Martin Lewis has explained how people can bag more than £1,000 in free cash from government saving schemes. He hosted an edition of his ITV show on Tuesday night dedicated to how savings can be maximised.
And he shared a success story on the Martin Lewis Money Show about how one woman received £1,200 into her bank account after following his advice on a Help to Save account. He also explained how people can get £1,000 free every year.
He spoke about long-term savings accounts that have cash bonuses. These include the Help to Buy ISA, a Help To Save account and a LISA (Lifetime ISA).
The savings special also saw the money expert take people through easy access savings accounts as he warned 'you are being ripped off', reports YorkshireLive. Martin's co-host Angelica Bell read out a message from a woman who is a regular viewer.
It said: "Jo was struggling to pay off her credit card debts, and found it difficult to save. She'd never heard about the scheme until watching the show. She was able to pay in the maximum of £50 per month and received the four-year bonus of £1,200. Without the show, she would never have applied."
Martin Lewis set out the 'Help to Save' account for people on low incomes, for example Universal Credit or Tax Credits. People saving £50 a month into a Help to Save for two years get a 50% bonus, but after four years it means a free £1,200 bonus.
Mr Lewis said: "The government did a stat, apparently more people have heard about Help to Save from this show and my other work than any other method, 29% of people who opened Help to Buy said it was due to this, hopefully it'll go up today. We need to build some financial resilience in this country and this is a good scheme for that."
A Lifetime ISA can be opened between the ages of 18 to 39. You get the first time buyers' bonus when you use it to buy a property of up to £450,000. So that means you can put up to £4,000 a year in for a £1,000 a year bonus for free from the government, and you don't have to spend it on a house.
Martin added: "And one thing, you have to have it open for a year before you can buy a house. So if you're aged 18 to 39 and you haven't bought a house or maybe you have a parent or something that age. Put a quid in now, the clock starts ticking, and when you've had it for a year you can work it. The top paying Lifetime ISA (LISA) is Moneybox at 3%, there are also investment ISAs."
