25 September 2024
Families urged to track down £1.4 billion in forgotten child accountsThe Government has urged people aged 18-22 to come forward and claim their share of £1.4 billion stashed in matured Child Trust Funds. Government data released last week showed that around £10 billion is sat in Child Trust Fund accounts, with £1.4 billion in unclaimed accounts and £7.5 billion in accounts still held by under 18s.
When someone...
19 September 2024
Two million to pay tax on cash savings interestThe number of people having to pay tax on their savings will almost double over two years to the end of the current tax year, a Freedom of Information request from AJ Bell can reveal. More people will be pushed into paying tax on their savings as interest rates have risen and people hit their tax-free limit.
The Personal Savings Allowances...
12 September 2024
Three priorities for Labour’s first BudgetThe first Budget for new Chancellor Rachel Reeves is coming at the end of October. The rumour mill has already geared up with speculation on what could be included, but we’ve laid out three key areas the Government could focus on when it comes to people’s investments and savings.
ISA simplificationAt a time when government is facing significant...
28 August 2024
How to pay for your child to go to private schoolThere are over 2,500 independent schools in the UK, educating over 620,000 pupils. With inflation-busting increases to costs in the last few years, and the VAT exemption for private schools ending from January 2025, parents who are thinking about private school need to get started on their plans to fund it.
Average fees for a non-boarder are £18...
31 July 2024
Cash ISA glut continues into JuneThe Cash ISA glut has some legs left in it yet, as savers ploughed a further £3.4 billion into these tax shelters in June, according to the latest figures released by the Bank of England. This compares to average June inflows of £700 million in the previous 10 years. Until recently that size of inflow would have been more associated with the end of...
31 July 2024
What to expect in October’s Budget following the Chancellor’s public finance updateThe Chancellor has signaled to the public that tax rises are extremely likely at the Budget on 30 October, pointing to what she claims is a £20 billion black hold in the public finances.
During the election campaign Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer, now Chancellor and Prime Minister respectively, were at pains to insist they wouldn’t raise income tax...
11 April 2024
ISA investors still shunning UK funds and trusts ahead of UK ISA launchJudging by the most popular investments with ISA investors so far in 2024, it looks like Jeremy Hunt is going to have to rely on individual stock investors to do the heavy lifting when it comes to the UK ISA.
Fund and trust investors are still very much going global with their ISA money in search of superior returns.
None of the twenty most popular...
4 April 2024
25 years of the ISA: four companies also created in 1999 that would have produced lucrative returnsFour giants of industry were created in the same year as the ISA launched in 1999 and investing in them at the first possible opportunity via this tax wrapper would have turned £5,000 in each stock into a combined £648,660, according to analysis by AJ Bell.
All capital gains and income have been sheltered from the taxman in this scenario, meaning...
14 March 2024
How ISA millionaires invest their moneyThe number of investors with at least £1 million in their AJ Bell ISA has more than doubled over the past three years. That is despite rising interest rates causing headwinds for equity and bond markets.
Today’s AJ Bell ISA millionaires have shown a preference for investing in individual shares rather than funds, with 75% of their portfolios...
10 March 2024
What is the British ISA?*Please note that the Government has since scrapped all plans for the British ISA in the October 2024 Budget.
The government have announced they’re planning to launch a new ISA. It’s called the ‘UK ISA’, though you might have heard it called the ‘British ISA’ by the media.
The new UK ISA will have an additional £5,000 allowance, which is on top of...
25 June 2023
What is a Lifetime ISA?Laura Suter, Personal Finance Analyst at AJ Bell, explains what the Lifetime ISA is and talks through how it works, so you can decide if it might be right for you.
4 March 2020
ISA investing in the face of CoronavirusA third day of gains for the FTSE 100 this week will be welcome relief for investors but the rebound only makes up a small fraction of the losses experienced last week. This increased volatility has come at a particularly difficult time for investors who want to utilise their ISA allowance before the end of the tax year and are thinking about where...
25 February 2020
Five people who should consider using an ISAWith the introduction of the Personal Savings Allowance in 2016, investors are less eager to open ISAs to protect their money from the taxman.
The tax break gives basic-rate taxpayers a £1,000 buffer on savings income and a £500 tax break for higher-rate payers, meaning many savers needn’t get an ISA to protect their gains. But as the number of...
