Author Topic: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?  (Read 2085 times)

vand

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2302
  • Location: UK
It seems that a large part of the marketing material tends to "encourage" people to use up their ISA allowance as deadline (5th April) approaches every year.

Is it me, or is this just a very poor way to go about things? IMO if you are putting money into an ISA you should be making the contributions on a regular basis, (ideally monthly) rather than rush to put a large lump sum in once a year.

OTOH I guess this time of year is when a lot of bonuses work their way into paycheques.

SpreadsheetMan

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 428
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2019, 04:53:16 AM »
I top mine up as well as have monthly amounts by direct debit. This is because my regular monthly sipp+isa contribution is as much as I can do worst-case out of my salary.

Before the end of the tax year I contribute whatever else I can to both.

MrOnyx

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 698
  • Location: East Anglia, UK
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2019, 05:03:03 AM »
I think it's just there as a (somewhat) friendly reminder that hey, if you were intending on capping out your ISA, you only have X time to do it, so don't forget to get it in!

I don't think it's specifically there for people who chuck in all their money once a year, it's just to inform and remind people of the deadline.

Arian

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 28
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2019, 11:04:07 AM »
We tend to take notice, especially if we haven't maxed out our ISAs and have some spare cash in another savings/bank account. Though, the ISA allowance is quite generous now, so it has been less of an issue for us in recent years. I've noticed that the banks tend to offer marginally better interest rates on Cash ISAs at around this time too.

shelivesthedream

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6745
  • Location: London, UK
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2019, 11:25:51 AM »
I certainly take notice. I check on our monthly deposits into our LISAs to check I set it up correctly and we won't be leaving any space unused, then I scrape together any extra cash I can and add it into my normal ISA before the tax year ends. You won't get that allowance back and maybe next year will be the year I am able to max it out! (tongue in cheek but also serious)

Aphextwin

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 7
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2019, 03:48:11 AM »
I just invest via direct debit each month amd forget about it.

KathrinS

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 262
  • Location: London
    • A Chat with Kat
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2019, 02:26:24 PM »
Yes I am this year. It's my first full year in the UK and I opened my ISA in summer. I'm aiming to max it out this and next year with the help of some foreign savings which are collecting negative interest (!) back in Switzerland. Of course, I make regular contributions each month and don't just fill it up in April.

never give up

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7844
  • Location: UK
  • Kindness is free to give and priceless to receive
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2019, 02:41:16 PM »
It’s human nature that a lot of people aren’t organised and hence they leave it to the last minute. The marketing increases because of that but it’s also a time when people may sort out their finances due to the end of the tax year and work out that they can put a bit more in. Investing regularly or at the start makes more sense but for those who can fill the allowance any time is good I guess.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2019, 02:44:19 PM by never give up »

Doubleh

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 288
  • Location: London
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2019, 04:21:03 PM »
Don’t forget that for a long time if you maxed out your allowance then needed to withdraw funds for whatever reason you couldn’t replace them until the next year’s allowance rolled around. I think this used to lead people to avoid putting too much in during the year and waiting until the end of the year to decide how much they could commit.

Not saying that even then is a sensible way to do it, but I think that drove the behaviour and it has sort of stuck, even now the rules have changed to that you can withdraw and replace funds. But yes in recent years I’ve taken the rigamarole as a handy reminder that i’ll be able to fill up next year’s allowance soon

shelivesthedream

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6745
  • Location: London, UK
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2019, 12:26:12 AM »
Don’t forget that for a long time if you maxed out your allowance then needed to withdraw funds for whatever reason you couldn’t replace them until the next year’s allowance rolled around. I think this used to lead people to avoid putting too much in during the year and waiting until the end of the year to decide how much they could commit.

Not saying that even then is a sensible way to do it, but I think that drove the behaviour and it has sort of stuck, even now the rules have changed to that you can withdraw and replace funds. But yes in recent years I’ve taken the rigamarole as a handy reminder that i’ll be able to fill up next year’s allowance soon

I had no idea the rules had changed!

Rightflyer

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 392
  • Location: Cotswolds
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2019, 02:00:57 AM »
Don’t forget that for a long time if you maxed out your allowance then needed to withdraw funds for whatever reason you couldn’t replace them until the next year’s allowance rolled around. I think this used to lead people to avoid putting too much in during the year and waiting until the end of the year to decide how much they could commit.

Not saying that even then is a sensible way to do it, but I think that drove the behaviour and it has sort of stuck, even now the rules have changed to that you can withdraw and replace funds. But yes in recent years I’ve taken the rigamarole as a handy reminder that i’ll be able to fill up next year’s allowance soon

I had no idea the rules had changed!

The new rule came into effect 6 April 2016.

But I think it is only "flexible" if the provider deems it so.

For example, our ISA's do not allow you to replace withdrawals.

Doubleh

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 288
  • Location: London
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2019, 02:11:51 AM »
Yes sorry just looked into that and it looks like I may have overstated the case - as rightflyer says the change in rules was in 2016 and enabled isas to become a "flexible isa". This does indeed allow you to withdraw not only current year subscription but even amounts from prior years, and replace the funds without it counting towards your current year subscription limit provided you replace the funds in the same tax year that you withdrew then.

What I hadnt quite realised though is how few providers have actually taken up this option, most likely due to the administrative cost of upgrading systems etc. In particular there seem to be very few stock & shares isa's that offer this flexibility which I think is a real shame.

The best info I was able to find is an ft article ; I can't link to it directly because of the pay wall but if you google the phrase below you should be able to read it from the results:

isas 2018 how to mix and match

londonstache

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 115
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #12 on: February 04, 2019, 09:46:54 AM »
We take notice, largely as we struggle to dump £40k in at the start of the tax year (Mrs londonstache and I), but post-bonus we're largely equipped to drop it all in. In an ideal world we'd have it saved up to go on 6th April, but not at this stage yet, so I tend to do LISA first and then drop the rest in S&S.

UK Dancer

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 199
  • Location: Sheffield, UK
Re: Do you take any notice of the ISA year end deadline (5th April)?
« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2019, 03:04:48 AM »
Likewise, I get a bonus which can be quickly dumped in as long as I'm quick to do the transfer after payday.