Guide to Aegon ISA

You must be:

• Aged 18 or over
• Resident in the UK for tax purposes
• A Crown servant (e.g. diplomatic or overseas civil service) or their spouse or registered civil partner if you don’t live in the UK

No, ISAs can only be held in a single name.

You have no personal liability to capital gains tax on any growth, or income tax on any income you receive. You don’t have to declare ISA income or growth on your tax return.

The tax treatment of ISAs may be subject to change in future. The tax benefits depend on your individual circumstances.

The annual ISA allowance for the current tax year is £20,000. You can invest the whole allowance in one type of ISA, or if you prefer you can split your ISA allowance between cash, stocks and shares, innovative finance, and lifetime ISAs. For example, you could have £17,000 in a stocks and shares ISA and £3,000 in a cash ISA. You could transfer that £3,000 into a stocks and shares ISA and have £20,000 in a stocks and shares ISA.

You can top up your ISA with any minimums set out in the Aegon Retirement Choices Key features and Aegon Platform key features document, just make sure your total payments into your ISA (or ISAs) don’t exceed the limits for that tax year.

You can also transfer between products by moving funds from your General Investment Account (GIA) to an existing ISA or to a new ISA with ourselves. This offers the option to maximise your ISA allowance if you haven't already reached your limit.

Your Aegon ISA is a flexible ISA. This means that money withdrawn from your ISA and paid to you can be replaced within the same tax year, without the replacement counting towards your yearly ISA allowance. This includes money paid to you as consolidated natural income (where you've asked us to pay out income generated by your investments to your nominated bank account on a monthly basis in accordance with the terms and conditions).

You can't replace any money that's removed from the ISA but not paid to you (for example, to pay fees or charges) or anything that isn't paid out as cash (for example, by re-registration of shares). You also can't replace money if your product is closed or repay any withdrawals from an ISA with a third party.

You can withdraw money paid in and income earned in the current tax year and previous tax years. 

• Withdrawals will count against any payments in the current year first. 
• Any additional amount is treated as a withdrawal of a payment from a previous tax year. 
• If money is replaced (must be in the same tax year as the withdrawal), any withdrawn subscriptions from a previous year are repaid first, followed by withdrawn subscriptions from the current year. 

Your online account will show the amount available to invest each tax year, taking into account any payments already made this tax year as well as any withdrawals. 

The cash facility lets you hold cash in your stocks and shares ISA. This money can be used to invest into funds, to pay charges or you can withdraw it.

If you're an Aegon Platform customer, you may be able to re-direct your ongoing charges from your ISA and pay these through your GIA cash facility (which we automatically set up for you when you buy an ISA from us) rather than through your ISA. Please speak to your adviser to check if this option is available to you.

Any money in the cash facility accrues interest which we pay on a monthly basis. We pay interest at a gross rate based on the Bank of England base rate. View details of the current rate we pay.  

You can add money to the cash facility in three ways:

• By signing into your account and carrying out a top-up request. 
• By direct debit – 
  • If you're an Aegon Retirement Choices customer you'll need to complete the Instruction to your bank or building society to pay by Direct Debit.
  • If you're an Aegon Platform customer you'll need to complete the  Instruction to your bank or building society to pay by Direct Debit.
• For investments that generate income – you can choose to leave any income you get in your cash account.

Transferring existing ISAs to us lets you have all ISA investments in one account with one consolidated statement. It may help make tracking your investment performance and making any changes to your portfolio easier. 

You can transfer existing stocks and shares ISAs and cash ISAs held with other providers to us. We won't charge you for ISA transfers, but your current provider may have an exit charge.

You can transfer ISAs from previous tax years in full or in part and it won't affect this year's ISA allowance. If you're transferring an ISA that holds current tax year subscriptions, you must transfer that amount in full.

Please note, if you transfer a cash or lifetime ISA to us, we’ll convert it to a stocks and shares ISA you'll lose your lifetime ISA status along with any other benefits specific to that ISA. If you transfer your Lifetime ISA to a stocks and shares ISA, you'll be subject to the 25% withdrawal charge.

If you're transferring from a flexible ISA, please be aware that you may lose the ability to replace withdrawals in certain circumstances. 

Transferring or consolidating ISAs may not be the best option for you. It's up to you to decide if this is the right decision for you - so make sure you compare products before transferring or consolidating. If you're not sure, speak to a financial adviser - there may be a charge for this.

It's important to remember the value of your consolidated stocks and shares ISA can still fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invest. So although our stocks and shares ISA has no fixed term, you should be prepared to remain invested for at least five years - ideally longer.

Any new investments you move your money into will have their own set of risks that will be detailed in the fund information available to you.

If you’re transferring from a cash ISA to our stocks and shares ISA, you’re actually transferring between two very different products. In a cash ISA your money is held on deposit, but in a stocks and shares ISA the value can fall as well as rise.

You can transfer from us to other ISA providers. Investments held within an ISA can be re-registered within the ISA, preserving your market holdings and the tax benefits of the ISA.  Please check carefully with the company you’re intending to move to that they can provide the same investment choice and the availability of your investments at their end.