Full ISA Guide Discussion Area

xylophone

Have you thought of doing it yourself? For example

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/64837484#Comment_64837484

buglawton

Yup it can be almost free to set one up.

It is possible to set up an ISA online, it's similar to online banking and on some cases can be linked to your current account - eg HSBC.

But cheapest known option might be http://www.x-o.co.uk/isa-information.htm - ISA is free to run but there is a relatively low exit fee.

x-o is also just about the cheapest way to buy & put shares into that ISA

Archi_Bald

The actual ISA provider is the least difficult thing to select. That's also not what an IFA really charges for.

The really important bits are to select suitable investments. This includes considerations on future balancing that might be required, depending on the investments chosen.

Almost £700 for what appears to be a max of 2 hours work for the IFA strikes me as a massively steep sum. However, if Jimbocam is not in a position to select suitable investments themselves, it may be a bargain since it may prevent bad decisions.

Jimbocam, I don't suppose your IFA has told you what the recommended investments are? I wouldn't expect them to tell you everything until you actually engage them.

Your alternative could be to read up about investments and make your own selection. Plenty of books and websites with good information: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4752194

buglawton

Remember that any straight all share index tracker fund will probably beat any managed one and it's fees.

dods69

i thought isa tax years where april to april so openened one with £5760 (max) last week. if it is april can i invest another amount in april in the same isa or have i got it wrong.

Archi_Bald

Tax years go from April 6 to April 5. You have a new ISA allowance, £5,790, for 2014-15. If your existing ISA allows, you can put this money into it.

But in April there might be an ISA that pays better interest, so you might want to put the new money in there. Or there might be other accounts (very likely) that pay better interest than an ISA, so you can save your money in there until late March 2015, and only then put it in an ISA.

buglawton

A shares ISA is allowed double the amount, correct?
Cash ISAs as I understand it, offer miserable interest rates so that the tax saving is cancelled out and you would be better off just choosing a long term 'high' interest savings account at around 2%.
What with Capital Gains protection, ISAs seem ideally suited to shares.

Archi_Bald

The ISA allowance this year is £11,520, of which max £5,760 can go into cash ISAs. I agree that cash ISAs don't offer much interest but for some people they might still be a better choice than a S&S ISA or a current account. Not everybody wants to make long term investments but most people want to avoid paying tax if they can. A cash ISA will most likely be a better choice than a 3% current account for a higher rate tax payer who is looking for a cash fund.

Malinois

Hi,
I am a retired police officer and just decided due to getting a new part time job to invest in an ISA each month. Only £40.00 But what I want to do is set up a new ISA each year at £40 per year then after 5 years re invest each lump sum.

The police mutual ISA seems to do quite well.

I am a little confused though?

I have just opened up an ISA today for £40 per month. I take it that I keep paying every month into this ISA for the next 5 years or so. Or would I have only paid £40 per month into the ISA for a year before I needed to setup a new ISA and then leave the original one running 5 ears and so on.

It's not really very clear other than maximum lump sums etc.

Thanks

Mali

DragonQ

You're over-thinking this I reckon. At £40 per month you're not going to come close to the annual ISA limit, so you can just treat your ISA as a standard savings account.