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If you have put money into a Mini cash ISA in the tax year in which you reach 18, you can go on doing so on and after your 18th birthday, subject to the normal limit. Once you have reached 18 you can also apply to open a Mini stocks and shares ISA. You will have to complete a new application in the same way as any other investor.

What can the stocks and shares component include? The stocks and shares component of an ISA can include
-shares and corporate bonds issued by companies listed on a recognised stock exchange anywhere in the world
-gilt edged securities (‘gilts’), similar securities issued by governments of other countries in the European Economic Area and ‘strips’ of all these securities
-units or shares in UK authorised unit trusts or open ended investment companies (OEICs) which invest in shares and securities (called securities schemes and warrant schemes) and fund of funds schemes which invest in them
-shares and securities in approved investment trusts (except property investment trusts)
-or shares in Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) funds based elsewhere in the European Union (these are similar to the UK authorised unit trusts and OEICs listed above)
-any shares which have been transferred from an Inland Revenue approved all-employee scheme under the special rules
-life insurance policies that would have qualified for the separate life insurance ISA component that existed before 5 April 2005
-stakeholder medium-term products.

You pay no tax on any of the income you receive from your ISA savings and investments. This includes dividends, interest and bonuses.

Can I use an ISA to back a mortgage? You can use the proceeds from ISA investments for any purpose, but you should discuss the implications with your financial adviser or mortgage lender.

ISAs for 16 and 17 year-olds are primarily for those in full or part-time employment, including those still at school with, for example, Saturday jobs. But some young people will also use ISAs to save money given to them by their parents.

To open an ISA you have to be aged 18 or over or for cash ISAs aged 16 or over. You also have to be resident and ordinarily resident in the UK for tax purposes (ask your Inland Revenue office if you are in any doubt about this).

Approval does not guarantee an ISA manager’s performance, or that the ISA investments will produce a satisfactory return. Go to approved ISA and PEP managers.

There are limits on the number of ISA accounts you can subscribe to each tax year.

ISA cash, savings and investments must always remain in the same component. You cannot move funds from, say, a cash ISA with one manager to a stocks and shares ISA with another. A particular ISA may only allow certain types of savings or investments. For example, some collective investment scheme and life insurance products may fall into the cash ISA component so they can only be transferred into another cash ISA, but not all cash ISA providers sell insurance or investment products. If you are not sure what type of savings or investments you hold you should ask your ISA manager. If you want to include savings and investments that are not available for your ISA, you may have to transfer to another manager.

I already hold an ISA Insurance policy. Can I continue paying into it? Yes, but only if you do not also pay into another ISA of the same component with a different ISA manager. If you do have an ISA of the same component with a different manager you will have to decide which ISA you wish to continue paying in to.

For instance, if your policy falls in the Mini stocks and shares component you can only continue paying into it if you do not also invest in another Mini stocks and shares component with a different manager. If you do, then you will have two Mini ISAs of the same component. One of them could become void, and if this is the component containing the insurance policy then that policy will have to end.

In most cases your ISA insurance policy will be in the Mini ISA stocks and shares component, but this is not always the case. If your insurance policy qualifies as a Mini ISA cash component, you cannot hold another cash component with another ISA manager. You must check with the ISA manager who sold you the insurance policy which component of the ISA the policy qualifies for.

You can take your money out at any time, without losing any tax benefits you have already built up. However, some ISAs may run for a fixed period or require notice of withdrawal and you may lose some interest or a bonus if you withdraw early. In some cases, there may also be a penalty if you surrender an ISA life insurance policy early.

Managers may offer Maxi or Mini ISAs or both. They may offer cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs , or only one of these. Some managers may offer ISAs that can include only that company's products. Others may offer a choice of their own and other companies' products. Or they may offer 'self-select' ISAs, where you choose from a wide range of shares and securities the ones you want to hold in your ISA.

Holding cash in the stocks and shares component.Cash may only be held in the stocks and shares component of ISAs to invest in qualifying stocks and shares. This includes cash subscriptions, interest and dividends, and proceeds from disposals of qualifying investments which have not yet been reinvested.