ISA Newbie/Question

denow

Hi

In December last year I opened a Barclays ISA with £10,000.

I'd already invested £10,000 in a stocks and shares ISA so that was the limit for me for 2022/2023.

My question is, for the 2023/2024 tax year can I add, say, £20,000 to the existing Barclays ISA or do I need to open a new one?

Thanks

grumbler

denow said:

My question is, for the 2023/2024 tax year can I add, say, £20,000 to the existing Barclays ISA

Yes. If you do this it'll be the only cash ISA that you can top up in  this year unless you transfer it.

or do I need to open a new one?

You can, but you don't need to.

refluxer

Whether you're able to top up your existing ISA will depend on what type of ISA it is and the T&C's. What type of ISA is it (and what is the rate) ?

denow

refluxer said:

Whether you're able to top up your existing ISA will depend on what type of ISA it is and the T&C's. What type of ISA is it (and what is the rate) ?

It’s a Barclays Cash ISA at 4%

Band7

denow said:

refluxer said:

Whether you're able to top up your existing ISA will depend on what type of ISA it is and the T&C's. What type of ISA is it (and what is the rate) ?

It’s a Barclays Cash ISA at 4%

Is this a fixed rate / fixed term ISA, or an easy access one?

denow

It’s a fixed term/rate and I can make 3 withdrawals of 10% with no fees

Band7

Your question was whether you can still make deposits in the next financial year.

I can’t find a 4% ISA on the Barclays website now, and as you say it’s a fixed rate/term one, it’s highly unlikely that you can still make furthet deposits into it. You would have to check your T&Cs / ask Barclays. Or you will soon find out when trying to make a deposit after April 5.

refluxer

denow said:

refluxer said:

Whether you're able to top up your existing ISA will depend on what type of ISA it is and the T&C's. What type of ISA is it (and what is the rate) ?

It’s a Barclays Cash ISA at 4%

OK - if it's the 1 Year Flexible Cash ISA that Barclays offered @ 4% recently, then yes - you can continue to make deposits into it during the next tax year as it doesn't have a defined funding window. Do check your T&Cs though to make sure we're talking about the same account.

Note that this is actually pretty unusual for a fixed rate ISA and (along with the flexible aspect) was one of the reasons they were so popular. As mentioned above, with most other providers you can't continue to pay into a fixed rate ISA beyond the initial funding window. 

You can actually do a bit better than 4% for 1 year now, with Santander (4.15%) and Virgin (4.11%), but they are likely to have a defined funding window and may not be flexible so if the ability to access some of your funds without a penalty is important to you, then your existing Barclays ISA might be the better option, but obviously at the expense of a slightly lower rate.

Albermarle

refluxer said:

denow said:

refluxer said:

Whether you're able to top up your existing ISA will depend on what type of ISA it is and the T&C's. What type of ISA is it (and what is the rate) ?

It’s a Barclays Cash ISA at 4%

OK - if it's the 1 Year Flexible Cash ISA that Barclays offered @ 4% recently, then yes - you can continue to make deposits into it during the next tax year as it doesn't have a defined funding window.

Note that this is actually pretty unusual for a fixed rate ISA and (along with the flexible aspect) was one of the reasons they were so popular. As mentioned above, with most other providers you can't continue to pay into into a fixed rate ISA beyond the initial funding window. 

You can actually do a bit better than 4% for 1 year now, with Santander (4.15%) and Virgin (4.11%), but they are likely to have a defined funding window and may not be flexible so if the ability to access some of your funds without a penalty is important to you, then your existing Barclays ISA might be the better option, but obviously at the expense of a slightly lower rate.

You beat me to it. It was also mentioned in this thread, although the interest rate seems to have dropped to 3.3%
Fixed Rate ISA's for ongoing deposits? — MoneySavingExpert Forum

refluxer

Albermarle said:

You beat me to it. It was also mentioned in this thread, although the interest rate seems to have dropped to 3.3%
Fixed Rate ISA's for ongoing deposits? — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Yes - I bagged the old rate a few weeks ago after a heads-up on another thread, where the OP had spoken to Barclays who said that the rate was going to drop the following day !