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An ISA, or Individual Savings Account, allows you to invest up to £20,000 each tax year without you having to pay a penny of tax on any interest or gains you make.
With an ISA you can save money as cash (in a cash ISA), invest in the stock market (in a Stocks & Shares ISA), lend your money to other individuals or companies as a loan (in an Innovative Finance ISA), or save towards your first home and/or retirement (in a Lifetime ISA). Your annual allowance can be used across all four types of ISAs but the maximum you can save in a Lifetime ISA is £4,000 per tax year.
You can transfer your money between the different types of ISAs, however please remember you can only subscribe to one of each ISA types, Cash ISA, Stock and Shares ISA, Innovative Finance ISA and Lifetime ISA in each tax year, up to the combined annual subscription limit.
And here at Virgin Money, we have a range of Cash ISAs and Stocks and Shares ISAs for you to choose from. However we don’t currently offer an Innovative Finance ISA or a Lifetime ISA.
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In our range we offer Easy Access Cash ISAs, Limited Access Cash ISAs and Fixed Rate Cash ISAs, allowing you to save in the way that best suits you.
With the option to top up and take out as often as you wish, you can save flexibly with our Easy Access Cash ISAs. If you know you won't need to access your money regularly, our Limited Access Cash ISAs may be a better option to make more of your savings. Whilst these accounts limit the number of times you can dip into your savings, you can still top up as often as you like.
If you're happy putting your money away for at least a year for a definite return, you can save tax-free with our Fixed Rate Cash ISAs.
- What Stocks and Shares ISA options are there?
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When you open a Stocks and Shares ISA, you choose which of our funds to invest in. We have created six funds, each of which invests in either ‘company shares’, ‘bonds and gilts’, or a mixture of the two.
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From 6 April 2016, ‘ISA flexibility’ came into effect and could significantly change the way you use your ISA.
All Flexible ISAs will allow you to withdraw money from your ISA and replace withdrawn funds within the current tax year without affecting your ISA limit of £20,000.
Some ISAs do not offer this flexibility. You can still withdraw money from your account. However, if you replace it later, this will use up more of your annual ISA allowance. And depending on how much you have already contributed, you might find you aren't able to replace all of it because you would exceed the annual limit.
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This 2020/2021 tax year, you can save up to £20,000 in an ISA.
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Choosing the right ISA for you depends very much on your approach to risk. If you want a low risk account, Cash ISAs could be for you. But if you want the chance to earn a higher return, you might want to look at our Stocks and Shares ISA.
As with all stock market investments, the value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. This is a medium to long term investment so you should be prepared to invest your money for at least five years.
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It couldn’t be easier with our ISA Transfer Service. We do all the hard work for you so you have the convenience of having all your tax-free savings under one roof. You can transfer in to any of our Cash ISAs and Stocks and Shares ISAs, so you can make the most of your savings. The amount you've already paid into your ISA this tax year still counts against your new ISA so be careful not to exceed the annual allowance.
To transfer your other ISAs to us, go to our Cash ISA transfer page and follow the instructions or download and complete an ISA Transfer Authority Form PDF opens in a new window(PDF, 120KB).
To transfer your existing ISA to our Stocks and Shares ISA, go to our Stocks and Shares ISA transfer page and follow the instructions.
- What’s the difference between a Cash ISA and a Stocks and Shares ISA?
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The big difference between a Cash ISA and a Stocks and Shares ISA is the way your money is used. You can think of a Cash ISA as a normal savings account. A Stocks and Shares ISA invests your money in the stock market.
Remember that tax benefits depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.
| Cash ISA |
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| Savings account |
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| Tax-free |
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| Ideal if you need access to your money quickly, or if you want to know your money is safe in a bank account |
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| Low risk with a guaranteed return |
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| Stocks and Shares ISA |
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| Investment |
| Tax-efficient |
| This is a medium to long term investment so you should be prepared to invest your money for at least five years |
| Higher risk with a potentially higher return. Your capital will be at risk |
