How Beach makes it easy to move cash savings to investments

Moving cash savings to investments

In the UK, cash savings is very popular, and a great option for short-term saving, but investing is often not considered for long-term savings (such as 5 years or more). This is for a variety of reasons, but we believe it’s mostly down to a general low level of confidence in investing and the perception it’s risky and you are likely to lose all of your money.

And it’s completely understandable, as in the UK, investing isn’t given much positivity, but it really can change your future finances if done right. For instance, did you know your pension from work is actually typically invested? It’s often seen as the best way to grow your savings over the years.

It’s our mission at Beach to dispel the myth that investing is bad and risky! Beach is designed to help people become confident at investing by making investing as simple as possible. No complicated investment decisions, a jargon-free app, and accounts that benefit from tax-free saving. The investments plans are managed by experts, designed for general life savings or retirement savings, managed by the largest investment company in the world, BlackRock (when measured by assets they manage*).

When experts manage the investments, the goal is to increase the value over the years, and they do this through expert investment strategies. Because your money is spread across thousands of investments, the impact of any single company performing badly is reduced. Your money will go up and down over time, but based on historical trends, should trend up over the years.

Of course, there’s no guarantees, so you need to be prepared for those ups and downs, and when you come to withdraw money, it might be less than you put in. But, the longer you invest for, the higher chance there is of significantly increasing. Particularly thanks to compounding, which is where the money you make, starts making money too.

With Beach, you can get started with as little as £25, add money as and when you like, such as monthly, and withdraw when you like from your easy access pot. You can transfer an existing Cash ISA if you have one, and keep all of your tax-free saving benefits, so all the money you make within your new ISA with Beach is still tax-free.

Note: tax treatment will depend on your personal circumstances, and this isn’t financial advice.

Transferring a Cash ISA to a Stocks and Shares ISA

With Beach, it’s easy to transfer your Cash ISA to a Stocks and Shares ISA, which is the official name of an ISA that holds investments instead of cash savings. It’s exactly the same, where you can save up to £20,000 per tax year (April 6th to April 5th the following year).

Moving your cash savings to Beach is super easy. All you need to do is download the app, sign up, select transfer an ISA, and then add a few details about your current Cash ISA (such as which provider it’s with). That’s it, and your money should turn up after around a week.

Your money will then be invested within the investment plan within our easy access pot. You’ll see your balance and performance within your app whenever you like.

Pretty easy right? You can then continue saving if you want to by adding a regular top up (such as monthly) or a one-off top up whenever you like. Don’t forget all the money you make will still be tax-free within your ISA.

ISA investment plan

The investment plan within your easy access pot (so your ISA and/or standard account) is designed for lifelong saving and investing. The idea is you can add to it whenever you like, and the investment strategy remains the same, to continue growing over time, in a sensible way.

It includes a wide range of investments, such as some of the largest brands in the world, and a range of industries, such as technology and manufacturing, and from across the world, with the majority based in the US and UK.

Investments in companies are called equities, and this is where you own a share of the company, aptly called a share (or sometimes called stocks). As companies grow in value over time, often as economies grow (such as the US and UK) and as they grow and increase revenue and profit, the value of companies increases too. The experts behind the scenes make sure they’re choosing the right underlying companies to suit the investment strategy (and continually monitor it).

The investment plan also includes a portion of bonds, which are effectively loans to governments (for instance the UK and US), and sometimes large corporations, in exchange for a regular interest payment. These are often the best interest rate you can get (in terms of a comparison with a high street bank’s savings account), and seen as one of the safest investments possible, as a government (country) is highly unlikely to default on their debt (not pay what they owe).

Roughly, there’s 70% equities (stocks and shares) and 30% bonds, and this can change slightly over time. Having both of these within an investment plan aims to balance growth over time, reducing the ups and downs of the value of your investments over time, so (hopefully) it grows in a more steady fashion (although there's no guarantees).

There will be ups and downs, so that’s not to say there won’t be, which is typical of all investing, but over time, the idea is to grow significantly.

The investment plan is managed by BlackRock, the largest investment company in the world (when measured by assets they manage). They also consider things like reducing climate change, so when saving with Beach your pension could have a more positive impact on the environment and the world in general (compared to pension options without this focus).

Top up when you like, or regularly

With Beach, you can set up a regular top up, for instance adding money each month, or you can add one-off top ups as and when you like. With your ISA you can add up to £20,000 per tax year, and after that, you can save as much as you like within your standard account. All the money you make within your ISA is completely tax-free.

Saving regularly can mean your savings build up steadily over time, and there’s no chance of forgetting to add money, but some people prefer to add an amount before the end of the tax year, or at the start of the new tax year, and again during certain times in the year, you can do any of these easily with Beach.

Adding money is easy to do, and it’s all sorted in a few taps by setting up a Direct Debit, or by sending money instantly via bank transfer directly to your pension pot.

Note: tax treatment will depend on your personal circumstances, and this isn’t financial advice.

Excellent customer service

Beach is receiving great feedback on our customer service, with fast response times, and even offering WhatsApp support so you can chat away with us when you like, fitting customer support around your busy lifestyle and outside of your email inbox (we won’t be offended if you leave us on read!). There is also email support and you can send us a message in-app.

Download and start saving today

Dare we say we’re one of the most modern savings and investments providers in the UK? Find out for yourself by downloading Beach from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Beach is for anyone looking to save more for their future, with an investment suited for general life savings, invested sensibly by experts, and tax-free within an ISA. There’s also a pension pot, designed for retirement savings, where you can combine pensions and find lost pensions.

*When measuring assets they manage (a staggering £9 trillion as of Jan 2025).

Important information: Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances and may change. Beach does not provide financial advice. If you are unsure about investing, please speak to a qualified financial adviser.