ISAs have been simplified, believe it or not, over the years. You can now mix cash and stocks and shares, they’re treated pretty much the same (remember TESSAs and PEPs, kids etc.), and there’s been, since 2017, a straightforward £20,000 a year allowance. And no limits on the way out, so you can, if you live long enough, build up as many £ms as you want. However, various variations have been added, the now-defunct Help to Buy ISA and it’s cousin the Lifetime ISA, both, a cynic might say, as gimmicks to supposedly help young, prospective house-buyers. In that respect, neither has worked, as levels of ownership by the under -40s are at their lowest levels in decades and the amounts that can be saved and the restrictions on access aren’t much of an incentive. So, yes, I’d agreed with the committee, they’re an unhelpful complication. Getting rid of them won’t save anything for the government, as those still around will have to stay around, of course. And there’s unlikely to be any sort of quick fix for the problems they were thrown at. Hey ho.
“Pensions minister: ‘we have created saving pots, but not a pension system’”
The OBR (Office of Budget Responsibility, as opposed to the OBI, often said to be housed in No.11) said this week that pensions were one of the biggest problems to be faced by this and future governments.
