Lifetime ISAs guide

eldeoh

I have a LISA with AJ Bell and will soon be moving abroad for a couple years (minimum).

Is it possible to transfer £4k from existing cash/s&s isa's each year to my LISA and still get the bonus?

pink_pirlie

eldeoh wrote: »

I have a LISA with AJ Bell and will soon be moving abroad for a couple years (minimum).

Is it possible to transfer £4k from existing cash/s&s isa's each year to my LISA and still get the bonus?

You cannot deposit into an ISA (LISA or otherwise) if you are not resident in the UK. So for the period you are abroad you would need to leave it dormant.

eldeoh

I don't plan on depositing new money into an ISA or LISA. I'm asking if I can transfer existing cash ISAs over to a LISA while abroad.

pink_pirlie

Oops ... that serves me right for not reading your post properly. I got up way to early today. :eek:

From a quick google search I can find no explicit reference to transfers by non-residents.

However when initiating a transfer at HL from an ISA to a LISA part of the declaration is that you are a resident. AJ Bell states you cannot make payments into the LISA if you are not resident.

The transfer counts towards the £4000 LISA limit and as a non-resident your LISA limit would be zero so I can't see how it would be possible.

Useful research for me as I will also be non-resident in the next few years.

eldeoh

That's a shame.

Bex.cullingford

Ok so a Lisa is used for buying your first house or retirement. What if you have a private pension elsewhere? Can you move it to a Lisa? Is that money then ringfenced or could you potentially buy a house with that money?

Zorillo

You can't move your pension money into a LISA or buy a house with it (unless you're 55+ in which case you can withdraw it entirely if you chose to).

Bex.cullingford

That's what I thought. I was told otherwise by my pension provider but thought it sounded like they were wrong. Thanks

edwardpearson99

I am looking to buy a house in roughly 4 years (my aim anyway)


I have created a Skipton cash LISA . Without considering the 0.7% interest, would I earn the full £ 1000 per year (25% bonus) if I was to pay £ 4000 straight away and not put any more deposits in?


As my balance will remain as £ 4000 minimum each year I think I will still earn the max £ 1000 government bonus for each 4 years?


Please could someone advise? Thank you

eskbanker

edwardpearson99 wrote: »

I am looking to buy a house in roughly 4 years (my aim anyway)


I have created a Skipton cash LISA . Without considering the 0.7% interest, would I earn the full £ 1000 per year (25% bonus) if I was to pay £ 4000 straight away and not put any more deposits in?


As my balance will remain as £ 4000 minimum each year I think I will still earn the max £ 1000 government bonus for each 4 years?

No, the bonus is only payable once on any given contribution, it's not like recurring interest that's paid on balances. So, if you pay in £4K straight away, you'll earn the £1K bonus within 4-8 weeks but won't then earn any further bonuses unless you make additional contributions.