The average UK salary is £26,075, interestingly just shy of a third of this is paid into Isa’s at £7,782  It would seem despite the recession people are taking advantage of the tax free benefits of Isa’s.  Halifax are also urging saver to take advantage of the full annual allowance of £10,200 

Across the country the highest ISA savings are 35 per cent above the UK average this accolade goes to the Derbyshire Dales at an average of £10,476 

Over half the top 30 local authorities with the largest ISA balances in the South East  and Greater London according to Halifax including Brentwood, Ewell and Epsom at approx £9,948  It would  appear that Southwark and Hackney are feeling the effects of the current economic climate with the lowest balances at £4,675 and £4,791 

In relation to average regional earnings Northern Ireland and Wales have the highest balances with the equivalent to 37% and 36% of average annual gross earnings. 

Certainly advice would be to make the most of the full annual Isa allowance which, given the current climate, savers are having difficulties in maintaining their monthly deposit to existing plans. 

Economist Nitesh Patel at Halifax said it’s great to see UK savers are taking advantage of the tax free benefit of an ISA by investing just under a third of their income.  Frustratingly though, whilst Isa’s have been available for over a decade, savers are still not making the most of their savings by using their full annual Isa allowance with the UK average of just £7,782 being saved which is only 1.5 times the annual limit. 

As financial planners we continue to include ISA and Investment arrangements in our services for our clients. In addition we would also recommend that clients invest their ISA at the beginning of the financial year on the 6th April rather than wait until the end. For clients who save regularly we save the money into a diversified portfolio of funds that make up our ISA portfolio during the year and then just add the ISA wrapper to that portfolio in April. This ensures that the full allowance is utilised for the full year every year if required.