Sammie Ellard-King
I’m Sammie, a money expert and business owner passionate about helping you take control of your wallet. My mission with Up the Gains is to create a safe space to help improve your finances, cut your costs and make you feel good while doing it.
Day 21 of 28 Days Richer
One thing each day that puts money in your pocket and takes 5 minutes or less.
£20,000 per year with tax-free growth forever – that’s what a Stocks and Shares ISA gives you, and most people either don’t have one or aren’t using it properly.
ISA Basics
ISA stands for Individual Savings Account, and the tax wrapper means any gains inside it are yours to keep with no capital gains tax and no dividend tax.
You can put up to £20,000 per year across all your ISAs combined.
Cash ISA vs Stocks and Shares ISA
With a Cash ISA your money sits in savings earning 4-5%, which is safe and predictable but with limited growth.
A Stocks and Shares ISA means your money is invested with average historical returns around 8-10% per year (with ups and downs), giving you more growth potential but also more risk.
Over the long term stocks have historically outperformed cash significantly, though over the short term anything can happen and past performance does not guarantee future results/
Today’s 5-Minute Action
If you don’t have a Stocks and Shares ISA, open one – Vanguard, Trading212, and Freetrade all offer them and it takes about ten minutes.
If you already have one, check when you last contributed because your £20,000 annual allowance resets every April.
Use it or lose it.
Trading 212 provides access to over 10,000 stocks, funds, ETFs and investment trusts.
They offer commission-free trading* and their auto investing feature is excellent.
OUR OFFER - To get free fractional shares worth up to 100 EUR/GBP, you can open an account with Trading 212 using promo code 'GAINS'. Terms apply
*Other fees may apply. See terms and fees
**When investing, your capital is at risk. If you enable interest, Trading 212 will hold your cash in qualifying money market funds and banks. Otherwise, your cash will be held only in banks. Interest applies on cash in an investment account. Terms apply.
- Commission free trading*
- Earn interest on uninvested cash**
- Fantastic mobile app
- Award winning ISA
- No personal pension
Getting Started
You don’t need to invest the full £20,000 – start with whatever you have, whether that’s £100 or £500.
The tax benefits apply regardless of the amount, so set up a monthly contribution because even small amounts add up over years of tax-free compounding.
The Long Game
A Stocks and Shares ISA is for money you won’t need for 5+ years.
Short-term money belongs in cash, but long-term wealth building happens here.
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