Good ISA with no minimum deposit.

midnightagogo

Hi!

I'm expecting a lump sum (inheritance) in a few weeks/months, and am suddenly wondering if I should be opening an ISA today.

I have very little money at the moment, I could possibly stretch to £100 as an initial deposit, but certainly can't meet the £500 that a lot of the best accounts seem to require.

I have current accounts with Lloyds and Nationwide, and Monzo (sadly they need £500 min).

Any advice will be gratefully received.

xylophone

if I should be opening an ISA today.

A cash ISA?

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1583864/Best-savings-rates-Isas-Cash-Isa-accounts-fixed-rate-Isas.html

midnightagogo

Thanks Xylophone, I'll have a good read of that!

Voyager2002

midnightagogo wrote: »

Hi!

I'm expecting a lump sum (inheritance) in a few weeks/months, and am suddenly wondering if I should be opening an ISA today.

It makes no difference: you are allowed to invest up to 20,000 this financial year, but after tomorrow that allowance will have gone forever. Opening an ISA today would only help if you could somehow borrow a sum of up to 20,000 to invest today and repay when you get the money (and even if you could do that I do not recommend it).

Harvic

Yeah doesn't matter, it's the total amount in the year that is the limit. If you had £40k you could put in £20k today and £20k next tax year (e.g. next week!).

Don't forget the first £1000 interest is tax free if you pay basic rate tax (£500 for higher rate). Most savings are offering 1.5-2% for short term, so even £50k at 2% in a 'normal account' will only just hit that threshold. You may want to look at non-ISAs to maximize returns. NS&I premium bonds are also tax free on any returns, if they're your kind of thing, and you can put £50k in those on top of a £20k ISA allowance.

midnightagogo

Ok, I understand. It's possible the money could arrive tomorrow but it's also unlikely!

Thanks everyone.

londoninvestor

Voyager2002 wrote: »

It makes no difference: you are allowed to invest up to 20,000 this financial year, but after tomorrow that allowance will have gone forever. Opening an ISA today would only help if you could somehow borrow a sum of up to 20,000 to invest today and repay when you get the money (and even if you could do that I do not recommend it).

It can be worth getting one's towel on the metaphorical sunbed of a competitive rate though.

e.g. when Coventry were offering the 1.5% ISA, putting the minimum in would have secured the rate so you could deposit more later. Wait for a bigger chunk of money to be available and you'd have lost the opportunity of getting that rate.