I have an ISA. I got it a couple of years ago and it made me feel like a proper grown-up lady. I use it to save up money for my tax bill, but as I am not very good at minimising my tax liability, I normally end up hitting my ISA limit before I had saved up enough. This made me feel less grown-up and more like I probably should be managing my finances better, keeping track of expenses and not just putting random receipts into a small box in the shape of a treasure chest.
I won’t be hitting the limits this year though! (Although the treasure chest receipt box is still a thing.)
Good news for me in the last budget was that from July 1st 2014 (that’s Tuesday if you can believe it, Christmas decorations at the ready…) the cash ISA limit will no longer be £5,940. Instead the limits on cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs are going to be combined, meaning you can invest up to £15,000 per year in total, split however you like between the two.
Even better is that existing ISAs will automatically be converted, great news for me as I haven’t even done things like tell my gas company that I have moved yet. Converting an ISA is just never going to happen.
(Before anyone starts tutting me I have done opening and closing meter readings, just not actually done anything with them yet.)
The changes bring lots of benefits and should mean the whole thing is much simpler. I found it tricky enough remembering the limit of £5,940 – £15,000 is a much nicer number. If however you’re still not entirely clear on what the changes might mean for your savings then Scottish Friendly have put together this short video that sets everything out very clearly.
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