ISA and pension clarifications

as far as I understood if I open a cash ISA I can put there up to 1000£ each year rather than 1000£ of tax, is it right?

No. If you put money into a Cash ISA you don't pay any tax on the interest you earn on the savings within your ISA. Putting cash into a Cash ISA does not reduce your income tax liability.

You only pay tax on interest if you receive more than £1000 of interest per year (£500 if you're a Higher Rate tax payer), so at current interest rates you'd need roughly £100,000 in the Cash ISA for it to be useful.

If I have a tax relief only scheme 20% of my tax will go there for free, is it right?

No. You get back the tax you paid on your contributions. For example if you put £100 of taxed income into your pension, you receive £20 tax relief on top, within your pension pot.

When can I start using the pension?

Currently at age 55.

Does a tax relief pension scheme have any other cost?

Any pension scheme will have costs. These costs are typically taken from your contributions / from your pension pot. NEST for example takes 1.8% of your contributions, plus an annual fee of 0.3% of your total pension pot.

/r/UKPersonalFinance Thread