Tessa
Tax Exempt Special Savings Account

If there are more than five years to go before the child is due to start school then tax exempt special savings accounts can be a safe option.

Open a Tax Exempt Special Savings Account (Tessa), or top up the one you've got.

Suitable investment vehicles over the medium to long term include tax exempt special savings accounts, personal equity plans, unit trusts and investment trusts.

Accumulated interest from a Tax Exempt Special Savings Account (TESSA) held for five years.

Isas replaced personal equity plans (Peps) and tax exempt special savings accounts (Tessas), which closed to new investors in April 1999.

If you want the highest possible rate of interest on your savings, take out a Tax Exempt Special Savings Account (TESSA).

That was certainly the case in 1990 when the Chancellor announced the introduction of TESSAs - Tax Exempt Special Savings Accounts.

HSBC has promised several times to send interest of more than £70 in relation to a tax exempt special savings account (Tessa) transfer but it has not materialised.

The initials stand for Tax Exempt Special Savings Account, but according to a recent survey not everyone it seems is aware of a Tessa's principal attraction - its tax free label.