ISAs help

[viralviv]

Can anyone explain what I can do with multiple ISAs going forward please? I currently have 3 x Cash ISA accounts (all maxed up). They mature at slightly different rates when annual interest will be added to 2 of them. The third gets monthly interest. ISA 1 and 2 end in April (different dates); Cash ISA 3 ends late May.

Should I put them all into one ISA? (I also have £20k to buy another 25-26 ISA after April. I remember there being a time window of about 3 weeks when I opened the Santander one and after that I couldn't add in any more money. How do you do this when there's a month between the old ISAs coming to an end?

I'm a bit rubbish with all this to be honest. I can lock it away for a year, possibly more.

You could put them all in to one ISA if they mature at similar dates and the ISA you pick is still open for funding, or you could keep them seperate if you maybe want to have some funds in a fixed ISA and others in an access ISA if you think you might need that. Typically fixed rate ISAS only give you a set amount of time to fund them before they close for further deposits. A variable rate ISA typically lets you fund the ISA whenever you want so so in April when the new tax year starts you could add another £20k

I don't know if it's the same for every ISA provider but the bank I work for you can open an ISA and log an ISA transfer in, confirming the maturity date of the old ISA you want to transfer across. If for example you opened an ISA today that was open for funding up to 31st January and your ISA matured on 1st February you could still transfer the funds into your new ISA as long as you log the ISA transfer before the last date for funding.

You can put them all into one ISA, and these days you can open multiple ISAs in one tax year, as long as you don’t add any more than £20K to your overall ISA pot.

Usually, it’s the fixed rate ISAs that have a window for adding, but the flexible ones don’t. So, I think in your shoes I would open a new ISA with the best rate you can find, and transfer in all your existing pot, then if that’s not one you can add to (or if it’s fixed term and you might want access to some of your cash) open another new ISA for your 25-26 pot in April.

I’m currently using Zopa who have a nice app and were the best buy on Moneysaving Expert when I opened it a few months ago. I expect MSE have more current advice though.

Forgot to say, don’t have more than £85K with one bank, so you’re covered in case they go bust.

Sorry I have just realised your dilemma. The fact they mature at different times isn’t really a problem now because you can transfer them to other accounts at favourable rates whenever you like, so you don’t need to consolidate them if you don’t want to.

Keep them separate.

Cash ISAs have to let you access the money, even if it's a fixed term one (unlike fixed term non-ISAs). It's subject to an early withdrawal penalty but you can still get to your money. Some providers let you withdraw an amount less than the total in your account whereas other providers make you close the whole account. Therefore if you consolidate everything in one account (£60k) but need to release £20k, you might risk having to liquidate the whole amount. Although there's probably a way around that: transfer it all to an Easy Access ISA first, withdraw what you need and the rest keeps its ISA status.

Spreading the accounts across different providers can be sensible, as you can take advantage of good rates. There's no single provider who always has the highest interest rates, so it's good to keep an eye on consistently high-interest providers (eg Coventry, Leeds, Kent Reliance) and pick the best one when opening a new ISA or reinvesting a maturing one.

If you are can, choose a mix of fixed-rate durations to stagger the maturity dates so they don't all mature around the same time. It reduces the risk of them all hitting a low in interest rates when you need to reinvest.

Lastly, the FCS protection limit is £85k per institution so you don't want to have that much with a single provider.

You could let the first two be relegated to the default maturity option for a few weeks (usually a variable rate instant access) until the May one matures, then transfer all three into a new single ISA of your choosing with a better, fixed rate.

I fink I can 'elp you 'ere.

Just transfer it to my 'High Interesting' account.

Then I can bosh that into Bit Thingies and whoosh! before you can say Elvis Musk it will have doubled on value.
I can take me cut (50%) and you can has yer money back. Everybodies a Winner!