Moving abroad (currently using AJBell)

MoneySavingHope

Hi everyone

I am planning to move abroad (I'm not a British Citizen, in case that makes any difference).

I've been using AJ bell ISA as my pension/investment pot for the last few years, but I've realised that, once I'll move abroad, I won't be able to contribute in any way to my savings. So, I was thinking of moving my ISA somewhere else now that I am still a UK resident, if that makes sense?

Do you know of any platform similar to AJBell that offers a ISA option and perhaps are more open to let me invest on their platforms from abroad? Or perhaps it's just worth leaving the money there until retirement, and just open a different account on a different platform from where I'm gonna move to?

If I can't use/add my money to the pot in any way even with another platform, I was thinking at least finding a platform that would be as cheap as possible to keep?
For context, I have around £35k in my pot currently (hopefully it will grow in the future, even if I don't touch it anymore, through the investments), so perhaps something that would charge me an annual flat fee, rather than based on percentage?

Any suggestions are very welcome. Thank you very much

MoneySavingHope

sorry, I meant I have a LISA, not ISA.

masonic

It is a HMRC rule that providers cannot accept ISA subscriptions from non-residents.

A cheap option for transfer would be iWeb, where you'd pay no custody fees and £5 per trade. If you restricted yourself to ETFs, shares and investment trusts, then the likes of Trading212 could also be considered.

Since your country of residence may not recognise the tax status of UK ISAs, it might be worth looking into an alternative vehicle based on local tax laws.

Edit: Since you've added you have a LISA, you are probably best staying put with AJ Bell, but you could transfer into ETFs/shares/investment trusts to benefit from a cap on your platform fees.

MoneySavingHope

Thanks @masonic for the quick reply, much appreciated.
I see that AJBell charges 0.25% to keep both shares and funds, with a cap of £3.5 for shares.
Basically the main "body" of my pot is in a fund, plus a few shares. 
So perhaps, Trading 212 would be a better option in the long run?

masonic

MoneySavingHope said:

Thanks @masonic for the quick reply, much appreciated.
I see that AJBell charges 0.25% to keep both shares and funds, with a cap of £3.5 for shares.
Basically the main "body" of my pot is in a fund, plus a few shares. 
So perhaps, Trading 212 would be a better option in the long run?

Trading212 do not offer a LISA, neither do iWeb. It is a niche product which few providers offer. The AJ Bell cap could apply to the whole of your portfolio if you are willing to use ETFs instead of open ended funds. Even if Trading212 did offer a LISA, they do not support holding open ended funds, so you'd still need to change your investments.

MoneySavingHope

Oh I see, thanks for the clarification

wmb194

Does AJ Bell provide services to people in the country you’re moving to? This might be the bigger problem.

MoneySavingHope

I don't think so, so I guess now my main concern would be to find the cheapest alternative (if there is any) for me to keep my money in my LISA without touching them until I'm 60 (whilst opening another account somewhere else to keep investing).

masonic

wmb194 said:

Does AJ Bell provide services to people in the country you’re moving to? This might be the bigger problem.

Should be ok:

But they can close the account if the OP becomes resident in the US or Canada for tax purposes.

MoneySavingHope

Sorry I meant that AjBell will not provide any "service" apart from the ability for me to keep the account until I'll be able to withdraw the money without penalties.
So yes, I can still keep My LISA in AJbell, just now it's more of a question of whether there is a cheaper alternative so that I can just leave my money in the account and pay as less as possible each month to keep them there untouched?

Anyway I'm moving to Europe, so I should be fine on that regard, thanks.

MoneySavingHope

by the way, now I'm also wondering... if I won't be able to put any more money into the account, how will I be able to pay for the monthly fee if I run out of "cash" in my wallet at some point?