Regardless of what your financial goals are, there are certain things you can do to greatly increase your chances of a successful financial outcome, for right now ‘you’ and for the future ‘you’ too.
Among these things you could do, is investing effectively in Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs).
In this article, you’ll learn what ISAs are, how they work, and how they can help you achieve your financial goals.
Read on to find out more.
What are ISAs?
ISAs are specific investment accounts designed to let you grow your savings tax-free each year. The accounts shelter any contributions you make from income and Capital Gains Tax (CGT), and your savings can be withdrawn tax-free also.
How do ISAs work?
ISAs come with an annual allowance which sets the limit for how much you can contribute each year. As of the tax year 2023/2024, the annual ISA allowance is £20,000.
There are four types of ISAs you can invest in – a cash ISA, stocks and shares ISA, lifetime ISA, and innovative finance ISA. However, you can only open one of each ISA type every year, and these accounts must share your total allowance between them.
To open an ISA, you must be over 16 for cash ISAs and over 18 for the remaining ISAs. Also, these accounts are opened and managed by one individual account holder – hence the name.
Using ISAs to achieve your financial goals
ISAs can significantly benefit investors when it comes to achieving various financial goals. This can be done in many ways, including:
- Maximise your allowance each year
One of the best ways to achieve your financial goals is to invest the full amount of your ISA allowance each year.
Whatever your goals might be, having a large sum of tax-free money to withdraw can significantly help towards these targets – whether it’s retirement planning, navigating a divorce, building wealth resilience, saving for your first property, etc.
Your ISA allowance cannot be rolled over to the next tax year, so you must use up the full amount to benefit from the maximum amount of tax-efficient savings.
Also, if you have a spouse or civil partner who shares your goals, investing the full amount in both your ISAs can offer a combined total of £40,000 in tax-free money.
- Explore different investment opportunities
It can also be beneficial to explore different investment opportunities with a stocks and shares ISA. Whilst ISAs can be a great way to save your money each year, stocks and shares ISAs can help you grow these savings with potentially successful investments.
You can discuss with your account provider what securities you’d like to invest in with your ISA. Any growth you make from these successful returns is also exempt from CGT and income tax.
Therefore, these accounts can help you grow your tax-free savings even further for your goals.
- Seek financial advice
When it comes to achieving your financial goals with ISAs, financial advice can be one of the most important components.
Your expert adviser can help you plan out your future goals so that they’re both beneficial to building your wealth, whilst also being achievable when compared with your financial situation.
This way, you can have a more accurate idea of how to structure your ISA investments to encourage maximum tax efficiency, but also align with your financial circumstance.
Just like with any type of investment, receiving professional guidance on your ISAs is one of the best ways to help you achieve a successful financial outcome with each of your goals.
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Whether you’ve now found a reason to invest in ISAs, or you simply have a more accurate idea of how to utilise your current ones, it’s worth speaking to your modern wealth manager about, to help align your approach more effectively with your goals set.
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Please note, the value of your investments can go down as well as up.
