A lender has launched a new fixed bonds product.

Anyone thinking about taking out Skipton Building Society fixed rate bonds may be interested in a savings account now being offered by the financier.

The lender has announced that it is to launch a new fixed rate bonds deal called the 1 Year E-Bond Issue 2 offering a rate of 3.15 per cent, a figure which may appeal to those wishing to make the most of their money following the recession.

This product has been designed to supersede the company’s Limited Edition 1 Year E-Bond and, like its predecessor, gives savers the opportunity to store between £500 and £1,000,000 in the account.

Kris Brewster, head of products at Skipton, commented that this previous package had proved “incredibly popular”, but now needs to be replaced due to its “limited tranche available” to consumers.

This comes after the financier last week announced the launch of a new range of ISAs, including one and five-year products.

Meanwhile, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society has announced the launch of a new savings account.

This development – which was revealed today (November 12th) – may be of note to anyone who has been looking to compare savings on products such as fixed bonds in the recent past, as the financier’s fourth version of its E-saver package has a variable interest rate of 2.80 per cent.

In addition, the lender is also offering a gross annual equivalent bonus of 1.60 per cent, which will be awarded to the customer on the first anniversary of the deal being taken out.

Gary Lacey, savings product manager at Norwich and Peterborough, commented the product represents a “great savings account for people who are looking to make their money work hard for them”.

Meanwhile, the deal may be of particular interest to older people, as Ed Bowsher of Lovemoney.com believes this cross-section of society will curb their spending habits before other groups.

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If you managed to make use of your Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowance in the last tax year, then you will be pleased to know that as of today, you have another £7,200 of potential tax free investments in which you can deposit into ISAs.

If you failed to invest anything, don’t worry, because by investing now you can take full advantage of the 2009/10 tax year and enjoy tax free interest on cash ISAs, and up to £9,600 of tax free earnings per year from investment/stocks and shares ISAs.

If you are unfamiliar with ISAs, it’s worth checking out how they work, as you could be paying unnecessary taxes on the interest you accumulate through savings.

Every tax year, savers are given a unique savings opportunity, set up to encourage individuals in the UK to save money. Everyone over the age of 16 is allowed to invest up to £7,200 in ISAs every tax year (April 6th – April 5th), which can be made up of either a maximum of £3,600 per year into a cash ISA and the remainder into an investment ISA, or the entire £7,200 into an investment ISA.

Cash ISAs are very similar to savings accounts, with some providers offering higher rates for locking your savings away into a fixed rate ISA, while investment ISAs are more rare within the banking sector, but are beginning to come increasingly popular, as these provide the potential to earn higher returns on your investment. As with most investments in the stock market, there is always a risk involved, bringing the possibility of losses to the table.

The way in which your account is manages will depending on which ISA and ISA provider you choose. You can choose whether you want to make a lump sum investment, or regular payments, and if you want your interest to added onto the total, or paid into a separate account.

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If you have not invested in an ISA this year there is still time to use your tax free savings limit as the tax year does not end until 05/04/2011 so you still have time to be one of the 11 million people who invested in an ISA in the 2009/2010 tax year.

For the tax year 2010/2011 you are allowed to put up to £10,200 in your individual savings account and under current UK government legislation your  ISA savings are free of personal income and capital gains tax. If you have not used this years ISA allowance by the end of the tax year (05/04/2011) it is lost forever as you cannot carry it forward. This year you can put up to £5,100 into a Cash ISA and up to another £5,100 into a stocks and shares investment ISA. With UK interest rates only 0.5% and lots of savings accounts paying even less and inflation running at 4% most savers with non ISA savings accounts are having their savings eroded by inflation.

Northern Rock are offering 4 years fixed 4.30% (equivalent to 7.17% for a higher rate tax payer), 3 years fixed 4.00% and even some instant access ISAs are offering 2.90%.

If you are after for yield (interest) rather than capital growth on a stocks and shares ISA you can save on the stamp duty that share purchases normally incur by buying one of the ETFs (electronic traded funds) the ISHARES FTSE UK DIV PLUS is currently offering a dividend yield of 4.40% or the ISHARES FTSE 100 which tracks the FTSE 100 so could offer the long term possibility of both capital and yield is offering 2.65% currently. Alternatively you could choose one of the alternative bundled packages that are offered by banks and building societies.

From the 6th April 2011 you can invest again as the new tax year starts again and the ISA limits are increasing in line with inflation so the new limit will be £10,680. If you have not already done it this means in the next 2 months it is possible to take £20,880 of your savings out of the tax mans grasp.

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