ISA Info

Ianrobert_2

Hi
I recently opened stocks and shares ISA. I haven't used it yet. Does any money I pay into the account have to be invested in stocks by 5th April or do I just have to pay my allowance into the account and then choose my shares after 5th April. Just thinking this will give me more time to chose. Can't seem to find the answer to this on any website.
Thanks

Alexland

Depends on the provider many allow you to hold a cash balance in the S&S ISA wrapper before investing. Who are you with?

Ianrobert_2

Hi I’m with the Halifax

Alexland

If it's a Halifax Share Dealing ISA then they allow you to hold a cash balance but if it's the Halifax Investment ISA product then I don't know maybe ask them as it's a simpler product.

Ianrobert_2

Thanks for that. It’s a stocks and shares isa. I tried to contact them but can’t get through.
cheers

Alexland

Halifax have two products that are both technically S&S ISAs - their Investment ISA is aimed at people who want to be less involved and their Share Dealing ISA is aimed at people why want to DIY and pick from thousands of investment choices. Confusingly they sometimes also call their Share Dealing ISA the Stocks and Shares ISA when comparing it to their Investment ISA.

dodgyknee

HELP......I have an extremely low rate  Cash ISA and have used my £20k allowance this year (I’ve finally woken up and realised I need to make my hard earned savings work harder).
I want to transfer this ISA but ideally spread the funds across 3 new ISA’s;
1. Into a higher rate Cash ISA and,
2. Into a high rate fixed Cash ISA (2 or 3 years) and,
3. Into a Stock & Shares ISA.

Is this possible and if so, shall I wait until 6th April to start transferring to a new Provider or should I transfer some or all funds before 5th April ??

eskbanker

dodgyknee said:

HELP......I have an extremely low rate  Cash ISA and have used my £20k allowance this year (I’ve finally woken up and realised I need to make my hard earned savings work harder).
I want to transfer this ISA but ideally spread the funds across 3 new ISA’s;
1. Into a higher rate Cash ISA and,
2. Into a high rate fixed Cash ISA (2 or 3 years) and,
3. Into a Stock & Shares ISA.

Is this possible and if so, shall I wait until 6th April to start transferring to a new Provider or should I transfer some or all funds before 5th April ??

You can do this before or after the change of tax year but if before then you need to ensure that all of the current year £20K is kept together in the same place, which effectively means that at least one of the three new accounts needs to have at least £20K in it.  Having said that, there's no realistic prospect of opening new accounts and completing transfers (that must be initiated by the new providers to preserve ISA status of the money) by the end of the week anyway so that's a moot point - once the money becomes prior year money then you're unrestricted in how to carve it up.

dodgyknee

Thanks for prompt response, that’s great news and a relief......I’ll wait til after 6th April.
Can I carve up across 3 new Providers and any tips on current best Providers for each ?
Paragon look good for both fixed rate and cash ISA, but S&S ISA not a clue !!

eskbanker

dodgyknee said:

Thanks for prompt response, that’s great news and a relief......I’ll wait til after 6th April.
Can I carve up across 3 new Providers and any tips on current best Providers for each ?
Paragon look good for both fixed rate and cash ISA, but S&S ISA not a clue !!

Identifying easy access and/or fixed rate cash ISAs is a doddle, just pick providers from the top (or near the top) of best-buy listings on here or elsewhere, to find ones that offer what you're looking for in terms of interest rate, duration and other such easily-reviewable terms.

S&S ISAs are an entirely different kettle of fish though.  Unlike cash ISAs, it's a two-tier process of finding suitable investments as well as platforms to hold them on - the latter is relatively straightforward but is the less relevant.  Sorting out what you want from investing is substantially more complex, so spend some time on the savings & investing board reading through newbie investor threads, to get a feeling for the range of issues you need to evaluate when considering embarking on an investment journey....

dodgyknee

Great advice.....many thanks, I’ll be sure to take my time in researching an appropriate
S&S ISA, albeit will probably tie myself up in knots but nonetheless looking forward to making my savings work harder for me. In the meantime, would you recommend that I transfer my existing easy access cash ISA (Halifax) to new Provider offering a higher rate easy cash ISA and another Provider offering a higher fixed rate cash ISA ?
As and when I choose an S&S ISA I can then transfer some funds from the new easy access cash ISA to the S&S ISA and equally look to spread my 2020 allowance across the 3 new ISA’s. Sorry for being so pedantic and anal but I’m keen to cover as many bases as I can.