Britons 'not making most of Isas'

Wednesday, March 24th 2010

Britain's savers are not making the most of their Isas, according to marketing controller for investments at Nationwide Guy Simmonds.

He explained that people may not think they have enough disposable income to invest or it could be due to a loss of faith in financial institutions.

But "roughly one in five people in the UK aren't saving" and only one-third of Britons make the most of their annual Isa allowance.

Mr Simmonds added that the benefit of Isas is that savers get tax free benefits on investments, "which is a massive plus in an environment where taxes are set to rise".

Financially educating youngsters is a good idea and the government is already going into schools to offer lessons on this issue.

But it is too late for those in their 20s and 30s who have missed out, Mr Simmonds claimed.

Last month Barclays revealed that 42 per cent of consumers were unaware of the new Isa limits coming into force in April.

And almost three-quarters had no idea how much money they could invest in cash Isas in the coming tax year.