S&S ISA - how much/which platform/combining years/other queries

mustiuc

Good afternoon,

As I said before, I am a daily reader of this forum for a couple of years. After I bought my house, I focused on getting married and setting an emergency fund. I am planning, by the end of April 2021 to be able to open two S&S Isa's and invest the maximum allowance. I also push quite hard to reach the 40k target by that deadline (I am not sure if I will open 2 accounts, one for myself and another for my wife or I will do 1 account for 20/21 and 1 account for 21/22).
I came across with a post from another member of the forum saying by having multiple ISA's doesn't need to open multiple accounts. You can have just one but multiple Isa's inside- is this correct? each isa will be individual and the money wont combine, isn't it? they will be held separately and the growth/profits will depend on investment - correct?
For almost a year now, I was quite decided to invest in Vanguard (index/ETF - S&P500) due to its lower costs and widely recommended by many. But I always wanted to be able to access more funds/investments/shares and Vanguard doesn't offer that. I am quite undecided between IWeb and/or AJ Bell. Checking on their charges, they seem "reasonable" but comparing all the funds via comparefundplatforms/com, IWeb seems to be way way better on annual charges that any other platform (20k invested, no annual trades, no shares, 25years). By having a single account with multiple Isa's, I can manage my money as I want, some years to be funds only, other to be shares or extremely risky investments. Is there any other reason that I don't know to not choose Iweb? or to go with AJ Bell instead? I am very good risk adverse, I will put all the money in just one fund and leave it in there.
Combining years - let's say, I had some "bad years" and unable to use the maximum allowance - Can I withdraw the money from 2x 10k and use them to open another one next year to hit the max. allowance ? (depending on performance/I wont take money out if the year(s) were bad).
I remember a couple of years ago, on Fundsmith's annual meeting, Terry Smith said the weaker pound was very good for the investments and their profits. How this translate for day to day investor? Does it apply? I read online about this thing but from what I understood weaker pound is good for businesses and trades. For a regular investor, putting money into a fund/index/share, does it matter when he invests if the pound was lower or slightly higher when they've done the investment?

Many thanks in advance

coyrls

It's not a single account multiple ISAs; contributions are combined in a single ISA account.  You are limited to £20K contribution per tax year and can only contribute to one S&S ISA in any tax year.

mustiuc

Thanks for your reply. This change everything and makes me sorry I haven't started earlier as I thought is best to stock the cash until I hit 20k and after invest... 

Eco_Miser

You seem to be confused by the terminology, which perhaps isn't too surprising as ISA is used to refer both to the tax wrapper, and to the account with a platform in which it is held.
Each individual has an allowance, currently £20k, which they can  share between the various types of ISA (cash, S&S, Lifetime, Innovative). The Lifetime (LISA) is good for buying a house or retiring at 60, otherwise concentrate on the S&S ISA.
All the contributions to an S&S ISA for the current financial year must be with one manager/platform, although you can transfer the whole amount to a different manager. Normally at the start of a new financial year, you just continue adding to your existing ISA account, but you have the option of opening and contributing to an account with a different manager, in which case you can't contribute any more to the old manager.
Your previous year's contributions can stay where they are, or be transferred to one or more other ISA managers, at any time.
The above is about the wrapper, within the wrapper you can hold as many funds & shares & bonds as you like, subject to ISA rules and availability on your chosen platform.
If you have regular excess income, it makes sense to invest it regularly in your S&S ISA, particularly if you can do so without transaction fees, or at reduced transaction fees.

tel_

Eco_Miser said:
Normally at the start of a new financial year, you just continue adding to your existing ISA account, but you have the option of opening and contributing to an account with a different manager, in which case you can't contribute any more to the old manager.

Your previous year's contributions can stay where they are, or be transferred to one or more other ISA managers, at any time.

Thanks for making the possibility of 'transferring out' previous years's contributions a little clearer.

On transfers out - I guess it is advisable to transfer out the monies in your current ISA that you contribute to at the end of the financial year. Wait for that to transfer completely to your new 'holding' provider before starting to contribute in the new tax year with your old provider again, if you so wish to keep using them?

coyrls

It's difficult to envisage a situation where you wanted to transfer out to a new provider but continue to use the old provider for new contributions.  If you did a full transfer, it is likely that your original account would be closed as part of the transfer process.  If you are talking about a S&S ISA it is easier to manage one account if you are going to periodically rebalance your investments.

tel_

coyrls said:

It's difficult to envisage a situation where you wanted to transfer out to a new provider but continue to use the old provider for new contributions.  If you did a full transfer, it is likely that your original account would be closed as part of the transfer process.  If you are talking about a S&S ISA it is easier to manage one account if you are going to periodically rebalance your investments.

So what if I had two different funds that I was paying into with one provider (which both count towards your yearly 20k limit), but only requested one of those funds to be transferred out to a new provider.

Surely you could still pay into the fund left behind with the old provider, because this would keep your account open?

AnotherJoe

tel_ said:

coyrls said:

It's difficult to envisage a situation where you wanted to transfer out to a new provider but continue to use the old provider for new contributions.  If you did a full transfer, it is likely that your original account would be closed as part of the transfer process.  If you are talking about a S&S ISA it is easier to manage one account if you are going to periodically rebalance your investments.

So what if I had two different funds that I was paying into with one provider (which both count towards your yearly 20k limit), but only requested one of those funds to be transferred out to a new provider.

Surely you could still pay into the fund left behind with the old provider, because this would keep your account open?

Not in the same tax year, and why would you do that anyway?

I think you are trying to run before you can walk. Open an S&S ISA, put money in it, invest that money.

KISS.

coyrls

Both the sending and receiving scheme would have to support partial transfers.  Are these theoretical questions or do you have a scenario in mind?  I can't see the reasons why you would want to do this.

Eco_Miser

coyrls said:

It's difficult to envisage a situation where you wanted to transfer out to a new provider but continue to use the old provider for new contributions.

One scenario, mentioned in here a few times, is making regular new contributions to a low percentage fee, no transaction fee platform, while holding previous years with a low fixed fee platform  e.g. Vanguard and Iweb.

Eco_Miser

tel_ said:

Eco_Miser said:
Normally at the start of a new financial year, you just continue adding to your existing ISA account, but you have the option of opening and contributing to an account with a different manager, in which case you can't contribute any more to the old manager.

Your previous year's contributions can stay where they are, or be transferred to one or more other ISA managers, at any time.

Thanks for making the possibility of 'transferring out' previous years's contributions a little clearer.

On transfers out - I guess it is advisable to transfer out the monies in your current ISA that you contribute to at the end of the financial year. Wait for that to transfer completely to your new 'holding' provider before starting to contribute in the new tax year with your old provider again, if you so wish to keep using them?

I've never done it myself - I don't do regular subscriptions - but I would have thought the very beginning  of the financial year, and transfer out the now 'previous year' contributions. There's usually a tick box for 'Previous Years only' on the transfer form.