Yes! You can have multiple Stocks & Shares ISAs. However, you can only open one each year and you can only pay into one each year too!
A Stocks & Shares ISA can be a great way of saving for the future and growing your money at the same time. So, you might be wondering if you can have 2 – or even 3 or 4 – Stocks & Shares ISAs!
Well, the good news is that you can have as many as you want. However, there are rules around how many Stocks & Shares ISAs you can open or pay into each year. We’ll break them all down for you here.
What is a Stocks & Shares ISA?
In case you’re not sure, a Stocks & Shares ISA is a pretty awesome savings account that helps you save and grow your money tax-free. Woohoo!
Let’s rewind a little bit. When you get a Stocks & Shares ISA, any money you put in it will get invested. In other words, your money will be used to buy stocks and shares, which are basically ownership stakes in companies. The idea is that these companies will hopefully increase in value so you can make a profit and grow your savings. Kerching!
Depending on your ISA provider (the people giving you your ISA), you can choose which companies your money gets invested in. Normally this will be in the form of a fund (a group of shares that are managed by an investment firm).
But do you want to know what’s even better than that?? Well, you won’t have to pay any tax on the money your ISA makes for you. Yay!
Now, it’s important to bear in mind that your Stocks & Shares ISA isn’t guaranteed to make money – there’s always a chance it could go down in value too. But to be honest, it’s really not as risky as people make out.
Firstly, you won’t lose all your capital investing in a fund as you’ll get some protection from the FCA (the Financial Conduct Authority, whose job it is to protect you financially). Plus, if you leave your money in your ISA for long enough, you’re very likely to make good returns, especially with the right investment strategy (your fund will manage that for you, so you don’t have to worry).
To put it plainly, a Stocks & Shares ISA is a really good way to save for the future, which we should all be doing more of!
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If you’re thinking ‘wow, they sound pretty great!’ then you may well be wondering whether you can have 2 Stocks & Shares ISAs (or 3 or 4!) at once. The more the better, right??
Well, you can have as many Stocks & Shares ISAs as you want – there’s no limit. BUT there are lots of rules and regulations about how many you can open at once and how much you can pay into them.
So, that brings us onto...
Can you open multiple Stocks & Shares ISAs at once?
No, you can only open one Stocks & Shares ISA each year. And when we say year, we’re talking about the tax year (instead of going from the 1st January to the 31st December, it goes from the 6th April to the 5th April).
This is because you’re only allowed to open up one of each type of ISA each year. In other words, even though you can’t open up 2 Stocks & Shares ISAs in the same year, you could open up a Stocks & Shares ISA and a cash ISA at the same time (a Cash ISA is another type of ISA where your money doesn’t get invested).
That said, there is an exception. Let’s say one of your loved ones dies and they have an ISA (sorry, we know this isn’t the cheeriest of topics!). In this case, they can leave their ISA to whoever they want in their will. If you get passed their ISA (called inheriting it) then you can open up a second Stocks & Shares ISA in one year to transfer the money or investments into.
Anyway, fingers crossed that’s not necessary and your loved ones stay safe and sound for a long time to come!
Can you pay into more than one Stocks & Shares ISA each year?
No, you can only pay into one Stocks & Shares ISA in each tax year.
Let’s rewind for a second. The government limits how much money you can pay into your ISAs each year, known as your ‘allowance.’ This can change from year to year, but at the moment it’s £20,000 (although you can get an extra allowance if you’re inheriting your partner’s ISA).
In other words, the maximum amount of money you’re allowed to put into any of your ISAs in one year is £20,000. You can split this allowance across different types of ISAs or you can put it all into one.
For instance, you might choose to put £10,000 into a Cash ISA and £10,000 into a Stocks & Shares ISA (£10,000 + £10,000 = £20,000 – the maximum allowance). Or you might choose to put £20,000 – your whole allowance for the year – into one Stocks & Shares ISA.
The only thing you can’t do is pay into more than one of a single type of ISA in a year. So, if you have more than one Stocks & Shares ISA, you’ll need to choose which one you want to pay into and wait until the next tax year to add any money into your other one.
Can you earn from more than one Stocks & Shares ISA each year?
Yes! Just because you can’t pay into more than one Stocks & Shares ISA each year, that doesn’t stop your money from growing in all of your stocks and shares ISAs.
For every Stocks & Shares ISA that you have, your savings will stay invested until you take your money out. That means, as long as you leave your money in there, fingers crossed each of your ISAs will keep generating money for you. You can then sell your investments at any time to turn them into Cash in your bank account.
Why would you want more than one Stocks & Shares ISA?
There isn’t a big advantage to having more than one Stocks & Shares ISA. After all, if you open up a new one, you won’t be able to add any money to your old one until the new tax year.
However, sometimes getting a second Stocks & Shares ISA can be a good idea. Here are the main reasons why you might want another one:
Move to a cheaper deal. Stocks & Shares ISAs come with fees and charges. This can include a fee for using an investment platform (an online account where you can see your investments), a management charge (a fee you might pay for someone to look after your investments) and fees for buying and selling shares. You might want to get a second stocks and shares ISA if you find a provider or deal that will charge you less than your current one.
Better service: Some providers will just invest your money for you, while others will actively look after your investments (for example, they might switch where your money is invested from time to time to try and boost the funds growth). You might decide you want a second Stocks & Shares ISA with a provider that will look after your investments more carefully for you, or that has better customer service.
More investment choices: With a Stocks & Shares ISA, you can invest in funds (where your money gets pooled with other people’s money and your provider chooses what to invest it in) or you can research and buy your own shares. Different providers will have different investments available, so you might choose to get a new ISA with a provider that has more choice or access to investments that you prefer.
Itching to open a second Stocks & Shares ISA?
Have you already opened up a Stocks & Shares ISA this year? If the answer’s yes then sadly, you’ll need to wait until the next tax year (5th April) to open up a second one (although that gives you plenty of time to research the best Stocks & Shares ISA for you to open once you’re ready!). But if the answer’s no then there’s some good news – you can go ahead and open up a second ISA immediately!
