Where would you put £20k

[Dhama]

Just that really. Sitting in a SA with 3% interest rates- don’t need to touch it either

So what would you do with it?

Stocks and shares isa. Something that tracked s&p for example.

How long do you feel able to put it away for? If more than five years, then a stocks & shares ISA. You can get pre-designed ones from the big providers (fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdowne etc), which you can pick from according to your tolerance of risk.

Instant cash ISA - have a look on money supermarket, there's some still offering 5% interest. Alternatively if you didn't need access to it, I'd set some aside and consider fixing it for a year to 2 to try and maximise profit.

Depends what you might need the money for. What I would do with it isn't necessarily the same as what you should do with it.

If it's your only cash savings transfer it to a better paying savings account or ISA, you could probably get over 4.5%. If you haven't used this year's allowance act soon to take advantage of this.

However if your essential outgoings are low, your income is secure and/or you have no plans to make a large purchase in the next few years you could move maybe half of it to a S&S ISA but need to be prepared for the value to fluctuate in the next few years.

But not the best option if you're planning to replace your car or roof next year or your income is uncertain and your mortgage is £3k pm so it wouldn't even cover the recommended six months of essential outgoings emergency savings.

Probably also worth avoiding an investment product if you'd obsessively track the value and panic sell when the value drops 20%.

If you don’t need to touch it either s&s isa or a VCT

both are tax efficient

s&s isa is prob best for you

I personally would put it in my S&S ISA as soon as the new tax year starts - invested in a very dull passive tracker fund.

You could also consider making a mortgage overpayment or sticking in a SIPP?

But you can lose money in a stocks and shares ISA. I'd go for a Fixed rate ISA at around 4%. Money is safe and can't be touched for a year. That's what I'm doing anyway!

This is what I did recently.

Depends - you could go for putting it in your ISA - you can put up to £20 k a year - it's tax free so that's good. Or you can get some bonds that are safe - but lock up your money for a year and % rates are ususally higher. Or stick it in Premium Bonds and hope for the best.
Actually first of all clear any debt, then ISA - if you do a tex return and will pay tax on savings.

Definitely an ISA and quick before 31st March, so that if you want you can open another one in the next financial year. Money Saving Expert has some good suggestions for ISAs with well over 4% interest rates available. There is even one cash ISA available at 5%.

Cash is always adversely affected by inflation so calling it 'safe' is not correct. In fact it's not safe at all, as it will definitely be worth less in five years than it is today.

If you don't need it for five years or more I would open an S&S isa and invest in a low cost global tracker, now is a good time to start as the markets are down ie on sale.

You should be able to get a higher rate than 3% if you want to leave it on instant access. Other savings accounts are available, but I use Yorkshire Building Society who have good rates and often do special accounts at a fixed rate for 6 or 10 months. Compare rates on a site like moneysupermarket or MSE.

I also have savings in Premium Bonds, which is a gamble. In Feb I got £100, in March nothing. That is on a holding of around £18K

Cash is always adversely affected by inflation so calling it 'safe' is not correct. In fact it's not safe at all, as it will definitely be worth less in five years than it is today.

Cash is 'safe' in that the capital is not at risk. Yes, the value might be eroded by inflation, but you're not risking ending up with less money than you started with. Unlike S&S, where the value can drop to less than you invested. And stay there for several years (speaking from experience).

Id put it in an easy access ISA while you decide to keep your options open. If you do it now, before the end of March, then you can max out your ISA allowance for this financial year and you get a new one in April (another £20k capacity). Interested earned in ISAs is tax free making it a good place for that amount of money. Chip are offering easy access ISAs at around the 5% rate at the moment, so you can withdraw whenever you want. And if you want to keep saving into it you get the new allowance in April.

You could split the money - some in cash ISA (safe but not spectacular) and some in S&S ISA (potentially volatile but possibly higher return in the long run).

Do you have any other savings? Which are easily accessible?

I would look for an ISA with a better interest rate.
There are some much better rates available than the one you have.
I have my savings in an instant access ISA because I am very risk averse and don't like the idea of a stocks and shares ISA or fixed rate that ties my money up just in case I need it (I doubt I will really). But I get 4.5 % interest which I think is quite good

S&S ISA but I would set it up to invest £1k a month to mitigate your risk as the market is highly volatile at the moment. Or maybe cash isa for 9 months then transfer to s&s when things hopefully calm down.

Thank you everyone, I have gone for a cash ISA at 5%