Help to Buy ISA guide

jimjames

Yes you are correct

eskbanker

charleston1 wrote: »

I have money in an isa (been in there for about 10 years now) but i've been silly in that I haven't been renewing it so I'm probably on 0.05% if that!

I'm wanting to open up a HTB isa at Halifax (where my old money is too)

Question is, can I renew the old ISA, given that it is "old money" if that makes sense, and still open up a HTB ISA?

Please someone advise me. I just don't want my other ISA making me nothing for a third year :-S

Not quite sure what you mean by 'renewing' your old ISA but you can transfer it into a more competitive current one without affecting your ability to open a HTB ISA, unless you've paid new money into it since 6 April 2015. Better still, open a Halifax HTB ISA and shift the old ISA money into one or more accounts that pay much better interest than (non-HTB) cash ISAs

ashliegh_2

Ive recently opened a help to buy isa and have a cash isa from a few years ago which i pay into every month, does this mean i should of opened a split isa instead of regular 4% help to buy isa? or can i now just leave the cash isa and not pay into and maybe transfer in to another bank. thanks

charleston1

I'm not sure what I mean by renewing myself.:-S Once the term is up (1 year) I call halifax and just, I guess, I must be opening a new isa with existing money in there but actually all along i thought i was just renewing my existing ISA. I have about 10K in there so I should be doing something with it. Moving it somewhere. Just Something! I feel rather silly for not actually knowing how these ISA's work properly. Like transferring monies is boggling me. But i havent put anything in it this year so that helps matters.
Can I ask... ISA year is April-April right? so if I opened up one in say Jan for 1 year, hypothetically, can you then open another after April? (see i'm useless!)

charleston1

Also eskbanker, if I do shift my "old money" into an account that pays much better interest, non ISA, i will then be paying tax on it right?
Do you still think that a good option on monies over 10K?

Thanks a lot for simplifying what I need to do btw. Great help! :-)

colsten

charleston1 wrote: »

Can I ask... ISA year is April-April right? so if I opened up one in say Jan for 1 year, hypothetically, can you then open another after April? (see i'm useless!)

ISA year = Tax year. Tax year always runs from 6th April in one year to the 5th April in the next.

charleston1 wrote: »

Also eskbanker, if I do shift my "old money" into an account that pays much better interest, non ISA, i will then be paying tax on it right?
Do you still think that a good option on monies over 10K?

You get some 1.6% AER in an instant access ISA if you are lucky, and a tad more in a fixed term ISA.

You get at least 3% in instant access current accounts but by using Regular Savers you can average at least 4%. Even after you paid tax on this, you still earn more that in any ISA. From April 6th onwards, you will have a savings interest allowance (unless you earn more than £145,000 a year) which for many people means they pay no tax on their non-ISA savings interest.

HazeB

Hi everyone


Understanding this sort of thing isn't my forte so I just want to see if I understand this correctly...


I have £XXk in an ISA which I haven't paid into or done anything with in this tax year. I have some money saved to open up a Save to Buy ISA. I think it was Halifax who were doing a 4% interest rate on their Save to Buy so I am considering that.


Am I right in thinking that I can TRANSFER my old previous year's ISA AND OPEN a Save to Buy ISA both before the end of this tax year? I haven't paid into this old ISA this tax year. I thought you were allowed an old ISA alongside a Save to Buy one but wasn't sure if this was still the case if I transfer it. (Would this answer change if I do pay into the old previous years ISA before the end of this tax year?)


If that isn't correct then presumably I have to do one of the above this side of the tax year and one post April 1st?


Any clarity would be hugely appreciated!!


Thanks
Hazel

colsten

ashliegh wrote: »

Ive recently opened a help to buy isa and have a cash isa from a few years ago which i pay into every month, does this mean i should [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] have opened a split isa instead of regular 4% help to buy isa? or can i now just leave the cash isa and not pay into and maybe transfer in to another bank. thanks

Yes, you should have either

1. opened a split ISA or
2. closed the old ISA before you opened the HTB ISA

As you are not allowed to pay into more than one cash ISA in the same tax year, and as the old ISA with almost absolute certainty pays pittance, you should look into closing it and moving the money into non-ISA accounts that pay decent interest.

colsten

HazeB wrote: »

I have £XXk in an ISA which I haven't paid into or done anything with in this tax year. I have some money saved to open up a Save to Buy ISA. I think it was Halifax who were doing a 4% interest rate on their Save to Buy so I am considering that.


Am I right in thinking that I can TRANSFER my old previous year's ISA AND OPEN a Save to Buy ISA both before the end of this tax year? I haven't paid into this old ISA this tax year. I thought you were allowed an old ISA alongside a Save to Buy one but wasn't sure if this was still the case if I transfer it. (Would this answer change if I do pay into the old previous years ISA before the end of this tax year?)


If that isn't correct then presumably I have to do one of the above this side of the tax year and one post April 1st?
Hazel

If you have not paid into your old ISA this tax year, you can go ahead and pay into an HTB ISA any time you like. You can transfer up to £1,000 + £200 from your existing ISA, and then £200 a month thereafter. But rather than asking for ISA transfers which involve paperwork and waiting, you can just withdraw the cash from your old ISA and deposit it into your HTB ISA.

The question you should ask yourself is whether keeping that old ISA makes any sense at all as there are many other accounts that pay better interest than cash ISAs.

Sdarby93

Hi I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice.

I'm 22 years old and I am debating if I should open a help to buy ISA. I'm currently on minimum wage but am managing to save around £400.00 a month. I can't see myself buying a home for quite a long time.

It says in the article that future governments may scrap the bonus provided by this ISA, would you guys suggest opening an account even if I don't intend to buy a house in the near future?

Thanks