy to get truly concerned by the fate of your finances.
The first thing to remember is that any money you do have stashed away in savings accounts will not, by law, disappear if a bank happens to struggle (though, it’s worth pointing out, most of the UK’s banks seems to be back on firm footing) the government has protected the first £50,000 in every account in the country. If you have more than that in an account, simply open another with another bank, shift the money across and whatever happens you cannot lose cash, though it may take a little while to get your savings back should a bank go under.
The major problem for most people at present is trying to make some sort of return on their savings, interest rates are at historically low levels and with inflation high, many accounts are actually losing money.
The best thing to do is simply to store the money that you do save in an ISA. Cash ISAs are not offering fantastic rates but they are tax free, very secure, and making the most of your ISA allowance is a great way to make sure that you are in a good financial position when the markets return. You could invest in a stocks and shares ISA if you want a greater return on your savings, but stocks and shares ISAs can be stressful if the market is particularly volatile, so it might be an idea to leave them alone if you don’t want to worry too much about your cash.
If you have used the full extent of your cash ISA, then it might be worth making sure you have a good current account, and if you do need to change one good place to look is Santander. Check out their website to see what they offer in terms of current accounts. At the end of the day, though, providing you’re using your ISA, and you’re happy with the service you’re getting from your bank, just sit tight and don’t worry too much about the dire messages in the news.
