ISA stands for Individual Savings Account. ISA’s are popular investment vehicles that allow you to invest money into taxable accounts but allow tax-free growth or tax-free income should you withdraw your funds at a later date. They are available in the UK, Ireland, Italy and other countries worldwide.
The difference between ISAs and other types of savings accounts
An ISA is not dissimilar to other types of savings accounts. The main difference being an ISA cannot be touched by yourself or your representatives without paying substantial penalties until you reach Sixty Five years of age.
After this time, an individual can withdraw all their fund’s penalty-free should they wish to do so. It should also be noted that smaller penalty fees apply if withdrawn before age 60, but these are typically relatively small, tiled at 1%.
ISA accounts also have a limit imposed on them for how much you can invest in one year. This is currently £15,000 and to encourage people to save for their future you can receive a 25% bonus from the government. For example, if you saved the maximum allowed of £15,000, you would receive an extra £4,500 from the UK Government.
Benefits of using ISA accounts
Investments within ISA’s include cash, stocks and shares, and many other types of assets but not property or other tangible assets such as cars, antiques, etc. On death, any funds held within your ISA do not form part of your estate and thus pass directly to whoever is named in your will without going through probate, giving fast transfer times which make it a popular option for those with large families.
ISA funds are locked away until you reach the age of 60 to avoid any early withdrawal penalties, but this does not mean that they are entirely inaccessible to yourself, your partners, or your dependents should your health fail before the age of Sixty Five. You can transfer up to 100% of an ISA into a private pension arrangement without losing its tax-free status if suitable medical documentation is provided proving poor health.
After turning sixty-five years old, you can withdraw funds at will from an ISA without incurring any penalties as their initial permission was given by HMRC giving its full support to people wishing to save for retirement.
Why Use ISA Accounts?
ISA (Individual Savings Account) accounts are outstanding for people who want to save money. They’re low risk and tax benefits. Different ISAs include cash, stocks and shares, and even guarantees. Some allow you to withdraw without penalty too.
If you lose a lot of money, the only thing you can do is put more in and hope for growth, but this will likely never outpace inflation. Saving in cash accounts could help here as they’re often excluded from inflation measures, giving your money real value over time.
What’s The Risk?
Inflation is a problem when it comes to putting away money in any account that supports interest payments because it means you’ll make less money as time goes on. This is the main risk of an ISA account because it could be challenging to recover from if your savings aren’t sufficient enough to cope with it.
It’s important to know that an ISA account is only as secure as the bank or financial institution backing it up. If you want to stay safe with your savings, make sure you use somewhere reputable like Barclays Bank. They’re unlikely to go under any time soon, and they’ll even compensate you (up to £85 000) if their security is breached, leading to fraud on your account.
Unfortunately, unlike most banking products, there are no compensation schemes for ISA accounts. This means that your money isn’t protected by any government body if an institution holding it goes under.
Finally
ISA’s remains a solid investment vehicle to invest money. For more on ISAs, follow this link.
