Over 40 and wanting to Transfer a LISA

tryingtogetmyheadaround

I turned 40 in April and just before my birthday. I noticed I could have a LISA to save for latter in life.
I feel I have picked the wrong account.... feel I should have gone for a stock and shares LISA, however I was in a rush and just pick a Newcastle Building Society LISA which gives 0.35%
I don't seem to be able to find any info on moving my LISA to another provider as I am over 40 now. It seems to me you can only move them if you are under 40.
Has anyone moved a LISA after the age of 40? And if so who did you use?

eskbanker

It's been highlighted on here before that this isn't as straightforward as it ought to be - maybe worth looking further into the options tentatively suggested in last week's thread?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6200899/transferring-a-lifetime-isa

Alexland

Yup and it might be worth prioritising seeing if EQi will take you first as their fees will probably work out cheaper than HL who don't seem to want LISA transfer requests even if they might accept one under your circumstances. Please let us know how it goes.

tryingtogetmyheadaround

Thanks both.....
I have sent requests into both, explaining the situation so fingers crossed one of them comes back with a positive response
I'll post how I get on. 

tryingtogetmyheadaround

OK..... So after a number of emails and phone calls no one offers a Lifetime ISA transfer after the age of 40.
Funds in a LISA could be transferred to another LISA but you cant open an account to transfer them to as I am over 40!! So transferring under 40 is all fine. The moment you are over 40 you can only transfer between already open accounts!!
To me its a real same due to the poor interest rate I am now locked into with no way of changing out to a better option. The info regarding this is not clear on anyone's website and most advisors I spoke to had to check.

Alexland

Thanks for the update. Saving in cash for around 20 years is very sub optimal so I guess you have the option of doing a withdrawal while the penalty has been relaxed to get your original money back (maybe leaving small amount to keep the account open) or keeping the money in the LISA in the hope a S&S provider is willing to accept your transfer in future. Another poster once discussed with AJ Bell who said it was on their todo list as for them it's a software limitation rather than a matter of policy.

Alexland

Just sent the OP a PM with the information discovered in another thread that EQi application form (now?) says "I am 18 years of age or over, and either under the age of 40 or the account is being opened to receive a transfer of subscriptions/assets from another Lifetime ISA."

masonic

Alexland said:

Just sent the OP a PM with the information discovered in another thread that EQi application form (now?) says "I am 18 years of age or over, and either under the age of 40 or the account is being opened to receive a transfer of subscriptions/assets from another Lifetime ISA."

It's been like that since the end of November at least (I checked when AJ Bell gave notice of increasing their cap on platform charges). I recall you mentioned someone being turned down (see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77828257/#Comment_77828257 ). How long ago was that (was it this OP or someone else)?
If something has changed since then, that's great news.

Alexland

masonic said:
How long ago was that (was it this OP or someone else)?

It was the OP above 2 months ago. Unless perhaps the person they were talking to at EQi gave the wrong answer?

masonic

Alexland said:

masonic said:
How long ago was that (was it this OP or someone else)?

It was the OP above 2 months ago. Unless perhaps the person they were talking to at EQi gave the wrong answer?

I'll message them, and ask in such a way that they'll hopefully not misunderstand the rules. Not sure I'll go ahead and transfer but it could save me a bit of money to do so.

Edit: Application form still prevents anyone entering a date of birth that puts them at age 40+ from continuing their application online. Will be interesting to see what they say about that.

Alexland

Aah in which case it could be a bug rather than a matter of policy. I would like slightly lower LISA costs (and not having to faff around with scheduled ETF trades) but I really don't like the random impact of cash transfers and it's not enough of a saving to be worthwhile.
I am currently doing cash transfers of the kids JISAs to Fidelity and so far the market is at about the same level as they were sold at a few weeks ago.