Do you have money to invest, but don’t want it all entering the market at once?
Perhaps you’ve just received a bonus, or inherited a lump sum, and are looking to use your 2022/23 annual ISA allowance before tax year end, but want to add money to investment markets gradually.
Our drip-feed feature allows you to use your allowance before 5th April and then invest your money gradually over the months to come. It means you can enjoy the tax benefits of an ISA and the reassurance that your money will be invested slowly but steadily rather than all at once.
You can hold money in cash within a stocks and shares ISA until you’re ready to invest. Then, when you’re comfortable, you can invest it all at once, or ‘drip-feed’ your money into the market month-by-month.
Not only does this put you in control, but it can also offer several investment benefits. Drip-feeding – which is also known as ‘pound-cost averaging’ – can act as a buffer against market volatility and make your investing journey smoother.
Contributing a smaller amount each month means you’re less exposed to sharp market falls. It also means you’re investing throughout the market cycle, and are therefore buying the average price of the market (instead of investing all of your money at the peak when it is most expensive, only to see the market through the next day, and vice versa).
Finally, it means you are consistently working towards your investment target. Drip-feeding is straightforward to do and, once you’ve set it up, helps you automate your investing. It can be used throughout the tax year – at the end to help you secure your allowance before the deadline; at the start, so it’s out of sight and out of mind, working away in the background; and throughout the year if you have a lump sum to invest or are worried about investing through periods of volatility.
What’s not to love?
How our drip-feed feature works
Our drip-feed feature is available for our stocks and shares ISA. You can also use it outside of an ISA wrapper with our general investment account. This feature is not available on our Lifetime ISA (LISA), Junior ISA (JISA) or pension right now. It works by connecting a cash pot and an investment pot and setting up a monthly transfer between the two.
Before you get started, there are a few things you need to know about our cash pots:
- A cash pot is not a cash ISA and isn’t intended to be used for long-term savings – think of it as a waiting room for your cash before it gets invested
- If you’ve got a stocks and shares ISA, cash pots can be held alongside investment pots within your stocks and shares ISA wrapper
- Any money added to a cash pot held within your stocks and shares ISA wrapper will count towards your stocks and shares ISA contribution for the current tax year
If you decide a cash pot is right for you, you can create one and contribute to it via the Nutmeg web dashboard. Then, you can set up a regular monthly transfer into an investment pot to drip-feed your cash through to the markets in our next twice-weekly trading cycle.
Here’s how to get started.
If you’re an existing client
- Create a cash pot
You’ll need to create a new cash pot if you don’t have one already. To do this, log into your account via the website (this feature is not currently available in our app), and use the ‘Create cash pot’ button in the ‘Create a new pot’ section underneath your existing pots (see picture below).
- Set up a pot-to-pot transfer
Once you have followed the process and started a cash pot, it’s time to arrange the pot-to-pot transfer which can enable the drip-feed. In the ‘Pay in now’ section of your cash pot, go to the ‘Pot Transfer’ tab to set up a recurring transfer into your chosen investment pot (see below).
If you’re new to Nutmeg
As part of the sign-up process, you can choose to start with 100% in cash and invest it later.
Secure your 2022/23 ISA allowance today
Investing for your future shouldn’t be stressful or overwhelming. It should be empowering and put you in control of how much and how often you’re investing towards your goals.
So, if you’re unsure whether to invest right now, but still want to make use of your annual allowance, you can use a cash pot to secure this year’s ISA allowance and then use the drip-feed feature to invest when you’re ready.
Risk warning
As with all investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your portfolio with Nutmeg can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. A stocks and shares ISA may not be right for everyone and tax rules may change in the future. If you are unsure if an ISA is the right choice for you, please seek financial advice
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