Full ISA Guide Discussion Area

Lokolo

From a very wise person on this forum, he always says that FTSE trackers aren't that great and you can do a lot better.

binky571

I have a £3,600 cash ISA for this tax year. I want to end up with £3,600 cash and £3,600 shares, so I need to buy a £3,600 shares ISA. I have no problem with picking my own shares.

Can I simply accomplish this for this tax year by buying a £3,600 shares ISA and holding the two separately? Or must they be connected in some way? Must I transfer the cash into the shares ISA? If so, how do I do that?

Lokolo

No you open up a S&S ISA with anyone you like. Your own S&S and Cash ISAs don't have to have any linking inbetween. You simply find a provider, deposit the money and buy your shares.

Damsonjam_2

I suspect this is a pretty dumb question but I didn't see it specifically addressed in the ISA blurb above..

Is my Stocks and Shares ISA safe if the bank that administers it goes bust?
There's no cash element, so the £50k (or whatever) guarantee is irrelevant.
If the stocks within it go bust, then naturally I expect the value of the ISA to fall (to zero, in the worst case).
But if the shares within it still have value and the ISA adminsitrator goes bust, am I safe?

Only asking because this is currently with HBOS (!!) and they don't inspire me with confidence!!

sueq2

Hi, my mum was advised by a financial advisor from the Halifax to put £7,000 of her savings into a stocks and shares ISA. With the current climate, she has recently received a statement to say that she has lost £900.

We know she can't transfer to a cash ISA, but what would the best advice be for her? Should she just withdraw it all and put it somewhere else? Should she transfer it and if so where to and will it still mean that she has lost the £900 or is there any way of getting that back?

Thanks

Sueq2

Lokolo

Damsonjam wrote: »

I suspect this is a pretty dumb question but I didn't see it specifically addressed in the ISA blurb above..

Is my Stocks and Shares ISA safe if the bank that administers it goes bust?
There's no cash element, so the £50k (or whatever) guarantee is irrelevant.
If the stocks within it go bust, then naturally I expect the value of the ISA to fall (to zero, in the worst case).
But if the shares within it still have value and the ISA adminsitrator goes bust, am I safe?

Only asking because this is currently with HBOS (!!) and they don't inspire me with confidence!!

Yes you are safe! Don't you worry! However this has yet to happen so no-one is quite sure what will happen if it does.

Lokolo

sueq2 wrote: »

Hi, my mum was advised by a financial advisor from the Halifax to put £7,000 of her savings into a stocks and shares ISA. With the current climate, she has recently received a statement to say that she has lost £900.

We know she can't transfer to a cash ISA, but what would the best advice be for her? Should she just withdraw it all and put it somewhere else? Should she transfer it and if so where to and will it still mean that she has lost the £900 or is there any way of getting that back?

Thanks

Sueq2

Stocks and Shares ISAs are Investments. Investments can go up and down from the amount you put in. However she has lost 13% which isn't too bad consdering at one point most of us were down around 40%.

Halifax advisors aren't great to go and see because they are basically sales, trying to sell Halifax products.

However, investments are risk takers, basically you take the risk your money could fall in the hope that they return more than savings would. If you mum doesn't want to take this risk then she should stick with savings and not with investments.

sueq2

Thanks for that.

So regarding transferring her ISA, what would you recommend? That she withdraws and loses the £900 and then puts the remaining money in a cash ISA or transfer what she has left to somewhere else and if so where?

Thanks

townman

Hi
Last April my wife and I both opened cash ISA's with £3000 in each with Barclays tax haven at a tax free rate of 6.31%.
As it is coming up towards April again,can anyone advise me what I do now,
leave it alone?, transfer it?, I do not have a clue.
Thanks in advance for any help.

EmptySea

I have a similar query to the above. I have a Barclays Tax Haven ISA from this year with £3600 cash in it. So, my question is what should/can I do in April?

Reading through the forums I have gathered that I can put a further £3600 cash into an ISA this year. As an example, could I keep the Barclays ISA and simply add a further £3600 to it, and if so would I then be earning tax free interest on the full balance? Alternatively, if I find a better deal could I transfer my full balance over and still have the £3600 to add to it? Hope someone can help