Individual Savings Account (ISA)

A tax-efficient financial product which now comes in several forms with different rules and allowances:

• “Basic” ISA: The ISA most people know. It can hold cash or stocks and shares and is available to anyone aged 18 or over (or 16 or over if only cash is held).
• Help-to-Buy ISA: Holders of this regular saving plan can claim a bonus from the Government is the fund is used to buy a first home. New Help-to-Buy ISA can be opened until 30^th November 2019.
• Inheritance ISA: This name is sometimes used for ISAs that are inherited from a dead spouse or partner.
• Innovative Finance ISA: The ISA available to anyone age 18 or over is designed to hold peer-to-peer lend or crowdfunding investments.
• Junior ISA: Can hold cash or stocks and share and are available from birth and coverts to a “basic” ISA on the child’s 18th birthday. (The Junior ISA replaced the Child Trust Fund).
• Lifetime ISA: Anyone age 18 to 40 years can open a Lifetime ISA and get a 25% government bonus provide the money is used to buy a first home or withdrawn after the age of 60.