I have been reading many articles recently about the changes in the ISA allowance and ISA limits coming about over the next 6-7 months so I thought I would summarise them in a nutshell and answer a few of the more common questions and enquiries we are receiving about the ISA limits increase in the 2009/2010 tax year.

What are the current ISA limits / ISA allowances in the 2009/2010 tax year?

In the current tax year anyone over age 18 can invest up to £7,200 in a Stocks and Shares ISA.

Of this £7,200 ISA limit, up to £3,600 can be invested in a Cash ISA, any of the remaining £7,200 allowance which remains unused can be invested in a Stocks and Shares ISA.

What is changing on 6th October in relation to ISA allowances?

From 6th October, anyone who will be aged 50 or over, before the end of the current tax year on 5th April 2010, can invest up to £10,200 into a Stocks and Shares ISA.

Of this £10,200, up to £5,100 can be invested in a Cash ISA, with any remaining unused ISA allowance being available for investing in a Stocks and Shares ISA. For example – if you invested £2,000 in a Cash ISA you could still invest £8,200 in a Stocks and Shares ISA.

What about if you will be aged under 50 by the end of the tax year on 5th April 2010?

In these circumstances, your ISA allowance will remain at £7,200 until 5th April next year,  with you being able to invest the full £10,200 from 6th April 2010 for the 2010/2011 tax year.

I have already paid some money into my ISA (up to £7,200) – can I top it up after 6th October?

This will depend on the institution you are invested with – we suggest you ask them whether they will allow you to invest the additional amount up to £10,200 (or £5,100 in the case of Cash ISA’s) after 6th October.

Under current rules you cannot contribute to an ISA of the same type with more than one provider. Therefore, if your bank/building society etc is not willing to allow the additional investment you may have the option to transfer to another provider and make the additional investment.

You need to confirm with your current ISA provider whether they will allow the top up – if not, you need to find a provider who will accept a transfer in from the current provider as well as allowing you  to top up.

Warning!

Under no circumstances should you “cash in” an ISA if your current provider won’t allow the top up, as you will not be able to reinvest this amount in the current tax year – to move money from one ISA provider to another you need to complete an “ISA Transfer form” from your new ISA provider.

And finally……

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Related Posts

Changes in ISA Allowances – Budget 2009/2010

New Tax Year – New ISA Allowance – 2009/2010

Just a quick reminder that, as of 6th October 2009, the maximum which someone aged over 50 can pay into a Cash ISA in the current tax year is increasing from £3,600 to £5,100.

(The increase comes into effect for those aged under 50 from the start of the next tax year on 6th April 2010!)

In the last Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer increased the Stocks and Shares ISA allowance from £7,200 to £10,200 for those aged over 50 (before 5th April 2010) with the increase coming into effect on 6th October 2009.

Many will have already made their maximum contribution of £3,600 for the current tax year with the intention of topping it up to the £5,100 limit on 6th October 2009. There have been rumours that some organisations are not allowing the top-up to the new limit to be added to the existing ISA.

As you can only have one ISA with one provider in the current tax year it will be necessary to transfer the cash ISA to a new provider who will allow the top up.

Very Important – If you wish to transfer to another ISA provider then you must approach them first – they will provide you with a “transfer application” – once completed the new Cash ISA provider will approach your current provider for the transfer amount.

You CANNOT transfer to another ISA provider by “cashing in” your current ISA – if you have already invested money in an ISA, once you take it out you cannot put it back in!

And finally……

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Related Posts

Changes in ISA Allowances – Budget 2009/2010

New Tax Year – New ISA Allowance – 2009/2010

The following is a list of the top 10 read articles in August.

1. Pay Yourself First – the first step in wealth creation

This article discusses the need to save from income before spending it! This is a form of deferred consumption and by saving first and then spending what is left you can build a solid foundation to your financial future.

Tip – aim to start saving 10% of net income each and every month – it won’t be easy at first but your budget and lifestyle will adapt over time.

2. Get Money for your Old Mobile Phone

Many of us have old mobile handsets lying around – did you know you can sell yours online – here is an article discussing this – I recently sold my old Sony Ericsson K800i and received £28.00.

3. New Tax New ISA Allowance – ISA 2009/2010

In just over a months time the ISA allowance for over 50’s increases to £10,200, with the allowance increasing for the remainder of the population on 6th April 2010.

4. Cashflow forecasting – income and expenditure spreadsheet

Our free income and expenditure spreadsheet remains as popular as ever and we are receiving some great feedback from people who are using it – thanks!

5. Investment Bonds – an introduction

An investment bond can be a shrewd financial planning tool as well as an investment vehicle.

6. It’s not how much you save but how long

This article discusses how, over time, money make money – with interest earned on a savings account itself earning interest. The longer you can save for the more money you will build up – start saving as young as possible.

7. Non-taxpayers – ensure you receive your bank and building society interest without tax deducted

Completing a simple form can ensure that non-taxpayers, both young and old don’t pay unnecessary income tax on the interest they receive on their savings accounts. With interest rates as low as they are at present every penny counts so ensure you’re registered to receive your interest gross if applicable.

8. Personal Finance Blogroll

A list of the other personal finance blogs I visit on a regular basis – makes for some interesting reading!

9. Retirement is an Income not an Age

Many have fallen into the trap that retirement occurs at a particular age. Unfortunately for most of the population this occurs simply because they haven’t secured sufficient income to retire earlier. By targeting a specific income and going for that it is possible to retire early. In a forthcoming article on “goal setting” we will discuss how this can be achieved.

10. Buy a Financial Calculator

If you’re serious about planning your own finances I strongly recommend buying a good financial calculator – ideal for calculating rates of return, how much to save on a regular basis to build a certain sized fund etc.

And finally……

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I was reading this interesting article over on the thisismoney website about Alistair Darling’s plans to spend “whatever we can” to keep people in jobs during this recession. Now this course of action might be commendable as it is an attempt to keep people in work and off benefits – which I guess would cost the country more in the long-run.

In a country where the economy is inextricably linked to the housing market, can it be wise for a Government to simply try and spend its way out of recession?

I don’t like “big government” and feel that the exit from the recession should be down to market forces. What this government should be focussing on is improving the education system and retraining those people who are currently or who have recently been working in dying industries – those industries in which we are no longer competitive on an international playing-field.

Funding this expenditure will only lead to further raising of finances by the Governement which will generally be through higher taxation.

Whilst the Government is spending, most of us will be saving, rebuilding our portfolios and taking advantage of depressed stock markets for longer term capital growth and real income.

Just a reminder – the ISA allowance increases for the over 50’s on 6th October 2010.

In the current investment climate it is more important than ever to ensure that you have an ISA wrapper which is providing value for money. Current low returns in both UK and world equity markets, as well as other asset classes, such as commercial property, mean that and charges you incur in your ISA can have a dramatic effect on the overall performance of your investment.

Take for example a typical UK equity fund in which many people invest. There are typically two sets of charges which will be incurred in investing in such as fund:

Initial Charge

The Initial Charge is the charge applied to money at the point it is invested into the fund, sometimes also known as the “bid-offer” spread. This can range from 0% to 6% with a typical value of 5%. So for every £100 entered, you only really have £95 being invested – the effect of this is that the fund has to provide growth of 5.26% just to get you back to your original investment of £100.

Annual Management Charge

These vary depending on the nature of the investment portfolio which the investment manager is looking after. Typical values here can range from 0.5% to 2.0%. It is the annual management charge in our opinion which has the most detrimental effect on the performance of an ISA or other investment.

Consider this hypothetical scenario – you are invested in a managed fund with an annual management charge of 1.5%. Each and every year, the fund manager deducts 1.5% from the effective value of your fund. This is OK in the good years when the stock market could be showing returns of 5%, 7% etc. But in recent years with low or even negative growth, this fixed cost on your investments is even worse.

Is there a Solution?

Yes there is. By investing through a discount broker or fund supermarket not only are you opening yourself up to a very large fund choice from which to invest, you may also benefit from discounts on both “initial” and “annual management” charges.

Can these Savings be Made Just on New Money Invested?

No, many of the fund supermarkets offer the option to transfer in ISA’s and other investments from other providers to benefits from these discounts.

Naturally it would be wise to take independent financial advice before making any investment you are unsure of.

Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer presented his Budget for 2009 last week and below are the main points and changes contained in the Budget:

The Economy

Whilst the economy is expected to shrink by 2.5% during 2009, the Chancellor indicated that there was the expectation that the economy would grow next year, 2010, by 1.25%. I our opinion this is an optimistic forecast and we believe that growth in the economy is unlikely. He then said that the economy would grow by 3.5% annually from 2011. Whilst we would expect the economy to be heading out of recession by 2011, again we would comment that growth at these levels is again unlikely.

Borrowing by the Government is estimated to amount to £703 billion over the next 5 years which, in our opinion, is a large burden for the UK economy to endure.

Income Tax

In order to boost funds to meet this borrowing expectation, the Chancellor announced that income tax for those people earning more than £150,000 would rise to 50% from April 2010. The one comment we would make on this is that this would be fairly ineffective as people falling into this tax bracket will no doubt come up with methods and techniques to get around this additional tax burden.

In addition to this, he also reduced tax relief on pension contributions for people falling into this tax bracket, again from April 2010.  The level of tax relief for people earning over £150,000 will fall from 40% to 20% following introduction of a taper. To this end, many high-earners will consider making pension contributions following a “salary sacrifice” exercise – by effectively reducing their income levels, it is then possible for their employers to contribute directly to their pension plans, and this can be topped up by the employer also contributing some or all of the National Insurance saving enjoyed following the reduction in salary.

Employment, Jobs and Training

The Government announced support for the economy to protect 500,000 jobs and also indicated that redundancy payments would increase from £350 to £380 per week for those made redundant. From January, everyone under the age of 25 will be offered a job or training place, with additional funds paid on top of the benefits they are already receiving – in addition to this there will also be additional support for those people who have been out of work for more than 12 months.

It was also announced that funds would be made available to create an additional 54,000 places in sixth form education.

Housing and Accommodation

The government is concerned about housing and announced plans to provide £500 million to kickstart the housing market, with £100 million being made available to local councils to build energy-efficient homes. Many commentators have said that this is inadequate and will not provide for the true number of new homes needed each year. £80 million will be made available for a shared equity mortgage scheme to promote home ownership as well as £50 million to upgrade military housing.

The current stamp duty holiday for house purchases below £175,000 has been extended until the end of the year in an attempt to help first-time buyers.

The Environment

The government is committed to cutting carbon emissions by 34% by the year 2020. An extra £1 billion will be made available to attack climate change by supporting low-carbon industries. £525 million will be made available for offshore wind farms as an alternative energy source over the next 2 years with £435 million to help with energy efficiency schemes for homes, companies and public buildings.

Business

Help was announced for loss-making businesses – they will be able to reclaim more taxes paid for the last 3 years until November 2010 with the main capital allowance rate doubled to 40% in an attempt to help companies bring forwards capital investment decisions. Also announced was a £750 million strategic investment fund to help emerging industries and those industries which has an important regional position.

Savings and Investments

The annual ISA allowance was raised from £7,200 per annum to £10,200 per annum. This will be introduced from 6th October 2009 for over 50’s and from 6th April 2010 for the rest of the population.

Grandparents

Those grandparents of working age who care for their grandchildren will see their basic state pension increased to take account of this. The winter fuel allowance will be maintained at the higher level of £250 for those over the age of 60 and £400 for those aged over 80 for another tax year.

The Chancellor also announced that there would be a minimum increase of 2.5% on the basic state pension, regardless of what RPI, the index to which inflation is linked, does.

Child Benefits

The child tax credit will rise by £20 by 2010 and child trust funds for disabled children will rise by £100 per year with those for severely disabled children rising by £200.

Cars – Scrappage Scheme

A new scheme will be introduced in an attempt to remove older, more polluting cars from our roads. From March 2010, £2,000 discount will apply for those people who trade in their existing cards over 20 years old in exchange for a new car. In order to qualify they will have to be shown as the registered keeper of the vehicle for the 12 months prior to the purchase and it is expected that the Government will provide £1,000 towards this scheme with the motor industry providing the remainder.

And finally (!) – Cigarettes, Alcohol and Fuel

Tax and duties on alcohol and cigarettes is to rise by 2% – putting a penny on a pint and 7 pence on a packet of 20 cigarettes on average.

Fuel duty is to rise by 2 pence per litre and then by 1 pence above inflation each April for the next four years.

 

So there you have it – how as the Budget affected you? Who do you feel are the winners and losers of this Budget? Please make your comments below.

Long Term Savings – the need to start early

Saving for income in retirement can be a daunting thought for most people – the problem they face is that they simply don’t know how much they need to save between now and retirement.

In this article we consider the time value of money, and in particular, the benefits to be enjoyed from “compound growth”. In later articles we consider just how you go about working out how much you need to invest to plan for your own retirement income.

The Rule of 72

In the article “The Rule of 72 – the Time Value of Money” we discussed a simple technique for calculating how your money grows over time whereby dividing the rate of growth you are enjoying on your money into 72 shows the number of years it takes for your money to double in value.

For example – if you were lucky enough to receive 6% annual interest on your money in a savings account then this would double in value every 12 years (72/6=12).

Compound Interest

The principle of compound interest is simply one of “money makes money”. An example of this would be investing £100 in a savings account at 10% interest – after one year your money would have grown to £110 – after two years, £121 – you have earned an extra £1 interest in year two as not only have you earned 10% on your original investment of £100 but you have also earned 10% interest on the £10 interest you made in year one and this continues for as long as you leave that money invested.

Over time, as the proportion of “interest earned” grows then the rate at which your overall investment grows also increases – it’s like a snowball effect – when you roll a small snowball down a hill at first it grows slowly – the more it rolls, the more snow it picks up on each rotation and the faster it moves…….

The following chart shows how £500 per month, enjoying a simple return of 5% per annum, grows over a 30 year period –

Demonstrating compound interest on regular savings over time

The above chart shows that in the earlier years the rate of growth on the funds invested is relatively low, and as the benefits of compound growth accumulate over time the curve of the graph becomes steeper as each and every £1 of interest earned subsequently earns its own interest!

It’s not how much you save, but how long….

The principle of compound interest therefore brings us nicely into the subject of pension planning, saving for retirement or any other form of long-term saving.

For the sake of this example we will consider that you wish to retire at age 60 and you are now aged 30.

You have calculated that to provide income in retirement of £20,000 per year, ignoring inflation for the time being, and assuming a return of 5% after charges for both the growth on your money being invested BEFORE retirement and for the annuity income you receive AFTER retirement, that to provide £20,000 per annum you need a fund of £400,000 (£20,000 per annum divided by 0.05).

So to achieve this income goal you need to build up a fund between now and retirement of £400,000. Logic says that we simply divide the fund needed between the number of years to retirement and this tells us how much we need to save each year – in this example £400,000 over 30 years requires a saving of £13,333.33 per year (£1,111.11 per month)

This however doesn’t take into account the growth that you would enjoy on each contribution being paid into the investment vehicle – the contribution made in month 1 would have the longest time to grow – 29 years and 11 months, the contribution made in month 2 – 29 years and 10 months and so on…….

Compound Growth and Regular Savings

Saving on a regular basis into an asset-backed investment, such as a pension fund, or a unit trust held under an ISA umbrella, can benefit from “pound cost averaging”. In a volatile stock market, such as the one we are currently in, investing on a regular monthly basis means that you effectively have 12 chances each year to invest some of your money into the stock market on a day when the market is lower than on other days. The benefit of this is that it brings down the average cost of the units you hold, and ultimately leads to a larger potential profit at the end.

In our example above we calculated the monthly contribution required to build a fund of £400,000 assuming no growth

If we add in say net annual growth of 5% after charges (which should be achievable over the medium to long term) then the monthly investment actually falls to £480.62 per month.

If the rate of growth increases to say 6% per year, the monthly investment falls to £398.20 per month.

If the rate of growth again increases to say 9%, the monthly investment required to hit £400,000 falls to £218.49.

The Cost of Delay

Above we calculated that £480.62 invested at 5% net per annum will grow to £400,000 over a 30 year period. If we reduce the term to 29 years, then to achieve the same fund value, the monthly investment needs to be £512.77 per month – an additional monthly investment of £32.15 or an additional total investment of £11,188.20 over the life of the investment. This shows the cost of delay.

So by waiting one year, an additional £32.15 per month needs to be invested, each and every month for the whole 29 year period, to provide the same £400,000 fund at age 60.

If the individual were to delay their regular savings by 2 years then a monthly investment of £547.63 would be needed – delay by just 5 years and the monthly contribution rises to £671.69 which is probably beyond the means of most families with average income and outgoings.

Starting Early

We have now calculated that the regular saving to build a fund of £400,000 over 30 years, at 5% net return per annum, would be £480.62 per month – but what if you were to start earlier?

If you had the foresight to have started last year, and therefore have a period of 31 years over which to make this investment then this monthly investment would fall to £450.90 – start 5 years earlier and the monthly investment would need to be £352.08……………….

Conclusion

In conclusion then it is vitally important that you start saving as soon as possible for retirement income – whether that be through a personal pension, stocks and shares ISA, a deposit account…….

Start as soon as possible!

Ask yourself this question – how many more paydays until retirement? – 30 years – another 360 payslips – it’s later than you think!

Related Article:

Buy a Financial Calculator

ISA Allowance 2009/2010

Yesterday, 6th April 2009, marked the beginning of a new tax year – all last year’s planning is now closed and we each start the new tax year with a clean slate and the opportunity to make positive changes in our personal finances.

With the dawning of a new tax year comes the ability to contribute to another ISA allowance.

Our article “ISA’s – Individual Savings Accounts” gives more information on what an ISA is – the different types available, the tax treatment etc.


New ISA Allowance – 2009/2010

In the current 2009/2010 tax year the investment allowance into an ISA remains the same at a total investment allowance of £7,200.

This can be broken down into two constituent parts – up to £3,600 can be invested in a Cash ISA (a little like a savings account with a bank or building society, only with interest paid with no income tax deducted) – with the remaining amount up to a total subscription of £7,200 across both ISA types being available.

For example, if you invested £2,000 into a Cash ISA you could still invest £5,200 into a Stocks and Shares ISA.

22nd April 2009 – In the budget today, Chancellor of the Exchequer announced changes to ISA allowances which come into effect on 6th October 2009 for over 50’s and for the rest of the population from 6th April 2010 – click here for more details.

I didn’t utilise my full allowance last year, can I top it up?

No, once the clock strikes midnight on 6th April a new tax year starts and all subscriptions to last year’s ISA are complete – no more money can be paid in. In practice, if your Cash ISA is administered in the traditional way through a passbook with a bank or building society, you will more than likely continue to pay money into the same book – it is just your allowance for the current tax year which limits the amount you can pay into the account.

Can I have my Cash ISA and Stocks and Shares ISA with different companies?

Yes – you are free to hold your Cash ISA with a different institution to your Stocks and Shares ISA.

Are they expensive?

Typically when investing in an ISA you will incur an “initial charge” – usually in the region of 4%-6% depending on the fund you are investing in, together with an “annual management charge” of between 0.75% and 2.25%.

Many people invest through a discount “supermarket” where the investor may benefit from a discount on their initial and annual management charges.

Can I invest in more than one Cash ISA in the current tax year?

No – once you commence saving into one Cash ISA all contributions in that tax year must be into that Cash ISA with that institution.

Can I Transfer Previous Cash ISA’s and Stocks and Shares ISA’s to another bank or investment house?

Yes, you are free to transfer previous years ISA’s to another provider.

A word of warning here though – you need to TRANSFER your ISA – ask the new company for a TRANSFER form – they are the ones who must contact your previous provider and arrange the transfer. Under no circumstances simply close the existing ISA and take the proceeds to a new institution – it won’t be accepted as a transfer!

Stocks and Shares ISA’s – aren’t they risky?

Yes they can be – a normal course of action would be to invest in a unit trust shielded through an ISA wrapper. A unit trust will normally invest in a range of stocks and shares depending on what that fund is trying to achieve. In these types of fund your money is not guaranteed, you could lose money, you could get back less than you originally invested.

These types of ISA should be viewed as a medium to long term investment – minimum of 5 years although it would be wise to work on a minimum 10 year investment horizon.

Before investing in any asset-backed investment such as a Stocks and Shares ISA it is prudent to ensure you have saved sufficient “rainy day” money into a savings account – this is money you can access easily and they should ideally be invested in a savings/deposit account were the value of your account isn’t susceptible to falls in the value of underlying investments.

How much Rainy Day Money?

Everyone is different – some people may be comfortable with say 6-12 months net income plus all likely expenditure over and above your normal expenditure which you feel may be incurred over say the next 2 years. Others would wish to save considerably more.

The yardstick for any decision to invest in a Stocks and Shares ISA must therefore be – how long are you prepared to invest this money for and are you prepared to lose some or all of it if your investments don’t perform well.

For example, if you need a new car next year it would not be wise to invest these monies in a Stocks and Shares ISA because of the risk of your money falling in value over the short-term.

If you are concerned about risking your money then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser.

As we approach the end of another tax year on 5th April many will be mindful of the need to fully utilise their ISA allowance –  you may have heard people mention ISA’s but you’re not quite sure what they’re all about – something tells you they’re risky!

What is an ISA?

An ISA (Individual Savings Account) is a form of tax-efficient savings and investment product. Following recent changes in legislation there are now two types of ISA with which we are concerned: –

Cash ISA

A Cash ISA is a savings account, normally through a bank or building society, as well as National Savings, which effectively pays interest tax-free. Cash ISA’s are available to anyone over the age of 16.

With a normal savings/deposit account tax is deducted from gross interest and the saver receives the net amount – the current rate of tax on interest is 20%. There is no additional tax to pay for a basic-rate tax payer; a higher rate tax payer will pay an additional 20%.

With a Cash ISA though, anyone, regardless of their tax position, can invest up to £3,600 in the current tax-year to benefit from tax-free interest. The government place a limit on the amount you can invest in your ISA due to the tax-efficient nature of the investment.

Non-taxpayers – did you know?

If you are a non-taxpayer you can register to receive your interest on your bank and building society accounts gross – you need to fill in form R85 – getting your interest without tax taken off – simply complete the form for each account/institution and pass to them to amend their records.

Where can I find the best rate?

League tables are generally published in the better quality newspapers, or alternatively you can search on line at a comparison site, such as moneyfacts or any other cash ISA comparison site.

Are they instant access?

Generally, yes, but a number of products offer a higher rate of interest, or even a fixed rate, in exchange for you not making any or many withdrawals – you can normally access your money though with an interest penalty applying. Make sure you check the terms and conditions for any cash ISA you choose to invest in.

Stocks and Shares ISA’s

These are for the more adventurous investor. The overall allowance for investing in ISA’s is currently £7,200 per person per tax year. Any investment made into a cash ISA in the current tax year will count against this allowance. For example – say you have put £2,000 into a cash ISA, you are therefore able to invest an additional £5,200 into a stocks and shares ISA.

Lump Sum or Regular Contribution?

It is possible to set up both single premium and regular monthly ISA’s. If you go for the regular option this would equate to £600 per month if you spread your allowance across the full tax year.

Where can I invest?

There is an enormous choice of places to invest your Stocks and Shares ISA allowance – you could choose to invest direct into the shares of a few companies, or you could reduce the risk slightly by investing in “pooled fund(s)”.

By investing in a pooled fund, the investment manager pools your money together with the money of all the other investors in the fund, and invests the money by buying and selling shares and other assets in line with their management style. The benefit of this is that the investment manager and their team can use their investment expertise and research to invest in companies they believe are going to provide an above average return going forwards. The second benefit is that your money, through a pooled fund, will be spread over a far wider range of companies – therefore reducing the risk to your money.

You can invest either direct with a fund manager or through a “fund supermarket” – the latter option will give you access to a large choice of different funds from a wide choice of investment managers. Fund supermarkets can sometime negotiate discounts on the charges and pass these savings on to their clients.

Charges?

Yes – normally with a pooled investment there will typically be an “initial charge” which can be from 0% upwards with initial charges typically being in the region of 5%. There might also be an “annual management charge” – this covers the ongoing costs of running the investment fund. These AMC’s are typically in the region of 1% – 2% per annum – check the charges on any fund you choose to invest in prior to committing your funds.

Is there a risk?

Your money is being invested in a fund(s) which the manager will invest in a range of stocks and shares of companies, corporate bonds, gilts etc depending on the investment strategy and type of fund you choose.

I am sure you will be aware of the recent falls in world stock markets. Any fall in stock markets will be reflected in the value of your investment – so yes, you could lose some, or even possibly, all of your money. For this reason you need to ask yourself whether you are prepared to take risks with this money – and also to give consideration to the length of time you are willing to invest for – a minimum of 5 years, and preferably 10 years would be a good answer here!

Why invest in ISA’s?

The benefit of ISA’s is that they grow in a very tax-efficient manner and any income you receive from your ISA is also tax-free. In addition to this it is also possible to access the money invested if the need should arise.

Many people use their ISA allowance to save and invest for longer term goals – such as a house move in 5 or 10 years time, or to provide income in retirement, to supplement other pension income – some people prefer to invest in ISA’s than in personal pension plans due to the fact that they can access their ISA money – although that can be too much of a temptation to some people!

Summary

There are two different types of ISA and you can invest up to £7,200 in the current tax year. Once we pass 5th April you will lost your ISA allowance for the current tax year – once gone it is lost forever.

Risk Warning

With a stocks and shares ISA there is risk to your capital – the value of your investment is not guaranteed, the value of the investment, and the income from it, can fall as well as rise. You could lose some or all of your money.

If you have any comments to make on ISA’s please add them below –