Stocks and shares ISA

Wig

In a last minute bid to take advantage of this years ISA allowance I am thinking of opening a share ISA with Lloyds.
http://sharedata.lloydstsbsharedealing.com/productrange/productrange.html
ISA account
I want to pick and choose my own shares

I will be putting the cash 5340 into a cash ISA tommorow and want to use the remaining 5340 on shares

However, I have some questions

Opening with Lloyds is primarily for convenience as the money is all in Lloyds... The Lloyds bumpf says once opened you can easily use your debit card to pay funds into your ISA, what it doesn't say is that you can transfer money in online from your other accounts.....Can I transfer the money in as soon as the account is opened?

Once the money is in, say £5,340 even though I may not buy all shares straight away before April 6th is that money safely "in the share ISA" for me to do with as I please even if I leave it a week or more? Cash will presumably earn no interest in the share ISA.

Lloyds charges £15 per transaction is that per company/transaction?
If I buy 1000 company X, & 1000 company Y & 1000 company Z
Will I be charged £15 or £45?

If I don't like the charges and I see better share ISA accounts offered by another bank can I transfer the cash balance and shares into that other banks ISA....anything to watch out for?

If I get cold feet and having opened the share ISA with cash before April 6th. Can I back out and reclaim my cash and chuck it into savings instead with no penalty other than lost interest.


Thanks

innovate

Hmh, seems a bit of a panic decision you want to take. The cash ISA part is relatively simple because it's basically just a savings account (instant or fixed term) and we all generally understand savings accounts. S&S ISAs are quite different beasts and I wouldn't just jump in there last minute if I were you. IMO it would be better to park your money in a good savings account (e.g. Regular Saver, or best instant access saver - like Nottingham BS 3.2%) whilst you inform yourself about S&S ISAs. You will be able to open one of those really any time of year - though clearly you will have lost your 2011/2012 allowance after tomorrow night. Still, getting 3.2% AER on £5,340 in a boring old savings account might be a better deal than jumping head first into a potentially overly expensive ISA.

Personally, I would NEVER have a S&S ISA with a bank - - you will be almost entirely limited to what they offer, and you will pay their relatively high fees. Though Lloyds have a share-dealing ISA where you have a little more freedom on what goes in them.

Overall much better to do a self-select ISA through one of the fund supermarkets like Selftrade or Hargreaves Landsdown - - though there, you have to select the funds or shares you want to use, which might not be the best choice for you. Their charges are generally a lot less than banks (think of banks as delis/boutiques, and fund supermarkets as the Tescos, Sainsburys etc).

As to your questions:

You say you have most of your money in Lloyds - - - there's obvious benefits to have it all in one place, but make sure you don't go over £85K on your deposits (S&S ISA investment aren't guaranteed, so no point counting them in the £85K)

Lloyds ISA accounts usually have a sort code and account number, so you transfer money in easily. Should be able to start transferring immediately after opening.

You can trade in a Lloyds shared-dealing S&S when it suits you (as you can in a fund supermarket). Not sure Lloyds pay any interest on cash in the S&S ISA, but if they do, it will be a miserly amount (as it is with fund supermarkets, too).

You pay £45 in your example since it's 3 deals.

You can transfer your COMPLETE (not part) S&S ISA to another bank/fund supermarket BUT it is quite involved (need to sell your shares, then buy them again in new provider) and could cost you a lot of money.

Not sure you have a cooling off period on S&S ISAs - - you really need to check that with Lloyds.

Wig

I think I will just take my time and concentrate on the next tax year. I don't think I would have bought another £5000s worth next year anyway. The rush was because I think the shares I want will rise in the new tax year when everyone uses their new ISA allowance at the current low share price.

cash interest in Lloyds ISA is 0.1%
There is a quarterly admin fee 0.0125% min £6.60(?) max £30
If I opened and closed worst case scenario I'd have to pay £6.60

But I'm not going to bother now.....thanks,

I'm looking at Hargeaves now but finding it rather confusing.

swift1_2

There are better alternatives to lloyds - I would avoid simply because they have the cheek to charge admin fees, quarterly ones at that!
There are number of better providers that do not charge admin fees: TD Waterhouse and iii to name 2, there are others.

I would open one up (one that charges no admin fees) and get money in there before tomorrow deadline, you don't actually have to buy shares straight away, you can leave it in there as cash till the right time for you to buy shares.

That way, next tax year if you have more money to invest you can take full advantage of the allowance on offer.

You have nothing to loose buy opening the account and moving money in, even if later you decide its not for you, you can just take it back out again.

For many years, I never bothered with ISAs thinking my investments would be lucky to exceed the CGT allowance anyway. I regret it now. I didn't realise at the time, the real power comes from the cumulative effect of adding each year, in 10yrs you can have a sizeable pot (esp. if you are married) giving tax free growth and income.

hope that helps.