Taking money out of an ISA

scottish-engineer

hi folks,

i have around £5500 in an ISA with Scarborough Building Society (saved over 2 years). due to poor interest rates for next tax year, i will be starting up a new ISA in april.

the question is...what do i do with my current ISA savings? to gain any sort of interest on it just now, i have to keep paying in which isnt feasible since im starting a new ISA.

should i look to bonds or general savings acounts with other banks?

in term of future access to this £5500, i will be looking to short to mid term (6 months to a year).

any advice much appreciated.

Scottish-Engineer

whu

If you close the ISA you will lose the tax free benefit and not be able to replace it - why not transfer it to a higher paying ISA with another institution for a fixed period of 1 year?There are rates over 3% at the moment

scottish-engineer

thanks whu.

i didnt realise i could transfer previous tax year isa savings to another provider and get the tax free benifit.

thanks for the help. i will start shopping around... but i think the 3% on offer will be the best just now.

thanks again

Baldur

scottish-engineer wrote: »

thanks whu.

i didnt realise i could transfer previous tax year isa savings to another provider and get the tax free benifit.

thanks for the help. i will start shopping around... but i think the 3% on offer will be the best just now.

Remember that the new ISA provider has to initiate the transfer, not you - you just complete their transfer form.

dsaver_2

Hi, I'm in a similar position, I have an Halifax IF ISA with about 6000 in, but the interest rate has tanked.

I understand that I can transfer money to a new ISA but how much and can I then continue to add saving to the new ISA, e.g.

How much of the 6000 can I transfer into a new ISA, and will this use up the 3600 limit for that new ISA?

thanks,

Dsaver

Baldur

dsaver wrote: »

Hi, I'm in a similar position, I have an Halifax IF ISA with about 6000 in, but the interest rate has tanked.

I understand that I can transfer money to a new ISA but how much and can I then continue to add saving to the new ISA, e.g.

How much of the 6000 can I transfer into a new ISA, and will this use up the 3600 limit for that new ISA?

Transfers are nothing to do with opening a new Cash ISA, you can transfer the full £6000 (including any interest) without any effect whatsoever on your annual ISA allowance.

Assuming that the £6,000 includes the current tax year's allowance, you could add your 2009/10 allowance to the same ISA from 6th April, or pay it into a totally different Cash ISA.

littlemrtinkle

Halifax reward isa gives you 3% fixed for 12 months (allows a maximum of 4 withdrawels). This account accepts transfers in.

A transfer will take a maximum of 60 days.

You need to go to your intended isa recipient (i.e halifax) and provide them with your existing isa details and fill out a transfer form.

If you do not bank with your new isa provider you will need to take photographic ID and proof of address to open account. They will open account with a nominal amount to generate a ref number.

Its quite a painless process and i've just changed mine in about 10 minutes i already banked with halifax and moved my ybs accross. Hope this helps.

littlemrtinkle

p.s from april 5th you can open a new isa with another provider.

Current top payers barclays 3.61 natwest 3.5 these are instant isas but not fixed

halifax 3 % fixed

also worth mentioning first directs 7% monthly saver isa, but i believe you need to bank with them.

rb10

littlemrtinkle wrote: »

Halifax reward isa gives you 3% fixed for 12 months (allows a maximum of 4 withdrawels). This account accepts transfers in.

A transfer will take a maximum of 60 days.

But if your ISA is already with Halifax, then it's a really painless procedure to convert it into the 3% account, takes about 10 seconds.

evenasus

littlemrtinkle wrote: »

p.s from april 5th you can open a new isa with another provider.

I think you'll find it's actually 6th April the new ISAs will start.
I once had a 'senior' moment and tried to add to my ISA on the 5th April and of course, the BS refused the funding. I had to go back the next day. :rolleyes:

scottish-engineer

thanks for al the advice folks....who knows, maybe one day i will be able to buy something with all my savings!