Wilkommen, Bienvenue and Welcome to the Oscars of Investing!
17 Feb, 2023
For a brief interlude, allow me to become your host at the Oscars and - amidst squashy cleavages, tears, the odd punch and tearful tributes to Momma and the local bin men - reveal the winners of our 2023 Best Buy Awards!
We know that one of the single biggest questions DIY investors and pension savers have is pretty simple – who is any good? Every year we spend 3 months digging around to ask this very question, à la Ace Ventura ISA Detective.
This year we had a whopping 6,000 customer reviews to inform this process. Only you guys know what your provider is really like on a consistent basis.
At Boring HQ, we also download the apps, log on to our test accounts, phone up call centres, hop on web chat, run tons of pricing scenarios and add this all up to produce our worthy winners.
Alright already, a little more Speed please!
OK – to the winners.
Best Buy ISAs 2023 – We’ve chosen 9 standout providers and there’s something for all levels of wealth and confidence. We each have an annual allowance of £20,000 – but some of these options let you start from just £1. Read more about this in our Stocks and Shares ISA guide.
Best Buy Pensions 2023 – With Mr Hungry Hunt and the Budget looming, pensions are a good way to save, to get Government top-ups and to cut the tax you pay. You can start from £100 and if it feels baffling, we point out the easier starter options.
Best Buy Junior ISA 2023 – One for the kiddies – up to £9,000 a year here per rugrat! Read more about this in our full Junior ISA guide.
Best Buy Lifetime ISA 2023 – For the under 40s saving for a first property or retirement. You can mug up on how this works in our Lifetime ISA guide.
A quick aside on pensions. Tax is going to hurt us all more in future. Fact. Tax thresholds have been Frozen – so more of us will pay more tax as some of our earnings creep into higher bands. This is the Hurt Locker, my friends. One of the only legitimate and relatively easy ways out is to pay more into a pension if you possibly can – particularly if you are a higher rate taxpayer.
And on Lifetime ISAs. In your 20s or 30s (or a parent of a 20/30-something) and saving for a flat? There are nice benefits in these to the tune of free Government top-ups of up to £1,000 a year. But you have to open the account before you are 40. Once opened, you can benefit from these until you are 50. So everyone under 40 should consider opening one, even if you only chuck a tenner in to start!
Other Pitch Perfect options?
For Absolute Beginners, we have 6 ISA and pension providers who will go easy on you, supporting your choices and providing help and information to get started.
For our Jerry Maguirers, it’s more about the ease of trading, research and costs, so make sure to check out the 3 providers named here as Best for Share Traders.
And if you are very cost-focused and think the finance industry is like a Parasite then we’ve identified the lowest-cost providers at various account sizes.
We hope these help you to navigate the world of ISAs and pensions. Please do share the links with friends or family if you find this content useful!
A few other things to note
Next Tuesday – Our webinar with Polar Capital on the technology sector for investors – opportunities, themes and trends – join us!
Ladies – If you want to learn more about pensions, then our Retirement Rocks course in Visible! is waiting for you! No more procrastination, this will help you plan and progress.
Another one for women – Join a small online workshop on 1st March with Chartered Financial Planner Chloe Phillips - this Money MOT will share practical strategies for budgeting, saving, and investing as well as the most common associated pitfalls.
And finally we have a webinar with Bestinvest on 7th March – I’ll be joined by 2 of their financial coaches so this will be a great broad-brush session for less confident investors!
Phew! Over and out for this week. Enough glamour and gongs. Time to take my heels off, put the trackies on and let it all hang out for the weekend! 😊
And btw – that dress is photoshopped. I don’t really own that Joan Collins number!
Holly(wood)
