LISA investment

[Paultry]

A quick query.

Briefly, youngest son (age 38 years) has about £4,000 in a help to buy ISA.

House price exceeds limit of £250 k so cannot be used toward purchase.

My suggestion is to shift the £4,000 to a LISA, whereupon an additional £1,000 appears and invest it in some form or other with zero fees and leave it for 22 years. He could possibly add to it.

I asked in Halifax and spoke to iWEB, they do not have a LISA set up.

Any suggestions or thoughts gratefully received. Paul

[OLTB]

My suggestion is to shift the £4,000 to a LISA, whereupon an additional £1,000 appears and invest it in some form or other with zero fees and leave it for 22 years.

Hi Paul

You may struggle with the 'zero fees' bit - I use HL (not for a LISA) and fees are capped at £200 p.a. as I only invest in shares/etfs/ITs.

£200 p.a. is 4% of £5,000 so it's a hefty chunk out of your son's investment so perhaps someone knows of a more cost effective solution?

Cheers, OLTB.

[Alaric]

I asked in Halifax and spoke to iWEB, they do not have a LISA set up.

Very few providers seem to offer this. A Google search for "lisa providers" identifies Hargreaves Lansdown as one of the few.

http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/lifetime-isa

Outside of funds, their charges are 0.45% capped at £ 45

http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services ... sa/charges

[PinkDalek]

A quick query.

Briefly, youngest son (age 38 years) has about £4,000 in a help to buy ISA.

House price exceeds limit of £250 k so cannot be used toward purchase.

My suggestion is to shift the £4,000 to a LISA, whereupon an additional £1,000 appears and invest it in some form or other with zero fees and leave it for 22 years. He could possibly add to it.

I asked in Halifax and spoke to iWEB, they do not have a LISA set up.

Any suggestions or thoughts gratefully received. Paul

You've been directed to Hargreaves Lansdown which looks like a possibility.

This might also be helpful:

http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services ... ansferring

Read this before you transfer

You can transfer up to £4,000 from your existing ISA to a Lifetime ISA each tax year and receive the 25% government bonus on the value of the transfer.

Transfers will count towards your Lifetime ISA allowance.

If transferring ISAs from previous tax years (i.e. before 6 April 2017), you can transfer up to your Lifetime ISA allowance, but will not affect your overall ISA allowance.

If transferring ISAs from this tax year (i.e. after 6 April 2017), this year’s subscription must be transferred in full. If this is greater than your remaining Lifetime ISA allowance it cannot be transferred.

All transfers into the HL Lifetime ISA must be made as cash. Any investments transferred will be sold first and you’ll be out of the market during the transfer.

Also note (you may already be aware, given your mention of 22 years):

Money in a Lifetime ISA can be withdrawn to purchase a first home or at age 60. Early withdrawals will usually be subject to a 25% penalty. If you are transferring, please ensure you won't incur excessive exit fees.

[SimonTobin1995]

I believe that a few more providers are planning to start to offer the LISA. However, at the moment I believe it is only HL (as already mentioned) and nutmeg (the robo-advisor).

[Urbandreamer]

I believe that a few more providers are planning to start to offer the LISA. However, at the moment I believe it is only HL (as already mentioned) and nutmeg (the robo-advisor).

And A J Bell.
https://www.youinvest.co.uk/lifetime-isa

However, as said about HL, there will be charges. I would advise the son to compair charges and think about what "investments" he is happy with.

Help to buy ISA's can be cash based, while so far all LISA's are stock market based. If you expect to leave the money invested for more than 5 years or preferably more than 10, then that's one thing. If you are "saving up" for a deposit it's an entirely different thing.

[Vince56]

I think the Skipton is still the only cash LISA on offer.
http://www.skipton.co.uk/savings/isas/cash-lifetime-isa

Vince

[Paultry]

To conclude.

He needed the money for the transactions involving the house purchase, so liquidated the account, at least he had 3.5% interest on his contributions.

Thanks for all the tips on what the alternatives entailed. Paul

[financegirl123]

There's still only a few LISA providers - so a very restricted choice - especially on the cash LISA front (Skipton offer it but that's all for the moment)! I think the big players seem pretty skeptical of it, and will want to see it make a name for itself before they jump on the ship! On the Stocks & Shares LISA front the biggest names are AJBell and Hargreaves Lansdown, but might also be worth considering Nutmeg - they're newer - and on the 'robo-advice' side of the fence - but could be an interesting option for your son. I came across a comparison site that has a couple of LISAs on there - OFF3R (worth checking them out - I can't post the link unfortunately) - also have some pretty good content on their blog site 'Learn' on what to consider before investing in a LISA - might be worth sending than in the direction of your son too