Full ISA Guide Discussion Area

tobyprudden

Hi all,

Thanks for your advice and for helping clarify my whole ISA confusion!

Just wanted to add an update to say I spoke to ING/Barclays Direct and they said there was no issue with having transferred the old ISA money into my savings account, as long as I was intending on using that to open a new 13/14 ISA account with another provider, and not wanting to transfer the money into another existing ISA account.

So - I'm still a bit confused, but hopefully that means I can open the 13/14 Poppy ISA account without any problems!

PlasticMan_2

Hello. Probably a daft question but can someone clarify a point about cash ISAs for me?

Example:
If I open up a cash ISA (A) in year 1 and deposit some money, say £1000 in it and then in year 2 I open a new ISA (B), but I leave the £1000 in (A) as well, can I continue to make deposits into each ISA? Do new deposits in both ISAs in year 2 avoid tax (up to the allowance)? And if so how does ISA A with one provider know what's going on with ISA B with a different provider?

Not trying to game the system or anything but this whole issue of multiple ISAs doesn't seem to have been explained anywhere.

Thanks for any advice.

innovate

PlasticMan wrote: »

....can I continue to make deposits into each ISA?

no. not if you don't want to get into trouble with the HMRC, anyway

PlasticMan wrote: »

. Do new deposits in both ISAs in year 2 avoid tax (up to the allowance)?

yes, interest in both your ISAs will be tax free if you only make deposits into the year 2 ISA

PlasticMan wrote: »

And if so how does ISA A with one provider know what's going on with ISA B with a different provider?

they don't know, and they don't need to know

PlasticMan wrote: »

Not trying to game the system or anything but this whole issue of multiple ISAs doesn't seem to have been explained anywhere.

It's been discussed a thousand times. You just need to look for it. Start reading up about ISAs on the main site. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/ISA-guide-savings-without-tax

PlasticMan_2

Thanks for the reply and the help innovate, it is appreciated.

But I assure you I read the main site info in depth before posting, as well as wading through a lot of this thread (although I didn't cover all of it), so I find your last comment a bit unnecessary.

I guess my main question relates to your first comment.

....can I continue to make deposits into each ISA?

no. not if you don't want to get into trouble with the HMRC, anyway

What's the exact rule on this? You can only make deposits into one cash ISA in any given financial year? If so that would be perfectly simple and clear, but I can't find anywhere in the main article that it's stated*, so maybe that could be corrected. If that's not the rule, then what is the rule?

*If it is stated somewhere and I've missed it then I'll happily take back my comment and withdraw, hat in hand.

DragonQ

The rule is that all of your current year's deposits/subscription must be in a single cash ISA account. If you deposit £1 into an ISA, all of the rest of your allowance (£5759) must go into that account unless you transfer that £1 to another ISA first.

PlasticMan_2

DragonQ wrote: »

The rule is that all of your current year's deposits/subscription must be in a single cash ISA account. If you deposit £1 into an ISA, all of the rest of your allowance (£5759) must go into that account unless you transfer that £1 to another ISA first.

And many thanks to you DragonQ!

This seems like a simple and straightforward rule, and makes plenty of sense, to avoid confusion for everyone concerned.

So why, instead of childishly waffling on about cake, could the main site ISA Guide not just state this rule simply and concisely somewhere? It may be obvious to anyone who knows anything about ISAs, but that's not who the guide is aimed at.

For my purposes it means ISAs won't work as accounts to save for my children, since I have two children and would require two accounts (for easy management), both of which I could pay into on an ongoing basis.

PlasticMan_2

PlasticMan wrote: »

For my purposes it means ISAs won't work as accounts to save for my children, since I have two children and would require two accounts (for easy management), both of which I could pay into on an ongoing basis.

Although it now occurs to me that my wife and I could get an ISA each for the purpose...we'd need to make sure we don't have any more kids.

I will think on this, but at least I understand how it works and I still think the main guide needs a section explaining multiple ISAs over multiple years, but you can't pay into more than one ISA in one year (transfers notwithstanding).

Deeboy

I have a S&S ISA with M&S which has been running around 5 years now, it has gone up, down and now way up would this be a good time to cash in or do you think the market will increase? I know I am asking a question that we would all like the difinitive answer too but some of you know the markets miles better than me:rotfl:

Hey_Dude

I'm looking to start a new Stocks/Shares ISA - the main site has lots of recommendations for Cash ISAs - can anyone point me in the direction of a decent Stocks/Shares ISA?

Thanks,

Duder

innovate

The best S&S ISAs are self-select ISAs on a good platform. I.e. you determine which funds / shares you would like to invest in. You don't take any pre-packaged ISAs since these will most likely have a very limited portfolio, and come with prohibitive costs (which often are impossible the tell upfront).

If you have LOADS to invest, you could enrol an IFA. The good ones usually aren't very interested though unless you have at least £40 or £50K, preferably a lot more, to find a home for.

You determine your investment portfolio upfront. That will be the most important task in your decision making. You need to be clear about your investment strategy. For that, people usually have to spend some time reading books and blogs etc. Popular choices include Tim Hale's "Smarter Investing" and monevator.com.

Then you select the best platform for your chosen portfolio. A couple of ideas are in this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4273315.

Monevator also has an article on platform comparison http://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/