Lifetime ISAs guide

quinnj09

Can I open both a Cash lifetime ISA and a stocks and shares Lifetime ISA?

Ed-1

Bicker wrote: »

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but..

I already have a help to buy ISA which I opened 1 month ago. I am hoping to buy a house in 2-3 years time so i have no need to urgently open the stocks and shares lifetime ISA. I am planning on opening a Lifetime ISA in June and transferring over my current help to buy funds into it.

I currently have £1600 in my help to buy ISA
Should I continue to pay £200 into my help to buy ISA until I open the life time ISA?
If for example I pay in £600 for the months of April, May and June. Can I then open a Lifetime ISA and pay in £4000 from June to April or could I Only pay in £3400.

Thanks!

Anything paid into the Help to Buy ISA post 6th April 2017 and then transferred into a LISA counts against the £4,000 LISA limit.

So you could keep paying £200 a month into the H2B ISA and only transfer pre 6th April 2017 funds into the LISA (but you then can't get a bonus on the H2B ISA, you'd just be using it for a good interest rate) or you could transfer everything from the H2B ISA into the LISA and top up the amount of 17/18 money transferred in from the H2B ISA to £4,000.

Ed-1

quinnj09 wrote: »

Can I open both a Cash lifetime ISA and a stocks and shares Lifetime ISA?

You can only pay into one Lifetime ISA in a tax year so you can open a cash LISA this year and then a stocks and shares LISA from 6th April 2018 but can only pay into one of them per year.

Bicker

Ed-1 wrote: »

Anything paid into the Help to Buy ISA post 6th April 2017 and then transferred into a LISA counts against the £4,000 LISA limit.

So you could keep paying £200 a month into the H2B ISA and only transfer pre 6th April 2017 funds into the LISA (but you then can't get a bonus on the H2B ISA, you'd just be using it for a good interest rate) or you could transfer everything from the H2B ISA into the LISA and top up the amount of 17/18 money transferred in from the H2B ISA to £4,000.

So If I currently have £1200 in H2B. I save another £600 between now and June and then open a LISA.

I can then transfer my £1800 from my H2B into the LISA, but then the maximum I can pay into the LISA is £3400 this tax year?

Correct?!

Thank

masonic

martinlewisjunior wrote: »

To keep this brief.

Stage 1: Open stocks and shares LISA with nutmeg tomorrow. (put £100 or £500) at risk 1.
Stage 2: When cash ISA's open, transfer NUTMEG Lisa into a cash isa, at the same time also transfer help to buy cash isa into this cash isa. (or transfer help to buy isa later depends on interest rates)
Stage 3: come April 6th 2018 , become eligible for 25% bonus. Ready to purchase a house come the late spring/ summer of 2018

I guess I'm right in thinking this?

Yes you are right.

Kreacher wrote: »

This is my exact plan too! But the Nutmeg LISA says it doesn't accept transfers from a htb ISA?The only thing I'm not sure about is are you allowed to transfer the Nutmeg s&s LISA and a HTB ISA into a cash LISA once they become available?

Yes, transfer the Nutmeg LISA elsewhere to someone who allows transfers from the HTB ISA.

Bicker wrote: »

So If I currently have £1200 in H2B. I save another £600 between now and June and then open a LISA.

I can then transfer my £1800 from my H2B into the LISA, but then the maximum I can pay into the LISA is £3400 this tax year?

Correct?!

Correct.

Ed-1

Bicker wrote: »

So If I currently have £1200 in H2B. I save another £600 between now and June and then open a LISA.

I can then transfer my £1800 from my H2B into the LISA, but then the maximum I can pay into the LISA is £3400 this tax year?

Correct?!

Thank

Yes.............

FergieSioux

Question about opening up LISA and Help to Buy

In Martin's video RE LISA verses Help to Buy, he said open up a LISA with £1 and then continue to top up your Help to Buy ISA if you were unsure about committing to the year as this will get the 1 year clock rolling on the LISA.

Here's my question- I already have a Help to Buy ISA but want a better rate. If I open up a LISA with £1 tomorrow, will that stop me opening up a new Help to Buy ISA with a better rate than my current one? I.e. will I be stuck with my current help to buy ISA rate?

Ed-1

FergieSioux wrote: »

Question about opening up LISA and Help to Buy

In Martin's video RE LISA verses Help to Buy, he said open up a LISA with £1 and then continue to top up your Help to Buy ISA if you were unsure about committing to the year as this will get the 1 year clock rolling on the LISA.

Here's my question- I already have a Help to Buy ISA but want a better rate. If I open up a LISA with £1 tomorrow, will that stop me opening up a new Help to Buy ISA with a better rate than my current one? I.e. will I be stuck with my current help to buy ISA rate?

You can only hold one H2B ISA. Having a LISA has no effect on your ability to open a new H2B ISA but you must transfer your old H2B ISA into a new one or otherwise close your old H2B ISA if you open a new one.

adsy_

masonic wrote: »

Yes you are right.


Yes, transfer the Nutmeg LISA elsewhere to someone who allows transfers from the HTB ISA.


Correct.

So, if what ive read is correct the best plan is too:

1) open an account tomorrow with Nutmeg.
2) continue to pay into your H2B
3) come June, open the best rate cash LISA.
4) move the nutmeg account over
5) move the H2B over

Then from June you can contribute £4000 less current year contributions to either H2B or nutmeg, given that pre 06/04/2017 contributions do not eat into the limits.

bowlhead99

adsy_ wrote: »

So is the solution to open a nutmeg tomorrow, transfer in money to it (the minimum required) and leave both this and the H2B open. Then when the cash lisa's are available, transfer both accounts into one?

It depends on what you are looking for a solution *to*.

I presume you are looking to complete on a property purchase at some point early May 2018 after the bonus is paid for the 2017/18 financial year at the end of April / early May 2018? Which is why you are looking to open a Nutmeg account that you don't actually want and will transfer out of, just to start the clock ticking on you having had an ISA open twelve months before you can take a penalty-free withdrawal ?

You've not mentioned in any of your posts so far that this is the case, but I'm assuming that's why you want to do your plan. If that is the case, then your plan would generally work. However, there's absolutely no urgency to open a Nutmeg account tomorrow.

Your eventual LISA provider is not going to report to HMRC how much you have contributed into your LISAs during 2017/18 until after 5 April 2018 has passed and they have had time to do their general tax-year end processes and write and submit the report, which may take a couple of weeks. Then HMRC or the administering agency has to review it and send a pile of bonus money back the other way, to get allocated to your account. So, you are not going to be able to withdraw the bonus as early as 6 April 2018. So you do not need to have opened your first LISA account as early as 6 April 2017.