Age needs one voice. Now it has:
Age NI is the new force combining Age Concern Northern Ireland and
Help the Aged in Northern Ireland. Age NI is a member of the Age UK family.
The new force combining &
Choosing a savings account can feel confusing because there are so many different accounts available. Shop around and do your research to get the best deal.
Look at the tables in the personal finance sections of newspapers or visit money comparison sites to find the best current rates.
Review your savings accounts regularly to check whether the rate of interest being paid is still competitive – interest rates often drop sharply after the first year and so it pays to move your money to a new account. The interest rate of an account is often linked to how long you save your money for. Some accounts let you take out your money whenever you want, but for others you may have to give notice to take out money without incurring a penalty, or not be able to make a withdrawal until the end of a fixed period.
All individuals can invest a certain amount of money in a cash Individual Savings Account (ISA) each year. Cash ISAs often offer a higher rate of interest than other savings accounts and the interest is paid free of Income Tax.
Interest on most savings accounts is paid with 20% Income Tax deducted. If you don’t pay tax, you can fill in a form from your bank or building society to arrange for the interest to be paid without this deduction. Even if you are a tax payer you may be able to reclaim part of the tax.
An independent financial adviser may be able to help identify how to arrange your savings and investments for the best return while restricting risk to a level you are comfortable with. Being called ‘independent’ does not necessarily mean that an adviser has access to all companies in the marketplace. Check what‚ if any‚ restrictions your adviser operates under and also how their fees are covered. Visit www.unbiased.co.uk to find an adviser.
Any plan should take account of your particular circumstances. It is usually better to reduce any debts before concentrating on increasing savings.
Remember, you may need to use some of your savings at short notice so beware of tying up all your money in long-term investments. Always keep some money in a ‘rainy day’ account where you can withdraw it when you need it.
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More money in your pocket booklet A guide to claiming benefits for people over pension age. (PDF 164KB)
Pension Credit leaflet3 steps to find out if someone you know qualifies for Pension Credit. (PDF 105KB)
Downloads
A download is a document (like a research report, a leaflet, or an application form) that can be transferred from our website to your computer. You can download a file, view it on your screen, print it, or save it to your computer.
PDF stands for ‘portable document format’.
Most downloads on this website are PDFs. We use this format to ensure that the document looks the same on everyone’s computer (website pages, by contrast, appear differently depending on how people have got their computer set up).
Computers use a program called Adobe Acrobat Reader to download PDFs. If you try clicking on a link to download a PDF and it doesn’t work, you will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader onto your computer.
The process is quite straightforward and is free.
PDFs cannot be changed. If you need to be able to type into a downloaded document (for example, if we are offering a letter template that you need to put your name on) we will provide it as a Microsoft Word document rather than a PDF. You can then download it, type into it and save it to your computer.
Downloads will open on your computer in a new browser window.
Inside this window (below all your web browser menus), there will be a toolbar with options for you to print or save the document.
Close the browser window to return to the Age UK website.
We have made every effort to make our PDFs accessible to screen readers. Here is an overview of your accessibility options available in Acrobat Reader. Please ensure that you have downloaded the latest version of Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Reader website to ensure that they are included in your version of the programme.You can use Adobe Reader to read a PDF out loud with the following shortcut keys:
You can also convert a PDF into a web page by following these steps:
You can convert a PDF document into a text file for use with other software and hardware such as Braille printers by opening the PDF and choosing ‘Save as text’ from the File menu.
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The British Bankers’ Association represents the UK banking and financial services sector.
The Building Societies Association represents mutual lenders, deposit takers & all UK building societies.
Practical debt advice from Advice NI Debt Action, NI Direct & the National Debtline.
The Financial Services Authority is the independent watchdog for financial services & your rights.
My Lost Account website offers a free service to help you trace lost accounts.
Share your first hand accounts of issues or problems that older people are experiencing in relation to public services.
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