Isas
ISAs
ISA Basics
If you’re a UK resident over 16 you can have a Cash ISA.
From age 18, you can also have a Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA (if opened under 40)
To open a Junior ISA, you’ll need to be the parent or legal guardian if your child is under 16. If they’re 16 or over, the child can open
one themselves. It’s not possible to open a joint ISA, and not generally possible to open an ISA for another adult.
What you need to know
THE ISA ALLOWANCE
Each tax year (6 April to 5 April), there’s a maximum amount of money you can put in ISAs, called the ISA allowance. You have until 23:59 on 5 April each year to add money to your ISAs, and the allowance each year doesn’t carry over.
In the 2018 – 2019 tax year the allowance is £20,000
HOW MANY ISAs CAN YOU HAVE?
You can only have one Junior ISA (if under 18).
You can have any number of the other types of ISA, but you can only pay into one of each type each tax year. You just need to make sure the money you put in across all your ISAs each year doesn’t go over the total ISA Allowance.
Let’s say you have a Cash ISA, a Lifetime ISA, and a Stocks and Shares ISA. You put £1,000 in your Cash ISA and £3,000 in your Lifetime ISA. That means there’s £16,000 left of your £20,000 ISA allowance this tax year. Note that the Junior ISA is a separate type of ISA for Under-18s and isn’t included in this overall £20,000 limit.
Our website offers information about investing and saving, but not personal advice. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please request advice, for example from our financial advisers. If you decide to invest, remember that investments can go up and down in value, so you could get back less than you put in.
