Stocks and Shares ISA and Vanguard

The_Palmist

I am contemplating investing via Vanguard and into one of the indexes like FTSE Global, S&P 500 etc. I currently do not have a stocks and shares ISA. Is it possible and recommended to open a stocks and shares ISA with vanguard and then invest.

Please note this thread is to request help on using and maximising the benefits of S&S ISA irrelevant to the choice of investment.

Thanks.

Floyd_Pink

Use Trading 212 instead for your S&S ISA it will be cheaper.

sausage_time

Vanguard is low-ish cost depending on the size of the investment and the frequency of investment.  You are also tied to Vanguard funds on their one platform.

Some good links on this thread:  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6572733/best-platform-for-s-s-isa

I like iWeb (zero platform cost, £5/per trade).  Their web site is basic but functional.

masonic

Do make sure that you check your chosen S&S ISA provider supports holding the investments you may wish to buy, as not all options support all types of investments. For example, there was an instance recently of someone opening a Trading212 account, but didn't realise that restricted them to ETFs (they eventually decided they wanted to hold something else). I would second iWeb if you want to include open-ended funds and don't want to trade frequently.

The_Palmist

This is a very new field for us so double checking my understanding, using S&S to invest means that any gains are protected from interest irrespective of our tax bracket? And therefore there is no advantage in investing under the partner who is in lower tax bracket?

MX5huggy

The_Palmist said:

This is a very new field for us so double checking my understanding, using S&S to invest means that any gains are protected from interest irrespective of our tax bracket? And therefore there is no advantage in investing under the partner who is in lower tax bracket?

Nearly “Using a S&S ISA to invest means that any gains (both capital appreciation and income) are protected from TAX (both income tax and Capital Gains tax) irrespective of your tax bracket”. 

Correct there is no difference in using one partners ISA allowance over the others, ISA’s are always held as individual accounts (joint accounts aren’t allowed, the I in ISA is after all Individual). Depending on how you arrange your finances you may want an ISA each (therefore you could have £40k per year protected from tax) or as we do have a single ISA that we consider “ours”. 

Vanguard have just changed their fee structure, I don’t believe they are best value for any investor anymore. 

masonic

The_Palmist said:

This is a very new field for us so double checking my understanding, using S&S to invest means that any gains are protected from interest irrespective of our tax bracket? And therefore there is no advantage in investing under the partner who is in lower tax bracket?

Lower tax bracket usually means basic rate tax, not zero tax. Therefore there would still be an advantage if they were to start investing. Another advantage is the non financial advantage of not having to keep records of capital gains and losses.

jimjames

The_Palmist said:

This is a very new field for us so double checking my understanding, using S&S to invest means that any gains are protected from interest irrespective of our tax bracket? And therefore there is no advantage in investing under the partner who is in lower tax bracket?

I assume you mean protected from tax not interest but yes everything inside an ISA is protected from tax of any sort. ISAs are the same regardless of tax band but more effective for those paying high rate tax. Within a S&S ISA you will generally earn from dividends and capital gains, interest isn't relevant unless you are holding bonds.

The_Palmist

Thanks for all the advice, I have opened an S&S in wife's (basic rate) name  and made a small investment.