Summarise the Difference Between a Stocks ISA and a Cash ISA

Cash ISA or stocks and shares ISA, and the annual allowance is shared between them whichever you pick. Most explanations either drown you in detail or oversimplify into uselessness. This keeps it under 200 words, covers the actual differences that matter, and ends with the one question that decides it.

Summarise, for someone about to open their first ISA, the practical difference between a cash ISA and a stocks and shares ISA. Cover risk, typical returns over time, access to the money, and the annual allowance rules that apply across both. Keep it under 200 words and end with one question I should ask myself to choose between them.