If you have yet to see much point in saving money in an ISA, a new incentive for 2017 could change your mind. This month sees the launch of a new Lifetime ISA – or LISA. For every pound saved in the tax year – up to a maximum of £4,000 – the state will boost … Continued
The choice of which vehicle can provide the best savings returns over time – the Pension Pot or the ISA – is a long talked about topic. Standard Life recently published research which identified and compared tax and interest rate factors in relation to both options. With recent changes to rules governing inheritance, the research has also been updated to compare what can be passed on to family members on death and how tax efficient each method is.
ISAs have been a hot topic for politicians recently, with multiple changes to the savings vehicles made over the last few years. The most recent major announcement, George Osborne’s 2015 Budget, was no exception, with several interesting new developments for ISAs announced as part of the Budget document.
The 5th April might seem a little way off yet, but the end of the tax year always seems to arrive faster than we think! For financial planning, the end of the tax year is important for a variety of reasons and so, before we hit the deadline, put some thought into the following five tips and maximise your saving opportunities before they disappear for good!
It seems odd that in a general climate where there is so much controversy over foreign corporations paying no tax in the UK, pop stars using dubious tax avoidance schemes, and where there is a raging debate about whether “we are all in this together”, there sits in the middle of our tax system, the most wonderful and simple tax haven of all: the ISA.
Many of our clients will be aware of the tax advantages that can come from using an ISA or a pension to save for your future. If you are not currently a client however, or are unfamiliar with the tax benefits available, then it is worth briefly recapping just what you could be missing out on!
‘Out with the old and in with the new’ regimes
The Chancellor’s March 2014 Budget may well go down as one of the most radically overhauling game-changers since Lloyd George ushered in the state pension in the 1908 Pensions Act (at the time perceived as dangerously radical).
Virtually all the headlines surrounding George Osborne’s recent Budget were about the changes to the pensions rules. Rightly described as the biggest changes to pensions legislation for a hundred years, they will have far-reaching implications for the financial planning of many of our clients.
Since Child Trust Funds (CTFs) were phased out in 2011, parents and the savings industry have lobbied the government to allow the money held in them to be transferred into the Junior ISAs that superseded them. The ISA market is seen as having far more choice and, where the money is held in a savings account, often offers better rates.
In a recent Which? investigation, some of the UK’s biggest banks were identified as failing to give the right advice when it comes to transferring and managing their Cash ISAs.
In the investigation, Which? placed 180 calls to 15 leading banks and building societies to assess the quality of advice given to people who want to transfer their Cash ISA savings.
