Full ISA Guide Discussion Area

Natti_A

The 7200 is the total figure allowed per person, per year. As Baldur says, only £3600 can be in a cash ISA, and therefore risk free (as long as nothing happens to the bank your money is with!).

The other 3600 of your allowance is allowed into a stocks and shares ISA. This is not risk free, as its based on stock markets and these can rise or fall.

jenjade

ok thanks everyone!

RayWolfe

You can only put 3.6K into a cash ISA this tax year. You can put 7.2K into a Stock & Shares ISA, less the amount put into a S&S ISA.

gbell

i put 3600 in an isa last year for the first time, i got 74.89 interest, so now have 3674.89. So.. do i leave that alone now or do i need to take out the interest? do i open a complete new isa next tax year and put 3600 in it, and do that every year?

RayWolfe

Yes
No
Yes
Yes

rb10

Too add to RayWolfe's verbose reply above, this tax year, you can either add the £3600 to the existing ISA, or open a new ISA and put it in there, it's up to you.

gbell

grand, thank you!

derbyTom

Hi all,

I have been foolish and only started to look into ISAs now. Have I left it too late? I have seen on the ISA guide on the main site that if I invest in an ISA today I will have chosen my ISA for the next tax year. Will I be better off to invest now and fill my ISA with £3600 lump sum before the end of the year and then continue to fill up a further £3600 next tax year in monthly deposits, or should I leave it until next tax year and start my ISA then?

Thanks, Tom.

GiraffeMan

Hi all,

I have been foolish and only started to look into ISAs now. Have I left it too late? I have seen on the ISA guide on the main site that if I invest in an ISA today I will have chosen my ISA for the next tax year. Will I be better off to invest now and fill my ISA with £3600 lump sum before the end of the year and then continue to fill up a further £3600 next tax year in monthly deposits, or should I leave it until next tax year and start my ISA then?


Start it now Derby Tom, that way you will be able to put 3600.00 into the ISA for this tax year, and also the next making 7200.00. Most banks and building societies will open the accounts in branch so just take two forms of id and your cheque for your opening bal of 3600.00 and this years ISA will be sorted for you, you have to do it by 5 April 2009 though.

derbyTom

Thanks GiraffeMan.

I will open one now.
If in the future interest rates start to pick up (as they cant really get much lower!) and I want to shop around looking for the best rates, are there any rules out there that would stop me transferring my ISA to another account (other than the new account suppliers restrictions on accepting past ISAs). By this I mean is there a time limit that I have to have had my ISA before transferring it to a better ISA (or anything else)? Would transferring my ISA before a complete year damage my allowances?

But bottom line, I am opening my ISA now. Just looking around at the best deals for new customers. Thanks. :-)