Lifetime ISAs guide

anthonylee

Hi there
New to forum.  I opened a LISA with Skipton BS 4 years ago aged 39.  They have now reduced the interest to 0.35% where I can see Nottingham BS currently pay 1.25%.
I have tried to open an account with them to transfer the whole LISA to them both online and in branch and they say it is not possible as you cannot be over 39 to open an account and that this is the government rules even if I do want to transfer the whole amount.
apologies if this has been asked before but is this correct ?  Am I stuck with whatever interest rate Skipton BS wants to pay for another 17 years ?  Surely this cannot be right.
Thanks for any advice you can provide.

eskbanker

The scheme rules do permit over-40s to open accounts for the purposes of transferring, but numerous providers seem to have an issue with doing so.....

zpargo

Hi if I want to withdraw from HTB ISA to buy first house in 12 months and have a HTB ISA currently and in 12 months I'll have 5500 in there my bonus is 25% of this = 1375
Would I get a larger bonus if I transferred the HTB ISA to the Life time ISA if buying property in 12 months or 18 months? 
My current view is no as the max you can put in the Lifetime ISA is 4000 and therefore bonus is capped at 1000. Can anyone confirm? 
Much appreciated

grumiofoundation

zpargo said:

Hi if I want to withdraw from HTB ISA to buy first house in 12 months and have a HTB ISA currently and in 12 months I'll have 5500 in there my bonus is 25% of this = 1375
Would I get a larger bonus if I transferred the HTB ISA to the Life time ISA if buying property in 12 months or 18 months? 
My current view is no as the max you can put in the Lifetime ISA is 4000 per tax year and therefore bonus is capped at 1000. Can anyone confirm? 
Much appreciated

You can pay in £4000 per tax year. So in 12 months time would have been able to pay in 2 x £4000 (therefore bonus of 2 x £1000). This is the same if buying in 18 months but in 21 months (April 2022) would be able to pay in another £4000. 

P1Fanatic

Bear in mind that even if you paid in 2nd £4k on April 6th 2021 - your looking at 6-8 weeks before that 2021 bonus is paid. Depends on who you invest with but my experience with HL has been around 6 weeks. Just in case that affects your timings.

bogleboogle

P1Fanatic said:

Bear in mind that even if you paid in 2nd £4k on April 6th 2021 - your looking at 6-8 weeks before that 2021 bonus is paid. Depends on who you invest with but my experience with HL has been around 6 weeks. Just in case that affects your timings.

My experience with Newcastle B.S. has been far better - the bonus is posted by the end of the next month. 

eskbanker

bogleboogle said:

P1Fanatic said:

Bear in mind that even if you paid in 2nd £4k on April 6th 2021 - your looking at 6-8 weeks before that 2021 bonus is paid. Depends on who you invest with but my experience with HL has been around 6 weeks. Just in case that affects your timings.

My experience with Newcastle B.S. has been far better - the bonus is posted by the end of the next month. 

The timing of LISA bonus payments is primarily driven by date of deposit, not choice of institution.

Bonus claim periods run from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next month, after which institutions have up to 14 days to claim the bonus and the government has up to 14 days to pay it, so bonuses will always arrive around the end of that second month or very early in the next one.  Paying in on 5 May will result in a bonus being paid on the same date as for deposits made on 6 April so hardcore MSE money savers will keep the funds earning interest elsewhere and leave the LISA payin until the start of calendar months....

zpargo

Thanks all - will transfer over asap then! 

Nomad_Nicol

Hello,
Apologies, I'm sure this has been answered many times through the course of this thread and others but there's an awful lot out there and the ones I found in my searches were quite dated.
I'm hoping to buy my first home in around 6-9 months and was a bit late to the party with LISAs.  From reading the guide it does seem that it's still worth my while to open an account, make the minimum deposit and then use the LISA if I've still not bought a home within a year.
Am I right in thinking I'll still be awarded the £1000 bonus if I leave this account for 11 months and then transfer in £3990 to go on top of my £10 initial deposit next June?
Is there any reason that I should do this?
Thanks  

grumiofoundation

Nomad_Nicol said:

Hello,
Apologies, I'm sure this has been answered many times through the course of this thread and others but there's an awful lot out there and the ones I found in my searches were quite dated.
I'm hoping to buy my first home in around 6-9 months and was a bit late to the party with LISAs.  From reading the guide it does seem that it's still worth my while to open an account, make the minimum deposit and then use the LISA if I've still not bought a home within a year.
Am I right in thinking I'll still be awarded the £1000 bonus if I leave this account for 11 months and then transfer in £3990 to go on top of my £10 initial deposit next June?
Is there any reason that I should do this?
Thanks  

The £4000 contribution limit is per tax year not per calendar year. So if you open with £10 today you have until April 2021 to pay in your £3990. Then it resets - meaning the limit is £4000 in tax year 2021/2022.

so by this time next year you will have been able to contribute £8000. 

It makes sense to open a LISA with a small amount today - there’s no downside.