ISA and Google

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Hi,
A couple of questions I hope someone can help me out with?

  1. I want to trade using my ISA allowance. Should I go “Standard” or “Plus” I don’t intend to buy and sell often. Are there any gotcha’s in terms of fees/exchange rate?
  2. How long does it take to upgrade my account and buy shares? (assuming I upgraded today)
  3. Can I trade Google shares within my ISA on Freetrade?

Thanks!

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  1. Do your own research but if you are planning low volumes then standard is probably sufficient for you.

Be aware of the following before deciding. From 11 April, the FX fee charged when trading stocks priced in USD or EUR will change to 0.99% on our Basic plan, 0.59% on our Standard plan, and 0.39% on our Plus plan.

  1. Upgrades are very quick from my memory. You will have access to all the stocks on standard and plus so upgrading from one to the other should not really impact this. Upgrading from GIA to Standard may be slightly different as they will have to open an ISA for you. Maybe @acamp can give more details for you.

  2. Yes.

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I think MJR got all the points

Just to add to this, there’s no commissions fees for buying or selling, you can do as often or as little and when you like. As mentioned the only fee to consider there would be Fx on foreign stocks.

Yes as MJR said. its also available on any account type.

Freetrade keep a spreadsheet of all available stocks, I think its a great hidden feature you might find useful Freetrade Investment Universe [Public] - Google Sheets

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If you pay annually and invest the full ÂŁ20k in US/EU stocks, Standard would cost you about ÂŁ178 while Plus would be ÂŁ198, including FX fees.

£20 a year extra is not bad for a Sipp and 3% interest on up to £4k. The priority customer service is great too – in my experience, it’s better than the service from the likes of HL and II.

However, upgrading’s less worthwhile if you’re not maxing your Isa allowance, don’t want/need a Sipp and don’t intend to hold much cash in your account.

Hopefully, FT can add one or two other benefits in future to make Plus even more attractive.

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This article may be useful if you are considering a pension too @Markusee

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Thanks all! Really appreciate your help! As a follow up, to use my ISA on shares in this financial year. When is the latest I can buy the shares? If I bought them on 5th April, will it still go through in this tax year for the ISA allowance?

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Thanks for your response. Just wondering what the advantage is of going for the Plus if I do maximise my allowance?

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You’d only pay about an extra £20 a year more for Plus due to the lower FX fee (assuming you only buy USD/EUR stocks). For that, you also get priority customer support, 3% interest on £4k cash and you can open a pension account.

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Yes, 5th April is the last day yo can invest with your current years allowance.

UK: 5th April 16:30 is the closing time for the exchange
US: 5th April 21:00
EU: 5th April 16:30 (I think, assuming summer times line up)

(See Dave’s reply below, you just need to add the money to the account. When you invest doesn’t matter)

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You don’t need to invest with it before EOD 5th april, you just need to put it in the ISA, so the market closing times aren’t really relevant

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Ah of course, I knew that and just wasn’t thinking.

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In terms of upgrading, I believe this is instant. You just upgrade on the app and you should have access to all features of the new account immediately. There might be edge cases where we’re required to do additional checks, but these are typically done swiftly.

We’re also ramping up work now ahead of tax year end as it’s a busy period for us, so we should be able to work through any issues quickly to ensure you can make the most of your allowances in this tax year and next.

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Thanks, I upgraded about an hour ago, but it still says GIA? I’m assuming that should say ISA? And secondly, so that I understand it correctly, as I put money into the Freetrade App before April 6th then that will count towards this tax years ISA?

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Hi,

Now that you have upgraded your plan, you will need to open an ISA account using the Freetrade app.
(After opening your ISA account, you will still keep your GIA account).
See the link for instructions: How do I open an ISA? | Support

Once you have opened your ISA account, any money added into your ISA account (i.e. not your GIA account) before the 6th April should count towards this tax years (2022/2023) ISA allowance.

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Thanks, but I don’t have this option Open a Stocks & Shares ISA.

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