21 March 2014 - Human nature often leads us to leave things until the very last minute and ISA investments are no exception.
Last year our busiest day of the year was Tuesday 26th March, while the last telephone deal was taken just after 7pm on 5th April and the last online deal at 11.05pm the same evening, as some investors really cut it fine.
We don't expect this year to be any different, so we'll be extending our opening hours at Chelsea again this ISA season.
Extended opening hours:
Saturday 22nd March: 9am -4pm
Saturday 29th March: 9am -4pm
Friday 4th April: 9am – 8pm
Saturday 5th April: 9am – 10pm
Sunday 6th April (first day of new tax year): 9am - 4pm
Chelsea ISA deadline dates:
Postal applications: midday, 4th April 2014
Telephone deals (with debit card): 10pm, 5th April 2014
Online deals (with debit card): 10pm, 5th April 2014
Unit Trust to ISA switches: 2nd April 2014
Junior ISA postal applications: midday, 4th April 2014
Why not get a head start?
If you have the money available, why not invest early in the next tax year, especially as the maximum allowance has been increased to £15,000? Early birds who invested their full ISA allowance in the average UK equity income fund on the first working day of this tax year, rather than leaving it to the last minute, would have already seen their £11,520 investment rise by more than 17%, to £13,496.80*.
Obviously, markets don't rise every year and sometimes early bird investors will lose out if markets fall, but the longer your money is invested, the more chance it has to grow.
*Source: FE Analytics, 8th April 2013 to 13th March 2014.
Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. You may not get back the amount originally invested, and tax rules can change over time.