Does ISA season matter anymore? Yes! If your name is LISA

Every year the same question rolls around, and I ask myself …does ISA season really matter?

The fact that the same question pops up without fail suggests that it might, in fact, still be relevant.

The biggest single criticism of ‘ISA season’ as a concept is that allowances far outstrip what your average person can afford.

Although the £20,000 limit hasn’t moved in some years now it used to be a lot smaller. Bad for high-net-worths (HNWs) but better, theoretically, for Mrs Miggins trying to top up her tax-free allowance before 5 April.

But there’s something interesting in the ISA market that gets overlooked. That’s the Lifetime ISA or LISA.

The LISA is talked about quite a lot with major publications such as MoneySavingExpert campaigning to fix some of the more broken aspects of the wrapper. And that’s totally fair (and it sounds as if the Chancellor might be about to do something too).

But there’s one thing that is really good about the Lifetime ISA – it has an annual contribution limit of just £4,000. Which isn’t a lot. But it is eminently more achievable a goal for someone who puts their mind to it.

I should know, because I used one (and my wife had one too) to get a really tasty top-up on our savings in order to buy our first home. It worked brilliantly.

The LISA does have problems. It was forged in the weak-willed efforts of Government to try and come up with a housing/pension alternative be-all and end-all. But it still has very tangible benefits.

So let’s applaud and encourage it, for at least the next month, to get people to open and fill theirs!

What’s coming up

ISA season doesn’t actually have a specific diary date in March and actually ends on 5 April.

But for more tangible stuff we’ve got another Free Wills Month kicking off on 1 March (check out a recent Mouthy Money podcast on Cowboy will writers here!), while the rail fare annual increase coming in on 3 March.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivers his Spring Budget on 6 March (something I’ll be previewing separately on MRM in our Week Ahead column as it’s such a big topic!).

The ONS reports wage and employment data on 12 March while we’ve got inflation on 20 March and the latest Bank of England monetary policy decision on 21 March.

The temporary cut to fuel duty ends on 23 March (but we’ll see if the Chancellor cancels that in his Budget).

Finally, British Summer Time (BST) on 31 March, so we can all rejoice in longer, and hopefully warmer, days ahead.

All the best from everyone here at MRM and Mouthy Money, wishing you a sun-kissed start to your Spring.