Robbing Rachel’s ISA Reforms

[TheSassyTraybake]

Although not mentioned in her speech the document released by the treasury hints at reforms to ISAs to “get the balance right between cash and equities to earn better returns for savers, boost the culture of retail investment, and support the growth mission”.

Nothing concrete as yet but looks like they are planning to move against cash ISA’s, either reducing the annual limits or the amount that can be held in them.

Personally I think a cash ISA is a waste of time, but that’s because I use my annual allowance for stocks and shares.

Interested in other people’s thoughts?

Either way, people need to lighten the fuck up.

Completely agree, it’s innocuous and it feels petty that people have described it as being ‘name calling’.

What would you call it? Personally I’d be pretty insulted if it was applied to me. Wouldn’t you?

People please start to learn about stocks isa

You only loose money if you take money out when it's low!
My investments tanked during covid. They bounced back to much higher gains a few years later.
You should have different pots of money so you don't have to draw on it when the markets are low

@Diorchristian but if you're older then it might not 'bounce back' while you are still alive though.

Agree, so options spread around I'm more addressing the posters who seem to have lost money or don't understand stocks and shares isa.

I don't agree with reeves at all and if she wants people to invest, teach investing!!

A) yes everybody knows this. Nobody thinks you automatically lose money from stocks regardless of what happens to the markets. Literally nobody has said that on this thread, so no idea who you are trying to educate!
B) ....although actually some accounts DO penalise you for withdrawals regardless e.g. if you make more than a set amount in a year or don't give sufficient notice
C) As others have pointed out - some people don't have the choice when to withdraw, or the luxury of hanging on until the market improves.
D) What "other pots"? If you get rid of cash isas the primary option for savings you can withdraw are normal savings accounts. People who would otherwise be using cash isas are the exact people who have enough savings or are high enough earnings for their savings to be taxed. People don't want to be taxed (again) on money they were already taxed when they earned it, which is exactly the reason they WANT cash isas in the first place. It's not like the majority of people are using cash isas just for shits and giggles, or because they've never heard of normal savings accounts.

Oh and
E) Even if people didn't understand all of the above (which they do), the probably wouldn't take financial advice from someone who doesn't appear to know how to spell 'lose.'

It’s not like they are raising up the tax free allowance brackets and lots of us are now being taxed on savings so I wish she’d leave it alone however I have got S&S ISAs also

Wow what a vitriolic response, someone has said they don't want to move their safe isa savings to a risky stocks isa? Another said the same as well as other comments.
I don't want anyone to take anyone's advice? I'm sorry to other folks if that sounded patronising but a general lack of investment knowledge is holding women back, men are far more likely to invest and if you look into it you will see it's not risky.

I honestly don't understand why someone would bother to reply such a long post to that.
And yes I'm dyslexic, if people struggle to spell they usually are.
Alan sugar can't talk properly, would you take advice from him?
Pathetic.

How about when a company share collapses? No amount of waiting will get your money back if invested in Woolworths, Kodak, or any of the other hundreds of firms that have gone bankrupt or become virtually worthless via takeovers/amalgamations etc due to them being in trouble. You really can't say that your investments will always bounce back. Diversifying via portfolios won't always help you either - some of the worst performing funds have lost 50% of their value, and one has lost 71% of it's value!

You don’t need to choose individual companies to invest significant amounts in. You can invest in funds which spread your risk over hundreds of companies.

I do agree that lots of people don’t understand investing and just see it as too risky for them. I think it should be taught in schools personally.

But obviously no one should be taking financial advice from posts on mumsnet! And finance is highly personal and emotional for lots of people so it’s up to them to judge what risk they are comfortable with.

I’m taking it as a signal to fill my isa swiftly.

Unless you need to withdraw the money it doesn’t matter. It would just mean your heirs got less.

If you’d left it until now though…

You have to see investing as a long-term thing and hold your nerve. You only ‘lose’ if you take it out while it’s down.

If you have the money why wouldn’t you be doing this anyway?

Exactly this.

But that would have been no good if you were older, you may have been dead by the time it went up again. I did used to do a bit of investing in the past but not interested now.

My point was that even funds collapse. Some people lost tens of thousands in Woodford. Lots of people lost significant amounts when Equitable Life collapsed. They were managed funds rather than individual investments. My point is that sometimes it doesn’t matter how long you can wait, some of your investments will never recover, even in funds,

They can collapse but often there are signs that are reported so you can make a choice. Trouble is a lot of people don't want to do the work investing takes or find it too complicated, or do not have the time to follow up on their investments. That's the riskiest bit is putting the money in and walking off until that rainy day.

That's why there needs to be a cash alternative.

Then it wouldn’t matter! 😂

That’s why investing (imo) is only a long-term strategy. Over a long period of time you’ll always gain. You just have to not panic.

I have put lots into my S&s isa so am now putting new money into cash.
if they reduced the limits, the thought of investing and then having to declare dividends and capital gains puts me right off -so much tracking of things and calculations. And I am an accountant!
they’d need to simplify that side as that’s one of the main benefits to me of the isa -not having to report anything in it.

And they are infantile and puerile too. Why don’t we all just stop it?

We know. But when it’s your only money and you are retired you may need to take it out when it’s low because you actually need the money. Not everyone has 10s of thousands they can just leave in an account for ever.

It is risky though. That’s exactly why the returns are bigger when it pays off. It doesn’t appear as though you understand it all as well as you think. And no, not all bad spellers are dyslexic.

True, but for many of us those savings are to make our retirement enjoyable. I do need to be able to take it out when I want it.

Again. It’s not about ‘nerve’. Some of us need the saved money to use to make our retirement comfortable/enjoyable. We can’t have long term investments.