Help to Buy ISA guide

Nosbor23

Hello,

Sorry if I have missed anything already posted, if I have please point me in the right direction.

So I have an RBS instant access ISA which I have had for quite a few years now and I am getting basically no interest on it. I have £16000 in it and have paid into it since April this year.

I currently also have an RBS current account and a Halifax reward current account.

I have just got a new job so will be looking to save a bit more money then move out.
I'm not 100% sure how long it will be before I can seriously start looking to move out, I'm hoping soon.

I'm looking to do something better with my money but unsure if I should wait until April to open a HTB ISA and meanwhile just move my current savings to a higher interest rate account? If so, where should I put my money?

Or should I do something else all together???
HELP!

Thanks

colsten

Nosbor23 wrote: »

Sorry if I have missed anything already posted, if I have please point me in the right direction.

You have indeed missed lots, and you are in the right place for ideas to improve your savings position. Plase do read through this thread.

Ian1H

My apologies if this has already been answered, I couldn't find it in the previous posts.

If I open a HTB ISA with £1200 & pay in £200 a month for, say, 10 months and then don't pay in any more, am I still eligible for the 25% bonus even if I don't buy a house for another year? If I stop paying in regularly, do I lose the 25% bonus? Thanks in advance.

eskbanker

Ian1H wrote: »

If I open a HTB ISA with £1200 & pay in £200 a month for, say, 10 months and then don't pay in any more, am I still eligible for the 25% bonus even if I don't buy a house for another year? If I stop paying in regularly, do I lose the 25% bonus?

Yes and no respectively - the £200 is the maximum monthly subscription, there's no minimum.

iwant2asave

Hi,

Advice greatly appreciated.

I have an existing cash ISA which I both transferred in previous years and paid in £5000 this tax year. Current balance about £10,000.

Is there a straightforward option to get a help to buy isa given that my existing isa is a mixture of both current years subscriptions and previous years and might therefore be hard to split up.

Am I better off just waiting a three months and getting one next tax year as max I would lose out on is 25% of 600 i.e. £150?

Any thoughts please?

Sam

hardleyouth

MARTYM8` wrote: »

Yes - if your HTB isa is with Halifax or Virgin or Barclays or most providers at present.

However this does not apply with Nationwide, RBS/Natwest, Aldermore or Newcastle as you can invest in both a cash isa and a HTB isa each tax year under their split isa arrangements.

Why they cannot all introduce this option is a loss to me.

You may of course earn more in a current account or regular saver than a cash isa - so look at your options.

What annoys me is when certain providers include this statement in their terms - yes you can just not with THEM! Its wrong.

"You can't pay into a Help to Buy: ISA and a Cash ISA in the same tax year"

I'm not sure that's right?

He was asking about over 5 years. In the tax year after you opened the HTB ISA you can open a second ISA, no? Although I'm not certain, I am looking for clarification

Archi_Bald

hardleyouth wrote: »

In the tax year after you opened the HTB ISA you can open a second ISA, no? Although I'm not certain, I am looking for clarification

You are wrong. You can open as many as you like but you are not allowed to pay any money into an HTB ISA and another cash ISA in any year except if you have both of them with one of the split ISA providers that MARTYM8 listed.

Usual question: why would you even want a normal cash ISA?

hardleyouth

Archi_Bald wrote: »

You are wrong. You can open as many as you like but you are not allowed to pay any money into an HTB ISA and another cash ISA in any year except if you have both of them with one of the split ISA providers that MARTYM8 listed.

Usual question: why would you even want a normal cash ISA?

Interesting. Thanks for the answer.

And that is the case even if you held a Cash ISA from the FY prior to opening the HTB ISA? I.e. if I already hold an ISA now from the previous tax year and I open a HTB ISA right now, I would have to cease paying into that old ISA? Would I have to close it???

Sorry for all the Q's, curiosity! :j

Don't particularly want a normal ISA given the poor rates, just curious to fully clarify all the terms of these HTB ISAs before I enter into one.

Archi_Bald

hardleyouth wrote: »

And that is the case even if you held a Cash ISA from the FY prior to opening the HTB ISA? I.e. if I already hold an ISA now from the previous tax year and I open a HTB ISA right now, I would have to cease paying into that old ISA? Would I have to close it???

yes / no - see previous explanations!

hardleyouth wrote: »

Don't particularly want a normal ISA given the poor rates

why have one then?

hardleyouth

Archi_Bald wrote: »

yes / no - see previous explanations!


why have one then?

I'm not having one? I'm just asking.

You seem a bit on edge... :eek: