ISA for future planning?

Pesto2606

Hi

I feel silly asking this question but ISA's baffle me, I have a lot to learn still. I keep seeing 'my last chance to get an isa' when I log in to my internet banking.

I'm currently saving for a house deposit but utilising current accounts and regular savers to acquire the bigger interest rates. I don't currently have a pension with my employer and have missed the boat to opt in to the scheme.

My rational is that if I didn't change employer and pay in to a pension then I could use isas to save in to instead. Although my house deposit right now is my priority is it worth opening an isa this year to keep as a holding pot that I can add in to when I have the disposable cash? Is it worth still acquiring an isa every year so that in 20/30 years time I have pots to put my money in to and spread out? Or is that a totally stupid idea?

masonic

Do you have £15k to save per year in addition to what you are saving towards your house deposit? If not, then you aren't going to build up a large pile of cash that you'd be unable to shelter in a cash ISA in the future.

In any case, you can only contribute to one cash ISA per tax year, so 'acquiring and isa every year' won't give you any extra pots that you can use for new cash in the future.

Pesto2606

masonic wrote: »

Do you have £15k to save per year in addition to what you are saving towards your house deposit? If not, then you aren't going to build up a large pile of cash that you'd be unable to shelter in a cash ISA in the future.

In any case, you can only contribute to one cash ISA per tax year, so 'acquiring and isa every year' won't give you any extra pots that you can use for new cash in the future.

Thank you Masonic you have just clarified a big point for me, I naively thought that I could open isas each year and pay in to them retrospectively. Ie next year. I didn't realise you have to make the contributions in the same year also. :rotfl: how have I gotten through my 28 years

Ok. Next stop, what the hell to do about a pension

colsten

Pesto2606 wrote: »

I keep seeing 'my last chance to get an isa' when I log in to my internet banking.

just Marketing messages, don't feel pressured. You will get a new allowance on April 6th. But read on

Pesto2606 wrote: »

I'm currently saving for a house deposit but utilising current accounts and regular savers to acquire the bigger interest rates.

using current accounts and regular savers sounds the best option right now for anything up to £50K. How much money have you got / how much do you need to get / what is your tax band / do you have a partner, are you saving on your own?

Pesto2606 wrote: »

I don't currently have a pension with my employer and have missed the boat to opt in to the scheme.

this sounds very wrong. You should be automatically opted in unless you actively opt out. It is very bad not to make use of the employer pension scheme, as you are throwing free money (the employer's contribution) away. May be post some details on the Pensions board for further discussion?

Pesto2606 wrote: »

it worth still acquiring an isa every year so that in 20/30 years time I have pots to put my money in to and spread out?

In a word: no. Old cash ISAs are no use as their interest rates will be next to zero, and you really don't need more than one S&S ISA. In any case, the max you can deposit into any ISA is the annual allowance

Pesto2606

Thanks for your reply colsten I've got about 10k spread over various accounts. When the interest rates run out or I will probably look to put it all in Santander and start again as I'm aiming for a 20% deposit. I'm in the higher tax band and saving on my own at the moment though my partner is saving in parallel. We currently live apart.

In relation to the work based pension I am in a bit of a rubbish situation. My employer offers the pension scheme in year one and year five of your employment. Unfortunately I was 17 when I started and didn't really have any idea or interest in saving for my future, i was saving for the weekend (stupidly) anyway 11 years on I'm still with the company with no option to get a pension. I get a good wage and have worked my way up so I guess the option is there to leave the company now and walk in to another job and take up the pension scheme.

thanks for your response on the isa, at least I know that's not for me right now