Virgin HTB at maximum bonus, should I stop paying in?

buritto

Hello, I took out a virgin HTB ISA a few years ago, paying the maximum of £200 in per month. I’ve now reached £12000 which gives me the maximum £3000 bonus from virgin to use on a first house. 

My question is, should I stop paying £200 into this account as it is ‘maxed out’? I’m looking to buy somewhere, but realistically it won’t be until next year sometime. 

I have an instant access savings with £7500 and an S&P 500 I pay into every month. Should I move this £200 I pay per month from the virgin account to one of my other accounts? 

Any help appreciated. Thanks 

eskbanker

buritto said:

I have an instant access savings with £7500 and an S&P 500 I pay into every month. Should I move this £200 I pay per month from the virgin account to one of my other accounts? 

Hopefully you're not relying on the money that's invested in the S&P 500 if you're buying next year, given the risk of significant value loss over such a short period?

In terms of what best to do with the monthly £200, there's little value in continuing to fund a HTB ISA unless its interest rate is competitive, so you might find it better to pay into a regular saver account, making sure you use one that allows withdrawals if you might need the money within 12 months?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts/

buritto

No the S&P 500 is just something on the side i put money into, its not going to be used towards saving for a house.

That sounds like a good idea. I currently have a Chip instant access savings at 4.84% AER, but im guessing i could find somewhere a lot better? i see on that link you gave me there is some that are upto 7%. Ill have a look around and see whats best . Thanks, i appreciate that

Neil_Jones

buritto said:

Hello, I took out a virgin HTB ISA a few years ago, paying the maximum of £200 in per month. I’ve now reached £12000 which gives me the maximum £3000 bonus from virgin to use on a first house. 

My question is, should I stop paying £200 into this account as it is ‘maxed out’? I’m looking to buy somewhere, but realistically it won’t be until next year sometime. 

I have an instant access savings with £7500 and an S&P 500 I pay into every month. Should I move this £200 I pay per month from the virgin account to one of my other accounts? 

Any help appreciated. Thanks 

Considering the rule have now changed and you can have more than one Cash ISA (Help To Buy is classed as Cash Isa), you can feed another ISA with the spare 17,600 allowance you now have.

You can continue to feed the H2B, even if you are past the £12k figure for the bonus, but I suspect (since I've got one of these as well) its probably only paying 1%. If you have more than £12k in it your interest options are very limited, so its whether its worth the effort for half as much interest again for an account that'll be dead by December 2030:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-isa/

eskbanker

Neil_Jones said:
Considering the rule have now changed and you can have more than one Cash ISA (Help To Buy is classed as Cash Isa), you can feed another ISA with the spare 17,600 allowance you now have.

Just because it's now possible to pay into another ISA doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea to - if OP's non-HTB deposit savings are £7.5K plus £200pm, it's very unlikely that there'd be any income tax liability, so chasing the absolute best rates in taxable accounts probably makes more sense than using cash ISAs if aiming to maximise total return over the next year....

Neil_Jones

I never said it was a good idea to use another ISA, it was more about the fact the OP's H2B ISA is not "maxed out", and you can have more than £12k in them (and it'll continue to attract interest).

buritto

Neil_Jones said:

buritto said:

Hello, I took out a virgin HTB ISA a few years ago, paying the maximum of £200 in per month. I’ve now reached £12000 which gives me the maximum £3000 bonus from virgin to use on a first house. 

My question is, should I stop paying £200 into this account as it is ‘maxed out’? I’m looking to buy somewhere, but realistically it won’t be until next year sometime. 

I have an instant access savings with £7500 and an S&P 500 I pay into every month. Should I move this £200 I pay per month from the virgin account to one of my other accounts? 

Any help appreciated. Thanks 

Considering the rule have now changed and you can have more than one Cash ISA (Help To Buy is classed as Cash Isa), you can feed another ISA with the spare 17,600 allowance you now have.

You can continue to feed the H2B, even if you are past the £12k figure for the bonus, but I suspect (since I've got one of these as well) its probably only paying 1%. If you have more than £12k in it your interest options are very limited, so its whether its worth the effort for half as much interest again for an account that'll be dead by December 2030:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-isa/

Hi, maybe im being stupid, but where are you getting the 17600 figure from? its 20k per year isnt it?

Yeah your right, its only paying 1%, i have just went over it, so maybe 12300 or something around there. Because im single and doing this all myself, im trying to get as much out of any savings as i can before i commit to a purchase. I think finding a good interest savings account would be best and just leave the HTB at 12000

buritto

eskbanker said:

Neil_Jones said:
Considering the rule have now changed and you can have more than one Cash ISA (Help To Buy is classed as Cash Isa), you can feed another ISA with the spare 17,600 allowance you now have.

Just because it's now possible to pay into another ISA doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea to - if OP's non-HTB deposit savings are £7.5K plus £200pm, it's very unlikely that there'd be any income tax liability, so chasing the absolute best rates in taxable accounts probably makes more sense than using cash ISAs if aiming to maximise total return over the next year....

Yeah i think im going to look at finding the best rates savings account and use that and put in the £200 from the virgin account + any excess money i have per month into that 

eskbanker

Neil_Jones said:

I never said it was a good idea to use another ISA, it was more about the fact the OP's H2B ISA is not "maxed out", and you can have more than £12k in them (and it'll continue to attract interest).

But why would anyone save money in an account paying 1% (once over £12K) when there are 6-7% options that appear to fit OP's requirements for the excess (leaving the £12K where it is, to benefit from the maximum bonus)?