Transferring S&S ISA to Cash ISA?

[Ecosseven]

Morning all,

I hope you are well. One of my S&S ISA's hasn't been performing well over the last couple of years and I'm considering transferring this to a fixed term cash ISA as these are currently paying around 5.65%.

Is this usually a straightforward process and how long does it normally take? The value on my S&S ISA's changes daily.

Thanks in advance.

[scot_aln]

I suspect with funds performance recently vs the cash rates on offer quite a few have been considering this. Over the years I've mainly gone cash >S&S but it's going to depend on who your S&S ISA is with and who you want to hold your cash ISA. Just taking the top 2 links that google returned

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/help/transfer...

https://www.halifax.co.uk/isas/transfer-isa.html

[Zarco]

I moved my ISA from S&S to Cash around a year ago. It took around a week I think. I remember it being surprisingly sluggish Nutmeg and Shawbrook Bank to make it happen.

[Mogul]

Or you could keep your S&S ISA and switch into money market funds such as:

Amundi Lyxor Smart Overnight Return - UCITS ETF C-GBP
Royal London Short Term Money Market Y Acc

[chucklebutty]

I did this a couple of months ago - ESG funds were down £5k. They have since dropped another £4.9k (yesterday's close) but instead I'm £1.3k up in interest since the transfer. Locked in for 2 years with Virgin, happy to be out.

[Milnsey]

Just finished a torturous transfer from s & s isa in Nutmeg to Natwest cash isa. Three months in total due to transfer history form being sent to incorrect department and/or wrong transfer form being sent. Frustrating experience.

[Zarco]

Milnsey said:

Just finished a torturous transfer from s & s isa in Nutmeg to Natwest cash isa. Three months in total due to transfer history form being sent to incorrect department and/or wrong transfer form being sent. Frustrating experience.

See my post above. Looks like Nutmeg is the common denominator.

[Alex Z]

I’m having similar thoughts about an S&S ISA with vanguard and am curious about the actual mechanics of the swap to Cash ISA.

Do I need to initiate a transfer and effectively roll the dice on what the value will be on transfer day, or can I sell the vanguard investments now and get certainty on price, then transfer?

[Zarco]

It was a roll of the dice for me with Nutmeg (fully managed, so I wasn't picking stocks). I was OK with that as I was well up since I started it in 2019. The delay was frustrating as it was starting to reduce with the markets getting spooked by the Ukraine war.

[chucklebutty]

Alex Z said:

I’m having similar thoughts about an S&S ISA with vanguard and am curious about the actual mechanics of the swap to Cash ISA.

Do I need to initiate a transfer and effectively roll the dice on what the value will be on transfer day, or can I sell the vanguard investments now and get certainty on price, then transfer?

You can do either I would hope. HL let's you convert to cash on platform.

Another advantage with the cash ISAs is no longer paying the platform and fund manager fees.

[Simpo Two]

Alex Z said:

Do I need to initiate a transfer and effectively roll the dice on what the value will be on transfer day, or can I sell the vanguard investments now and get certainty on price, then transfer?

You can sell investments and keep the proceeds in a S&S ISA (that's what happens when you sell something anyway). Check your provider for the interest rate.

[Alex Z]

Simpo Two said:

Alex Z said:

Do I need to initiate a transfer and effectively roll the dice on what the value will be on transfer day, or can I sell the vanguard investments now and get certainty on price, then transfer?

You can sell investments and keep the proceeds in a S&S ISA (that's what happens when you sell something anyway). Check your provider for the interest rate.

Thanks, I'll double check then go down that route. There could be a lot of volatility because of <gestures at world> so I'd rather know what I'm getting.

[Simpo Two]

Alex Z said:

Thanks, I'll double check then go down that route. There could be a lot of volatility because of <gestures at world> so I'd rather know what I'm getting.

No problem. The day after you sell they'll go up 2% anyway

[Alex Z]

Simpo Two said:

Alex Z said:

Thanks, I'll double check then go down that route. There could be a lot of volatility because of <gestures at world> so I'd rather know what I'm getting.

No problem. The day after you sell they'll go up 2% anyway

Ah, but I can avoid that by putting my head in the sand and not checking

[EastStand]

It’s possible to do a partial transfer.

If you have an uninvested amount of cash in your S & S ISA you can transfer it to a Cash ISA. It involves an element of shopping around as not all banks allow it.

With the markets at the moment I’d be far happier sticking the cash in a guaranteed 5.7% rather than throwing it at an African Mining company…….

[Simpo Two]

Alex Z said:

Ah, but I can avoid that by putting my head in the sand and not checking

Yeah I do that too...

EastStand said:

If you have an uninvested amount of cash in your S & S ISA you can transfer it to a Cash ISA. It involves an element of shopping around as not all banks allow it.

With the markets at the moment I’d be far happier sticking the cash in a guaranteed 5.7% rather than throwing it at an African Mining company…….

It's down to risk. You'll get 5.7% for no risk, but that will lose 1% against inflation. The African mining company might do worse, or it might do 30%. Problem is, you don't know... so a partial transfer would back both horses.

[Flooble]

Stupid question from me, but if you do a "partial transfer" I assume there is no issue with the amount of allowance you use?

For example, assume I've done amazingly well with my stock picking and I have £100K in my ISA, which I only started in 2020. So I have a total allowance of £80K, i.e. 20K x4 (the allowance from 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).

If I transferred 50K out to a cash ISA, would that be using the "allowance" from 2020, 2021 and half of 2022? With the remaining 50K being the remaining allowance from 2022 and 2023 plus the profits (i.e. 10K + 20K allowance + 20K profits) ?

[bitchstewie]

The allowance only really matters so far as what goes in from outside the wrapper.

Once it's in the ISA wrapper so long as you don't take it out the wrapper it doesn't count towards allowances and profits or interest etc. don't matter.

[Flooble]

Oh cool, thanks. So as soon as it's "wrapped" you're safe. Brill

[bitchstewie]

Basically yes so long as you don't take it out the wrapper.

So transfer £10K from ISA 1 to ISA 2 you're fine as it's just the shell game played within an ISA wrapper.

Withdraw £10K from ISA 1 and pay it into ISA 2 you've just used up £10K of your ISA allowance.