Help! Mini / Maxi ISA ????

thepoolman_2000

I currently have a unit trust within an ISA with the CIS I am told this is a maxi ISA??? Currently paying £300 / month into it. Value is roughly £20000.
The fund is split equally between UK/Euro & US growth. I don't think the ISA is doing as well as it could. I am looking to change to a more frugal payer, but am confused by the array of data on this site.

Should I / Can I change my maxi ISA into a mini ISA?

Thanks

david78

Well £300 per month times 12 months = £3600 which is within the annual limits of a min stocks and shares ISA. It makes no sense to open a maxi ISA if your total subscriptions are going to be less than £4000. It would be much better to open a mini stocks and shares ISA -- this would free up an allowance of £3000 in a mini cash ISA if you wanted to use it.

You can't change your maxi past year ISAs to minis, but you might be able to change this years provided you haven't made your first monthly payment for this year already. You will need to act fast as once the first payment is made it will stay a maxi for the rest of the year.

david78

thepoolman_2000 wrote:

I don't think the ISA is doing as well as it could. I am looking to change to a more frugal payer

Don't know what you mean by frugal? (mean? not giving much income?)

If you want a better investment, you need to look into the funds run by specialist fund management companies. I can't name specific funds (Martin's rule) but I will name a few managers for you to research for yourself (Invesco Perpetual, Jupiter, Artemis, Rensburg, F&C, and there are many more).

When I last looked at a list of historical performance of the managers of funds, CIS (the coop bank) was ... err .... well not on the list at all.

thepoolman_2000

At the moment I’m paying £300/month, though I was paying £500/month. I had a temporary need for extra cash so I reduced my payments - however this has now stopped, therefore I will be paying the £500/month again shortly. Therefore can I assume the maxi ISA is still a good bet, although maybe not with the CIS? Would it make sense (and can it be done?) to start a new cash ISA and continue with the maxi ISA? My first payment for this month isn’t until the 28th. Thanks for your pointers so far.
Regards
David

HGLTsuperstar

No you cant have a cash isa with a MAXI ISA, rule is either 1 MAXI or 2 MINIS being 1 cash and one S&S, so you could stop the maxi payment before it goes out and save up to 4K p.a. (£333 per month) in a mini S&S, but think you need to do some general and fund specific research first

david78

thepoolman_2000 wrote:

I will be paying the £500/month again shortly. Therefore can I assume the maxi ISA is still a good bet
David

Yes, if you want to pay £500 a month, you will need to use a maxi ISA. This would mean you would pay in £6000 for the year, leaving £1000 unused (but you could top up with £1000 later if you have the money).

thepoolman_2000 wrote:

Would it make sense (and can it be done?) to start a new cash ISA and continue with the maxi ISA?
David

No it can't be done (unfortunately). If you open a maxi ISA, you can't open a mini CASH ISA. If you want to use some of your £7000 allowance as cash, either consider two minis (cash allowance £250 per month or £3000 annually, stocks and shares allowance £333.33 per month or £4000 annually), or find a maxi ISA provider which allows you to hold a cash component of between £1 and £3000 inside it (these are quite rare).

thepoolman_2000 wrote:

My first payment for this month isn’t until the 28th.
David

If you want to switch from CIS you need to write to them before the 28th so they don't take a payment. CIS should have written to you recently explaining this (its required by regulations). You should also cancel the direct debit (or standing order) with your bank.

thepoolman_2000

HGLTsuperstar wrote:

No you cant have a cash isa with a MAXI ISA, rule is either 1 MAXI or 2 MINIS being 1 cash and one S&S, so you could stop the maxi payment before it goes out and save up to 4K p.a. (£333 per month) in a mini S&S

If I stopped paying x per month ino a MAXI ISA, and started a mini S&S ISA (paying 4K p.a. into), what would happen to my MAXI ISA in terms of capital, e.g. what happens to the 20k I have accumulated in my MAXI?
If I then only have a mini S&S ISA, from above, I can start a mini cash ISA ??

Oh I am sooo confused.... nearly all of the listings on here offer advise on cash ISA's but not much for S&S ISA's. Which fund managers / which funds seem to give the best deals for S&S ISA's?

V. Confused, but still

Extractthecash

don't know a huge amount about CIS but believe your old maxi ISA funds will be pooled with your mini ISA funds for this year. - That's what happens for Self Select S&S ISAs. As for funds, try doing your research on trustnet, it wouldn't be right for anyone to tell you which ones to buy as noone can see in the future and noone knows your full circumstances and true attitude to risk, your needs etc..

http://www.trustnet.com/

dunstonh

If I stopped paying x per month ino a MAXI ISA, and started a mini S&S ISA (paying 4K p.a. into), what would happen to my MAXI ISA in terms of capital, e.g. what happens to the 20k I have accumulated in my MAXI?

It becomes in effect a 20k investment which you are not adding to on a regular basis.

You cannot switch between mini and maxi between tax years. So, if you have made a regular contribution since 6th April, then you are stuck on MAXI until next tax year.

Oh I am sooo confused.... nearly all of the listings on here offer advise on cash ISA's but not much for S&S ISA's. Which fund managers / which funds seem to give the best deals for S&S ISA's?

Cash ISAs are non regulated. Anyone can make recommendations. Stocks and Shares ISAs are regulated, or at least contain regulated investments. That means that only financial advisors are authorised to make recommendations. Anyone can discuss but only those with the required authorisation can recommend.