Can I have more than one ISA?

RDM · 4 Nov 2011 at 09:12

The_Abyss said:
That's incorrect. The limit for PEPs was £9,000. The current (equity) ISA limit is £10,680.

My bad, I have been out of the industry for a few years. Took quite a while to get there though!

platypus · 4 Nov 2011 at 09:24

breadturbo said:
I dont know why people still use these things, 2.5% is terrible!

stick it in premium bonds

Plenty of better headline rates than 2.5%.

breadturbo · 4 Nov 2011 at 12:25

i was serious

i have 15k in one lump, i make at least 2k a year on them from prizes and ive had them 10-12years.

work that rate out

ilcp · 5 Nov 2011 at 12:29

semi-pro waster said:
The limits have increased through the years but essentially yes, you can add to existing ISAs but only up to the limit for that year. Let's say for a second that the limit is £5,400 your options would be as follows:

Start a new ISA and pay in anything up to the £5,400.

Pay £5,400 into an existing ISA but you couldn't then open up another new ISA in the same financial year because you've used all your allowance on that existing ISA.

Pay £2,700 into a new ISA and £2,700 into an existing ISA or any other split that appeals to you (why you'd do this I'm not sure as you're better focusing on where the best rate is but it's possible)

I think that covers the most common options anyway. Of course you don't have to utilise your full allowance every year but if you can afford to then it's still probably worth it for when interest rates recover as that means you've stored that money away as your tax free allowance.

thanks.. forgot about this thread until today..

can I top up 5400 any time of year or does it have to be before APRIL?

semi-pro waster · 5 Nov 2011 at 12:39

ilcp said:
thanks.. forgot about this thread until today..

can I top up 5400 any time of year or does it have to be before APRIL?

Be aware that I've been corrected about splitting your money between ISAs in a single financial year, that was my mistake.

However if you want it to count in the current financial year then you would need to do so before it ends (i.e. any time before April) and again could only top up until you reach the limit. Then for the next financial year you have a whole new allowance and so on. It's probably worth pointing out that the end of the financial year is invariably a very busy time for financial institutions so the earlier you can pay your money in the better as far as they are concerned.