Have htb isa + Lisa isa and want to open S+S isa in the new tax year. Wanting to close htb isa to maximise isa input for the next financial year

[fsdfsd]

Hi all,

Background: I’m a complete novice with money and don’t have any family or friends who can explain this stuff to me. I’m 30 (f), earn 30k p/a and live with my partner. We’re hoping to get a joint mortgage in the next few years and maybe married in the future too.

I currently have around 28k in savings

4k in Lisa
7.5 k in htb
12.5k in current account
4k in crypto
20k of student loan debt

I’ve just discovered the Lisa so opened that up around 3 weeks ago and contributed 4k in. I plan to keep this for at least the next year and max it out until I get a house with my partner who isn’t a ftb.

I already have a htb isa which has 7.5k in it but I’d like to close the account and open a s+s isa in the new tax year. In order to keep to my 20k allowance for 22-23, do I need to close the htb isa today before the new year to avoid loosing this amount of my allowance next year?

I’m also not sure how much to put into s+s isa (maybe the ftse global all cap index fund with vanguard) now as i’m currently unemployed and applying for jobs and will need some of my savings over the next few years towards a wedding etc. Is 2.5k enough or should I be putting more in? I’d like to keep it in there for at least 3-5 years at least.

If I only put in 2.5k per year I won’t reach the 20k cutoff but if I need to put in more in like 7.5-10k I may do. So should I close the htb today?

Also if I put money into an S+s, what is the turn around time to get money out and how complicated is it for a complete novice like me?

Thank you so much for reading. This sub has helped me a lot recently.

 

[jari_]

@fsdfsd

do I need to close the htb isa today before the new year to avoid loosing this amount of my allowance next year?

No.

Your allowance is consumed by paying into ISAs. Simply having an ISA open with some money in it doesn't impact your allowance.

You should make sure any automatic deposits to the HTB are stopped if you've decided you don't want it any more.

Is 2.5k enough or should I be putting more in? I’d like to keep it in there for at least 3-5 years at least.

It's really down to you to decide how much money you're happy to tie up for 5 years or more.

Also if I put money into an S+s, what is the turn around time to get money out and how complicated is it for a complete novice like me?

Couple of days or so to extract.

Details will vary but basically you log in to your S&S ISA provider and tell them to sell whatever you want to sell.

Depending on timings and exactly what type of fund you owe it can take a day or so for the sale to complete and a cash balance to appear with your provider.

You then need to tell the provider to transfer this cash to your bank account.

 

[fsdfsd]

@jari_ Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. This is very helpful.
!thanks