Who's good with ISA's?

[harvey19]

Oh I'm reading the limit has increased to £5100 this tax year...

You can only invest £5100 in a cash ISA if you are over 50yrs.

Do not close an ISA from a previous year with the intention of reinvesting with another provider as you will not be allowed to.

Transfer your earlier ISA to another provider offering a better rate of interest.

You will still have your current years allowance.

Beware as most providers offer a fixed rate for 1 year and the following year move it into a lower interest rate one so reassess the situation every year. It is simple to move it into the new years fixed rate ISA.

[altus]

Whilst you can transfer money from one ISA to another one, you cannot close and ISA, start a new one and then add the money to it. You have to transfer directly from one ISA to another - so you have to open the new one and transfer before closing the old one. If you take money out of and ISA at any point you can't put it back in another one (or even the same one).

[Zimily]

Ok one last question. I am about to transfer the maximum of £3600. Can I keep my old ISA open with the funds I can't remove in?

[Zimily]

Ok one last question. I am about to transfer the maximum of £3600. Can I keep my old ISA open with the funds I can't remove in?

 

Sorry, just read I can. Sorry guys I've gotten in such a tis with all this. Appreciate your help

[taxman]

I had similar questions when opening a new ISA. It didn't allow for transfers in from another ISA but because I hadn't invested any money in my previous ISA for 2009-10 I was able to open a new one and managed to put my 2009-10 allowance in just before 5th April.

[Tipex]

Isa's are **** at the moment, but best to keep them moving around from bank to bank depending on interest.

[Andy]

Ok one last question. I am about to transfer the maximum of £3600. Can I keep my old ISA open with the funds I can't remove in?

 

You don't have to do that, you can transfer the whole balance. The £3600 limit applies to new money you can add to the ISA this tax year. But if you've built up an ISA (or several ISAs) over previous years, you can transfer them around as much as you like. So if you've built up £10k of savings over the last 4 years, you can transfer the whole £10k, then add another £3600 of new money for this year's allowance.

 

As others have said it needs to be done as a proper ISA transfer, do not under any circumstances tell the ISA company you wish to close the ISA!

[Gormenghast]

You can only invest £5100 in a cash ISA if you are over 50yrs.

 

That's not quite right. It only applied from October last year for people over 50. From this tax year anyone of any age can put £5100 into a single ISA in any tax year, or so I'm led to believe..

[Ivor&Mel]

You can only invest £5100 in a cash ISA if you are over 50yrs.

 

That's not quite right. It only applied from October last year for people over 50. From this tax year anyone of any age can put £5100 into a single ISA in any tax year, or so I'm led to believe..

 

Indeed. From http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa

 

A cash ISA is simply a tax free savings account every UK adult can now put up to £5,100 per tax year in.

[HJL_Shef]

To clarify:

a) Anyone can now invest up to £5100 per tax year now (April to April).

b) When exactly you should TRANSFER from one ISA to another depends on the type - i.e. monthly interest vs. annual interest vs. x year fixed rate bond. In my case, I had a 1 year fixed rate bond last year, which matured on Saturday just before the beginning of the new tax year. As it has matured and the interest has been applied, it will default to what one might call a <removed> ISA" or "waste of space ISA", paying usually 0.5% interest. Most modern flexible ISAs slowly and sneakily revert to being "sh*t" and so you have to move them often also!

c) If your present ISA contains less than £5,100 in it, in total, you can quite happily close it, withdraw the money and reinvest it somewhere else. If it contains more, you HAVE to transfer it in order to maintain interest free status for more than £5,100 of your money. Once you have transferred your ISA to another provider, you can add this years £5,100 allowance to it, if you have it.

d) I had a wander around town yesterday, and the interest rates are still relatively poor. I, personally, wouldn't put my money in anything below 3%. Derbyshire Building Society had a 2 year fixed bond for 3%, which may be worth a look. Depends how much access you need for your money.

e) You can also, if you have another £5,100, invest this into a stocks and shares or investment ISA, though this is a touch more risky.

f) Don't bother with Santander. They tempt you with 3.5% headline interest rates the week before, then when you get into the branch, it's already gone down to 3.2% and has a maximum investment, regardless of whether you are already a customer and regardless of whether you transfer your funds, of £5,100, which makes it a pointless offer from a pointless company with no interest in you.