Build your ISA tax haven

Yes, times are tough – but you can still save a fortune using our guide to sheltering your savings from the taxman

THE approach of the end of a tax year – April 5 – always acts as a catalyst for people to look at their long-term investments.

This year should be no different, though economic uncertainties surrounding Brexit may prompt some to batten down the hatches rather than think long term.

But for those with one eye on the future who are determined to build a savings stockpile, two taxfriendly wrappers should be on their priority list between now and April 5 – a pension and an Individual Savings Account.

Though most employees will automatically have found themselves saving into a workplace pension – a process helped by the Government’s autoenrolment programme – there is no such prompt for savers to contribute to an Isa.

It is up to you to take out a plan – and you alone who will contribute. There is no top-up from a generous employer, nor tax relief on contributions as there is with a pension. Just the promise – and it is an attractive one – that the wealth you build within this wrapper is tax-free. It is yours to access when needs must.

In this special eight-page report on Individual Savings Accounts, The Mail on Sunday looks at how you should go about choosing a plan and, crucially at a time of stock market volatility, what you should be investing in.

I trust you find the guide useful and it prompts you to keep building your own tax haven.