Lifetime ISAs guide

bowlhead99

bradleyaidanjohnson said:

Transferring from HTB ISA to SnS ISA

I posted this in a separate thread but maybe it belongs here? 

Replied on that other thread ; a new thread is usually better  if you have specific circumstances to discuss - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77445062#Comment_77445062

Alexland

Hi,

Sorry I haven't been around these forums much recently but I thought I would post an unusual story about my LISA transfer from HL to AJ Bell in 2019 that's still not resolved. So, after much HL inertia, they managed to get the cash and assets transferred but the latest unexpected problem is that my monthly AJ Bell bonus claims have been failing. Initially we thought HL had provided an incorrect HMRC LISA account reference but it turns out that HL incorrectly instructed HMRC that the account was closed (not transferred) which is why HMRC have been rejecting the claim each month. Now we are both chasing HL to get them to resolve their error with HMRC. Sigh.

Another unresolved issue from one of the many transfers I did last year was that Halifax Share Dealing unexpectedly added interest into my closed (well it says closed) SIPP account about 3 months after it transferred out (didn't notice they hadn't added YTD interest before the cash transfer) and then didn't proactively transfer it to the next provider for the past 6 months. I only noticed it when logging onto Halifax online banking again for the latest £100 current account switch offer. So for anyone that used to have an account with HSD it might be worth logging in to see if it has an interest balance. I wonder if I will get interest next year for the cash balance caused by the interest payment this year?

Alex

masonic

What a pain! Almost as if HL thought they were transferring to a S&S ISA. I suppose it is a small blessing you didn't have to contend with them charging a withdrawal penalty.

Makes me feel a bit better about my ISA transfers earlier this year, which were at worst a few weeks slower than I'd have liked.

Alexland

masonic said:

What a pain! Almost as if HL thought they were transferring to a S&S ISA. I suppose it is a small blessing you didn't have to contend with them charging a withdrawal penalty.

Makes me feel a bit better about my ISA transfers earlier this year, which were at worst a few weeks slower than I'd have liked.

Yes the HSD error was unexpected too but it's nice to find some unexpected cash and they have now promised to forward it onto the new scheme. Showing HSD accounts in normal Halifax online banking must be a fairly new thing as it wasn't showing last time I had a bank account with Halifax. The online banking isn't showing my iWeb ISA account as I guess they still consider that a seperate brand.

Alex

Baum20

Hi, 

I'm planning to buy first home in around a year, so am thinking of opening a LISA now, ready to use in 12 months time. I have a help to bus ISA, which I have contributed £800 this tax year and has less the £4000 in total. The interest rate is better than any cash LISA, almost double. however I don't like that the 25% bonus will not be part of my deposit and will only come after exchange. And therefore want to have only the LISA. 

I don't know whether to transfer my entire help to buy ISA into a LISA this tax year or to start contributing a LISA aiming for £4k this tax year and then transfer my help to buy (under £4k after interest) into the LISA next tax year and make up the remaining £4k allowance with new money contributions. 

However looking a the top interest rates in cash LISA's,  the top Nottingham building soc doesnt  allow ISA transfers in unless a Lisa. I don't like  the sound of moneybox Lisa looking at their reviews, plus you can get free mortgage advice with NBS. So
can I, start a cash Lisa with NBS, even though I have contributed to a help to buy ISA this tax year and next tax year withdraw all my help to buy into my current account and then pay into the LISA? Or vice versa if I cannot contribute to both products in one tax year. 

Thanks

Baum20

Baum20 said:

Hi, 

I'm planning to buy first home in around a year, so am thinking of opening a LISA now, ready to use in 12 months time. I have a help to bus ISA, which I have contributed £800 this tax year and has less the £4000 in total. The interest rate is better than any cash LISA, almost double. however I don't like that the 25% bonus will not be part of my deposit and will only come after exchange. And therefore want to have only the LISA. 

I don't know whether to transfer my entire help to buy ISA into a LISA this tax year or to start contributing a LISA aiming for £4k this tax year and then transfer my help to buy (under £4k after interest) into the LISA next tax year and make up the remaining £4k allowance with new money contributions. 

However looking a the top interest rates in cash LISA's,  the top Nottingham building soc doesnt  allow ISA transfers in unless a Lisa. I don't like  the sound of moneybox Lisa looking at their reviews, plus you can get free mortgage advice with NBS. So
can I, start a cash Lisa with NBS, even though I have contributed to a help to buy ISA this tax year and next tax year withdraw all my help to buy into my current account and then pay into the LISA? Or vice versa if I cannot contribute to both products in one tax year. 

Thanks

Or do I not touch the help to buy leave it to earn interest. save £4k into a lisa this tax year and the same for next tax up until the point I of opening the Lisa for a year (august) or longer and if I  can manage save any extra put into my help to buy and do not claim a bonus on my help to buy when purchasing. Is that's allowed. The only other think I'm unsure of is contributing to a help to buy ISA and cash Lisa in one tax year.

masonic

Baum20 said:

Hi, 

I'm planning to buy first home in around a year, so am thinking of opening a LISA now, ready to use in 12 months time. I have a help to bus ISA, which I have contributed £800 this tax year and has less the £4000 in total. The interest rate is better than any cash LISA, almost double. however I don't like that the 25% bonus will not be part of my deposit and will only come after exchange. And therefore want to have only the LISA. 

I don't know whether to transfer my entire help to buy ISA into a LISA this tax year or to start contributing a LISA aiming for £4k this tax year and then transfer my help to buy (under £4k after interest) into the LISA next tax year and make up the remaining £4k allowance with new money contributions. 

However looking a the top interest rates in cash LISA's,  the top Nottingham building soc doesnt  allow ISA transfers in unless a Lisa. I don't like  the sound of moneybox Lisa looking at their reviews, plus you can get free mortgage advice with NBS. So
can I, start a cash Lisa with NBS, even though I have contributed to a help to buy ISA this tax year and next tax year withdraw all my help to buy into my current account and then pay into the LISA? Or vice versa if I cannot contribute to both products in one tax year.

There is little advantage in carrying out a formal transfer from a HTB ISA to a LISA, all it does is preserve some of your £20k annual allowance. Since many do not have >£16k per tax year to save in ISAs, a simple withdrawal from the HTB ISA, followed by payment into the LISA as new money is a simple and quick way to achieve the transfer, and works for providers who do not accept transfers.

If you are earning better rates of interest elsewhere, it is generally better to delay contributing to a LISA until late in the tax year. Open one with the minimum balance to start the clock ticking on the 1 year holding period. This also allows you to keep your options open until nearer the time you will buy. If you have new money to save, then I would suggest prioritising putting that into the LISA over money that's already in your HTB ISA.

Baum20 said:

Or do I not touch the help to buy leave it to earn interest. save £4k into a lisa this tax year and the same for next tax up until the point I of opening the Lisa for a year (august) or longer and if I  can manage save any extra put into my help to buy and do not claim a bonus on my help to buy when purchasing. Is that's allowed. The only other think I'm unsure of is contributing to a help to buy ISA and cash Lisa in one tax year.

Yes you can use your HTB ISA as a normal savings account while you still qualify as a first time buyer. You should close it after you become a homeowner.

Lifetime ISAs are a separate type of ISA from cash ISAs (HTB ISAs are cash ISAs), so you can contribute to both if you so wish.

1994ABC

Hi - I have a LISA which is a year old in November and looking at buying at some point in 2022 - I put in nearly 4k last tax year (19/20 tax year), and plan on doing the same for this tax year (20/21) and 21/22 tax year. Say I buy in April/ May 2022, if I put in 4k into the LISA in April 2022, would I achieve the bonus (eg is it paid as the money goes in or at the end of each tax year?)
Thanks!

eskbanker

If you pay in between 6 April and 5 May 2022, you'll receive the 25% bonus on that contribution in late May or early June (2022).  By then you'll be familiar with the scheduling of bonus payments as you'll have had at least three!

TheTrotsky

To borrow a phrase from Masonic on another LISA thread, do not touch The Nottingham Building Society with a barge pole.

They are a total and utter disgrace.

My son and daughter have been waiting over 3 weeks for them to acknowledge receipt of LISA funds transferred to them by BACS on 5 August (it took over a month to even get to that stage and messages to ask them to return phonecalls they'd promised to my son and daughter's previous provider). Repeated messages to them have been ignored. MoneySavingExpert would do well to take them off their Best Buys list; it's quite clear that The Nottingham are over trading and do not have the capacity to handle this business.

We are now resorting to the Financial Ombudsman (funnily The Nottingham did at least acknowldge that they'd been notified - by my son and daughter - of that complaint) and, despite The Nottigham promising to look into the complaints as "a matter of urgency", my son and daughter are still awaiting a response over a week later.

Caveat emptor. You've been warned.