Martin Lewis urges people aged 18 to 39 to come forward for free £1,000

BBC Sounds and ITV star Mr Lewis has explained how people born between age 18 and 39 could get £1,000 free every tax year.
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Martin Lewis has explained how anyone born between 1984 and 2006 can get a free £1,000. BBC Sounds and ITV star Mr Lewis has explained how people born between age 18 and 39 could get £1,000 free every tax year.

Mr Lewis, the MoneySavingExpert.com founder and consumer champion, explained: “The Lifetime ISA is a product you can open when you are between the ages of 18 and 40 - so the last day you can open it, is the day before your 40th birthday.

“You can then save up to £4,000 a year in it, and the state will add a 25% bonus on whatever you’ve saved. If you saved the maximum £4,000 a year, the state will add £1,000 that year. You can do that year after year and you keep getting the bonus until you are 50.”

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Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The Lifetime Isa is proving hugely useful with almost 57,000 people using one to help them get that all-important first step on the housing ladder in 2023/24.

"However, there’s massive room for improvement as around 100,000 people made an unauthorised withdrawal from their Lisa during the same period and got clobbered with a withdrawal penalty.” She continued: “Reducing the exit penalty from 25% to 20% would ensure that only the effect of the Government bonus is removed rather than your own money and encourage more people to use a Lisa for retirement safe in the knowledge that they won’t lose any of their own money should they need to access it early in a time of need.”

You can save up to £4,000 a year in a LISA as a lump sum or by putting in cash when you can. The state will then add a 25% bonus on top. So if you save £1,000, you'll have £1,250 and if you save the full £4,000, you'll have £5,000. And that's before interest or growth.