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Stocks and Shares ISA Guide

Stocks and Shares ISA Guide

ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) were introduced by the UK government in 1999. They offer UK Residents an opportunity to save or invest – tax free – through a range of ISA products. In this Stocks and shares ISA guide, we’ll help you to understand how they work, what your options are and how you can save or invest in them. Once completed, you’ll know all this:

What is an ISA?

An ISA or Individual Savings Account is a tax-free way for UK Residents to save or invest their money through a bank, building society, stockbroker or fund supermarket. The ISA works as a wrapper, where, as a result, individuals can put a range of different savings or investments inside it, all benefiting from tax-free growth. If you have money available for investment, our Stocks & Shares ISA guide is a great place to start.

Your Individual ISA allowance

In the current tax period (2023/2024) every individual UK resident is entitled to save or invest up to £20,000, or £40,000 per couple, until 5th April 2024. After that cut-off date, any new contributions will go towards the new 2024/25 period. Consequently, where there is money available to save and invest, it is best to act before the end of the current tax period. That will maximise your allowance for the next period.

It is important to note that there are a number of additional ISA products available that enable UK residents to save or invest further amounts through the form of a Lifetime ISA, Help to Buy ISA and Junior ISA. We’ll discuss these additional products in this Stocks and Shares ISA Guide below.

Types of ISAs

If you are a UK resident with money available for investment, there’s a range of ISA products available for you. In this Stocks and Shares ISA Guide, we’ll explain each product, how much you can save or invest, and who will benefit from that ISA. In addition, we’ve put together a table below to give you a snapshot of the options that are available to you.

Type Cash Investment 2023/2024
Allowance
Bonus Providers
Cash ISA  tick  £20,000 Banks, Building Societies
Stocks & Shares ISA  tick  £20,000 Fund supermarkets, stockbrokers
Junior ISA    tick  £9,000 Banks, Building Societies, Fund supermarkets, stockbrokers
Lifetime ISA  tick  tick  £4,000  25% Banks, Building Societies, Fund supermarkets, stockbrokers
Innovative Finance ISA  tick  £20,000 Peer-to-peer lending firms

Cash ISAs

UK Residents with money available for investments can save up to £20,000 this current tax year through a Cash ISA. Typically, you will open a Cash ISA through a Bank or Building society and receive compounding interest on your savings. It is beneficial to research your Cash ISA provider as interest rates can be varied and make sure that you understand the process involved in transferring your Cash ISA to find more favourable rates.

All transfers should be made through your new Cash ISA provider. Should you remove funds, they will no longer be secured within an ISA wrapper and you will lose the tax free benefits.

In periods of low interest rates, a Cash ISA will typically earn less interest than the rate of inflation. Savers should be aware that in these times, the value of their savings is in effect falling.

For example: If the rate of inflation is 3%, and you are earning 1.5% from your cash ISA, you will be losing money at the rate of 1.5% per year.

You can find Cash ISA providers on reputable sites such as MoneySavingExpert.com.

Self-Select Stocks and Shares ISA

A Self-Select Stocks & Shares ISA is an investment alternative to a Cash ISA, into which you can invest your full £20,000 ISA allowance this financial year, completely tax free. Self-Select ISA’s will provide you with the opportunity to invest in a wide range of UK and  international share markets, active funds (also known as Unit Trusts or OEICS) or Investment Trusts, and tracker funds known as Exchange Traded Funds. You can also buy corporate bonds listed on recognised exchanges, and bonds issued by the UK or Eurozone governments.

Any capital growth earned, that’s the increase in value of the shares you hold, from investments you hold within a Self-Select ISA will be exempt from tax.

Investors who are planning to grow their investments over the longer term can take advantage of compounding through tax free dividend re-investment – a valuable tool for those planning to grow their wealth over time.

It is important to note that investments can result in capital loss. While over the longer term, the financial markets historically outperform savings accounts, volatility can result in values going down as well as up.

Typically, you will open a Self-Select Stocks and Shares ISA through a stockbroker or fund platform. You can find our comprehensive ISA comparison here.

Junior stocks and shares ISA

In addition to the Individual ISA allowance, it is also possible for parents or guardians to place up to £9,000 for each child per tax year into a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA or Junior Cash ISA. These Junior ISAs behave in exactly the same way as an Individual ISA up until their maturity, when the child reaches 18.

At the age of 18, the child will have the option to cash in their Junior ISA or transfer it into an Individual ISA, tax free.

It is important to note that while parents or guardians can put money into a Junior ISA, they cannot, at any time, take out any of the money invested. While the adult maintains control over how the money is invested, the child is the sole recipient of the Junior ISA once it reaches maturity on their 18th birthday.

Do You Have Money Available For Investment Into Lifetime ISAs?

If you reside in the UK, are a UK national, have never owned your own home and you are aged between 18-40, you are able to benefit from the Lifetime ISA, launched on 6th April 2017. You’ll be able to save up to £4,000 tax free in your Lifetime ISA each year, which counts towards your full ISA allowance of £20,000, while the government will reward you by paying £1 into your account for every £4 that you deposit. That’s a return of 25% before you even begin to think about investing that money.

What’s more, if you are saving with a partner, that’s up to £10,000 worth of savings tax free each year from just £8,000 deposited.

You’ll be able to choose whether to open a savings-based Lifetime ISA, with fixed interest rates, or an investment-based Lifetime ISA, where you can choose to invest in a range of shares, funds and bonds.

Bear in mind there are some considerations you should be mindful of before you choose an investment based ISA. Our Lifetime ISA explained article will help you to make an informed decision.

What can I invest in with a Stocks and Shares ISA?

A Stocks & Shares ISA gives you access to a wide range of international share markets, covering potentially over 9000 shares. Investors can buy and sell shares issued by companies on any recognised exchange in the world.

You’ll also have access to listed investment trusts, investment funds and Exchange-traded funds or ETFs. Between them they can provide access to a wider range of companies and sectors, including overseas companies, commercial property, commodities, currencies and infrastructure.

You can also buy corporate bonds listed on recognised exchanges, and bonds issued by the UK government or Eurozone governments.

There are some securities you can’t buy within Stocks & Shares ISAs. Funds and ETFs that do not have UK reporting status are not eligible. You can still buy them, but they would become subject to capital gains tax and stamp duty and would automatically sit outside your ISA allowance. In addition, small cap companies and companies listed on AIM are not eligible within Investment ISAs.

Choosing your Stocks and Shares ISA provider

Ultimately much depends on what you want to use your Stocks & Shares ISA for. The widest range of securities and funds is always a good starting point but it is also important to check out a provider’s fees, including how much you would be charged per transaction and any annual administration and custody fees that might apply.

For investors that are only planning to buy and hold a few funds, execution fees (the fees you are charged every time you buy or sell something in your ISA) will be less of an issue, but don’t forget that funds also apply an annual management fee and frequently additional fees on top of that. If a fund is only going to pass on a 5% return in a year, you don’t want to see 2% go back to the manager in costs.

If you have money available for investment, before opening an account, do be sure that your provider is going to give you access to the markets you want, with no strings attached. If you plan to do a lot of trading on overseas markets, be sure you are completely clear what the fees will be for doing so, as they can be higher than for UK share trading.

You can find our comprehensive Stocks and Shares ISA comparison here.

Transferring a Stocks and Shares ISA

With money available for investment, there is a process you’ll need to follow in order to preserve you tax-free ISA status when you transfer your ISA. It is important that the money you have within your ISA is kept within the ISA wrapper throughout the transfer process. You’ll need to contact your new Investment ISA provider with the details of your current ISA account and they will manage the transfer on your behalf.

Under no circumstances should you remove the funds from your existing ISA account yourself in order to make a transfer. Doing so would remove your funds from the ISA wrapper and the security of its tax-free status.

Typically, there are no fees when you transfer a Cash ISA. However, a Stocks and Shares ISA will carry a wide range of fees depending on the provider. Some providers will charge a single fee for an account closure, while others may charge for the closure of each fund held within your Stocks & Shares ISA. It is important that you do your research before committing funds.

If you have any questions or you would like to comment on this Stocks and Shares ISA Guide, you will find details on our contact page or contact us via our social media channels.

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