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1:00

Sounds Music Radio podcasts hello I:

1:02

your savings supercharged or super low

1:04

interest. Is your money working hard

1:07

or is it hardly working Today

1:09

On the Money Bucks Live podcast,

1:11

were asking if you'd definitely getting

1:14

a good return on your cash

1:16

because plenty of you are not

1:18

more than a trillion pounds which

1:21

is a lot of zeros is

1:23

sitting and accounts earning around two

1:25

percent interest that's according to the

1:28

Bank of England's figures. Even

1:30

though base rate is so much higher.

1:32

before we hit from today's experts and

1:34

take any calls, I've been out in

1:36

the wet a warrington to ask people

1:39

about what savings they have for a

1:41

rainy day. A Rainy Day

1:43

fund? Yes, close holiday clothes and isn't going

1:45

away next week. So yeah, get away from

1:48

this from this horrible weather. Will I blow

1:50

a big hole in your Rainy day fund

1:52

to? Yes, it as don't what I'm looking

1:54

forward to it to have a Rainy Day

1:57

fund. Raise a Fund! Yeah yeah de

1:59

da da. May I have an emissary

2:01

over? You know what? you're getting? Any savings?

2:03

Zebra have a really terrible ah. It's not

2:05

something to look into to be honest. Yeah,

2:07

it's a. Very very

2:10

low. right out of months. and yeah, we

2:12

just scientists. do you know what? right? you're

2:14

getting on your savings. Know

2:16

of the tough for me. has a nosy

2:19

ton recent. Not

2:21

sure exactly what to three in the best

2:23

place know ever? Fun. But it's not just

2:25

the rainy day fund Sundance disciplines on the.

2:29

Front of a D C Awesome around us

2:31

see people have a really day sons and.

2:34

None at all. I

2:37

fcs do you know what? right? You're guessing? You

2:39

would you let me steps as he team in the

2:41

rain. Yes! Yes

2:45

yes yes. pseudo elect to move money

2:47

around and that the bathroom. I just

2:50

keep it keep it where his sermon

2:52

it was You putting a face like

2:54

a feeling see fuss about us snare

2:56

know cause I said nice if I

2:58

sit around the eyes yes it's just

3:00

some said easy to say person. Yeah.

3:04

And is so wet. I had said, you really. Think people

3:06

to hooks me because I felt sorry

3:08

for me. Anyway, dirty me today to

3:10

answer your questions are both sound. The

3:12

as the website savings champion it.com.indicates the

3:14

banking analyst Frances Coppola. I'm Chris great

3:16

his an independent financial advisor with forest

3:19

that point wealth Management. Good afternoon panel

3:21

that afternoon like a little as hello.

3:23

Thank you for joining us. We have

3:25

a lot of questions from our listeners

3:27

before his. As I said brace yourself

3:30

Anna, let's start with you a lot

3:32

of people that hold me they didn't

3:34

know what right they were earning on

3:36

the savings I did have Nots the

3:38

Bank of England held interest rate at

3:40

five and a quarter. Percent last

3:42

week. What kind of returns com

3:45

people get. well

3:47

it depends on this type of savings

3:49

account you have but you can get

3:51

more than five cents on a number

3:53

of accounts including easy access so if

3:55

your one of those people who lease

3:57

and money sitting with them high street

3:59

provider, you are probably earning a great

4:01

deal less than that. So you need

4:03

to be looking around to see how

4:05

much more you can earn because

4:08

over 5% is more than

4:10

inflation. So you can actually

4:12

be beating the rising cost of living. For

4:15

the first time in a long time. Now you

4:17

mentioned getting a decent rate on easy access because

4:19

it's quite important to have easy access cash if

4:21

it's an emergency fund. People don't have to pick

4:23

between a good interest rate and access to their

4:25

money. That's exactly right. You

4:28

can tie it up and the benefits

4:30

of tying your money up now, even

4:32

though actually in some cases the rates

4:34

are lower than you can get on

4:37

instant access. And that's because

4:39

instant access of variable rates. And so as

4:41

the base rate falls, which is what

4:43

we're expecting going forward, then

4:45

the likelihood is the rate you're earning will fall

4:47

as well. But if you lock your money away

4:49

for the longer term, even though the rate might

4:51

look like it's lower now, you can get up

4:54

to about 4.5% for five years for example. In

4:58

five years time you could be very grateful

5:00

that you locked in now. It's difficult to

5:02

know because obviously we don't know what's going

5:04

to happen absolutely going forward. No, you

5:06

have to decide what you think is best. Chris,

5:08

we've had a tweet from Jeff who says trouble

5:10

is you open an account, then find a week

5:13

or two later they drop the rates. So you

5:15

have to go through the whole process again, anti-money

5:17

laundering, ID checks, etc. And Jeff

5:19

says I couldn't be bothered for a few

5:21

extra quid interest. Do you think that's why

5:23

more people don't switch? Yeah,

5:26

completely. It's not the most straightforward

5:29

thing to do. It's quite boring.

5:31

It's time consuming. But

5:34

if we're looking at the terms and

5:37

conditions when we open the accounts trying

5:39

to get something that's guaranteed for 12

5:41

months, even on easy access, that

5:43

can help that scenario there or help

5:46

avoid it. And here at Moneybox

5:48

Live we never think it's boring. It's always

5:50

fascinating to us. For instance, what about the

5:52

banks? It's not all down to consumers, is

5:54

it? Or it shouldn't be because last summer

5:57

banks were warned about low interest rates for

5:59

savers by the financial conduct authority?

6:01

Yes they were and they actually have

6:04

responded to that a bit. They're saying

6:06

that they are beginning to

6:08

increase rates although interest rates on current accounts

6:10

are still on the floor and probably going

6:12

to remain so I guess because from banks

6:14

point of view you can always

6:16

move your money into other accounts which earn higher

6:19

rates so there's no particular reason to give higher

6:21

interest rates on current accounts. Although

6:23

a lot of people of course do keep a

6:25

lot of their cash in current accounts. The

6:28

FCA also, Francis, brought in something

6:30

called consumer juicy, the idea being

6:32

this would set higher standards for

6:34

financial services. Does that mean that

6:36

banks are being more proactive about

6:38

telling savers when there are better

6:40

rates? I would

6:42

say that they are if they're

6:44

asked. I don't find

6:47

that banks particularly volunteer to consumers

6:51

information about you could do better if

6:53

you moved money into these kinds of

6:55

accounts but they do if they're asked.

6:57

Some research I've been doing recently

7:00

we have founded some banks and

7:02

we should remember bills with societies as

7:04

well. I've been pretty good about advising

7:06

customers and prospective customers what

7:09

sort of accounts are available

7:11

they can offer to them and which might

7:13

be most suitable and what sort of rates

7:15

they earn. Well UK Finance

7:17

which represents banks says many of its

7:19

members have been contacting their customers to

7:21

let them know about different savings accounts

7:23

that are available and in fact we

7:25

had an email from Valerie who says

7:27

her bank did get in touch with

7:29

her about moving her money from a general account

7:32

to a savings account so Valerie thanks for that

7:34

it's good to hear. Lee has

7:36

tweeted why don't banks just

7:38

increase the interest rates automatically on standard

7:40

accounts and have higher rates for those

7:43

that lock in their money. Frances any

7:45

thoughts for Lee? Well I

7:47

think sometimes we have to remember what

7:49

else banks do because banks also lend

7:52

and if banks automatically raise

7:54

interest rates on deposits or

7:58

more accurately if the area Preaching to

8:00

state that they pay across all

8:02

of that bullshit savings products rises

8:04

and then they're likely to increase

8:06

their rates to lend to borrowers

8:08

as well. And as implications for

8:10

people's mortgage thinks I'm nuts, a

8:12

little bit of a balance here.

8:14

a balancing act, thanks his snout.

8:16

We heard on Saturdays Money Box

8:18

the staggering fact that two hundred

8:20

and fifty billion pounds is in

8:22

accounts that that the writing no

8:24

interest and the investment platform Light

8:26

yep has analyzed the Bank of

8:28

England's numbers. It's found. That more

8:31

than a trillion pounds is sitting

8:33

in accounts earning less than two

8:35

percent. a trillion pounds fell from

8:37

Sheffield is on the line. So

8:39

good afternoon. Good

8:41

afternoon. Not this is you, isn't it? I mean,

8:43

not the whole trillion, but you have a lot of

8:45

saving. Up for it, I think. You.

8:48

Have savings earning nothing. Absolutely.

8:51

Yes I've a currency towns I'm

8:53

an H used in conjunction with

8:55

the business group that basically it's

8:57

a side be the count because

9:00

it's a balance it's for of

9:02

ago In all I'm but my

9:04

that owns a foot no interest

9:06

at all so at the moment

9:08

on looking at are taking out

9:11

certain sales and I'm I'm trying

9:13

to put it into some sort

9:15

of account will actually provide some

9:17

interest. The

9:20

big issue. I have is

9:22

that. When. You

9:24

look at interest rates him what's available.

9:26

They serve a mountain of a promotion

9:28

or as always available mean summit. With

9:32

lots of blanks the I've never

9:34

heard of the are offering for

9:36

exhorting rights in all sorts of

9:38

different homes. Bombs Ice is always

9:40

sort of business. Or.

9:44

On. Never heard of them and given.

9:47

how insecure or one might

9:49

say the to macys it's

9:51

a concern of mine too

9:53

i should be transfer such

9:55

a large amount of money

9:58

over the internet days

10:00

of ringing banks up and having a little chat

10:02

and all the rest of it seem long gone.

10:05

Normally I mean I'm fully conversant

10:07

with IT but it's

10:09

just these are large sums

10:11

of money and it genuinely makes

10:13

me nervous. It makes you

10:15

nervous and it's fair to say

10:17

you're not big on technology aside from that

10:19

whole sort of wariness about whether it's safe to

10:22

use the internet. Well

10:25

I'm old enough to remember the old days

10:27

and I am

10:32

fine with the internet but

10:34

there just seems a very sort

10:37

of easy

10:39

access to everything on the

10:41

internet and there's no consequences

10:43

when you're constantly hearing that

10:45

there are and people are

10:47

falling away by the wayside

10:49

because they're being scammed or

10:52

conned. You

10:55

know I like many do

10:57

business and buy things

10:59

purchases all the time on the internet

11:01

but that's small amounts of money but

11:03

when you're dealing with such large amounts

11:05

of money and these are principally with

11:07

banks and people that I've never heard

11:10

of, I mean one of them is

11:12

a bank from Egypt. There's a great

11:16

deal more choice but yes it's not necessarily

11:18

brands that you know. Phil, thank you. You're

11:20

not the only person who's not keen on

11:22

changes to banking. Linda's been in touch to

11:25

say I do not and do not wish

11:27

to bank online and do not have a

11:29

smartphone. I discovered my bank would only give

11:31

me the higher rate with a 5.12% rate

11:35

if I did so and so I could only get

11:37

0.85% very frustrating

11:39

for you Linda. Thank you for

11:41

your email. Frances, let's address

11:43

that question of Phil's about trust when it

11:45

comes to online banking. What should people

11:47

look for to know that they're moving

11:49

their money safely? Yeah it's a difficult

11:51

one isn't it? I mean I keep

11:53

in the UK we keep coming back

11:56

to the same thing as if you're

11:58

putting money into a better account. bank

12:00

or a building society, then you need to

12:02

check whether it's covered by the financial services

12:04

compensation scheme, which will be up to 85,000

12:08

by the private institution. And

12:11

that should be on the terms of

12:13

conditions. So if you're doing online savings,

12:17

then you need to check that

12:19

you're still covered. Thank you.

12:21

Anna, what if people don't

12:24

want to use apps or they don't want to

12:26

do online banking? Is there any way around it

12:28

so they can still access those top rates? Well,

12:31

they can't offer, often they can't

12:33

get the very top rates because

12:35

I'm afraid, so the nature is

12:37

nowadays that the very best rates

12:40

are online-only accounts. However, there

12:42

are still some very, very good accounts

12:44

available that are earning near 5% and

12:47

things like that, even on easy access and fixed

12:49

rates. So you can shop around and find accounts

12:51

that you can still open in a more traditional

12:54

manner, so via the post for example. And

12:56

just to sort of echo there

12:58

what Francis was saying, you know, the

13:01

financial services compensation scheme should be very clear

13:03

and just to put filled mind

13:05

at ease and anyone else like that. There are

13:08

other things that you can do if you are

13:10

worried about what accounts

13:12

you're opening. So first of

13:14

all, make sure you find a very safe

13:17

place for where you're looking at those best rates. And

13:19

if you receive an email that you may not have

13:22

requested, for example, and it's looking like

13:24

it's a rate that's much better than

13:27

you've seen elsewhere, be suspicious. You can

13:29

then go on to the Financial Conduct

13:31

Authority, so our regulator's website, they have

13:33

a register that gives you the names

13:35

of those banks and building societies, and

13:37

you can then phone the telephone number

13:39

that's listed on the regulator's website. Phone

13:42

them up, ask them, do you have an account

13:44

paying this much money? And if they do, then

13:46

you can feel a bit safer about

13:48

going ahead and opening those accounts. And then you

13:50

can just put the minimum in initially. Don't put

13:52

that huge amount in, put the minimum in and

13:55

then make sure it's there and then you can

13:57

add to it. Oh that's good advice, double check

13:59

it so it's straightforward. Phil, thank you so

14:01

much for your call. Best of luck with moving

14:03

your 30 grand. We've also had

14:05

an email from Joan who says, Dear Moneybox,

14:08

there are problems for people like me who

14:10

are housebound and do not bank online as

14:12

I have visual problems and try not to

14:14

get involved with numbers on a screen because

14:16

they jump around. I am a touch typist,

14:18

hence I can contact you. And Joan says,

14:21

I recently wanted to invest some money, but

14:23

with few exceptions, all accounts were online and

14:25

the banking transfers had to be done online.

14:27

Where does that leave people like me? Anna,

14:30

is the advice the same for Joan to get in

14:32

touch on phone? Yeah, I think

14:34

that it's a bit trickier, but there are places

14:36

you can go to speak to to

14:38

people about the best accounts. You

14:41

can phone, savings champion, for example,

14:43

we have a phone line and you can

14:45

phone up companies and ask what's the best

14:48

account for me if I don't have access

14:50

to the internet. And you can open accounts

14:52

by post, you can still send checks, believe

14:55

it or not, you can still fund accounts

14:57

with checks. So there are options open to

14:59

you. Thank you. We've had an

15:01

email from Michael about ISAs. Remember, these are

15:03

a tax free way to save or invest

15:06

money. He says, I would like to open

15:08

a cash ISA. In addition to the stocks

15:10

and shares ISA I already have for this

15:12

tax year. Can I open the

15:14

cash ISA with a different provider? Chris?

15:18

Yeah, that's a nice, simple one. Absolutely fine.

15:20

You can have one cash ISA with one

15:23

provider and a stocks and shares ISA with a

15:26

different provider. No problem at all. Francis,

15:28

what are the rules then around how many

15:30

ISAs you can have, how much money you

15:32

can put in one tax free? Well,

15:36

there's a yearly limit of how

15:38

much money you can put into a cash ISA,

15:41

which I believe is £20,000. And the

15:44

limit hits close

15:47

to the tax year end. So you can put

15:49

in up to your limit per year, and then

15:51

it resets for the following year. So you can

15:53

actually build up quite a lot of money in

15:56

cash ISA, but you need to do it over

15:58

a period of time. Janet

16:00

has emailed to say, can you please tell

16:02

me if you're allowed to withdraw from an

16:04

ISA account without paying a penalty? So

16:07

it depends on the type of ISA and this

16:09

sort of applies to all savings accounts So with

16:11

I'm talking about cash isis here if it's

16:14

an easy access cash isa Yes, you can

16:16

the thing you do need to think about

16:18

is that the way that the rules currently

16:20

stand in The majority of

16:22

cases if you withdraw money from your ISA

16:25

you you and then you want to put

16:27

that money back in You can't do so

16:29

if you've already fully used utilize that twenty

16:31

thousand pound allowance, so it doesn't Accept

16:34

that you've taken money out and then allow you to

16:36

replace it But there

16:38

are I support flexible I says that do allow

16:40

you to do that. So there is there It's

16:43

very complicated. I don't understand why these

16:45

rules are so complicated, but they are but the

16:47

answer is yes, you can if it's a An

16:51

easy access isa if it's a fixed term isa

16:53

and you've locked that money away You can still

16:56

access isis you can't do the same thing or

16:58

non ISA accounts in the majority cases But with

17:00

us as you can but there will be a

17:02

big penalty to do so keep an eye on

17:04

that You can see why there's some confusion among

17:07

people about what they should do. What's best? Chris

17:10

Michael mentioned his stocks and shares isa.

17:12

What about investing instead of saving? Yeah,

17:16

it's a great question When

17:18

I talk to my clients and talk

17:20

to them about investing, it's all

17:22

about the time frame So if we're

17:24

going to put our capital at risk and put it

17:26

in a stocks and shares isa Then

17:28

we need to be looking at five years

17:31

or more that you can leave that money

17:33

untouched If this is a

17:35

little nest egg to do something within a year or

17:37

two time by a car by a house or whatever

17:40

Then you really want to be going

17:42

down the savings reads and not putting

17:44

that capital at risk So it's

17:46

very very personal depending on your

17:48

circumstances. Okay. Thank you I

17:50

said we had a huge number of

17:52

emails ahead of today's program loads of

17:54

them were about tax on savings Francis

17:57

why has this suddenly become such an issue?

18:01

I think actually it's because interest rates

18:03

have been going up. So

18:05

for years and years and years nobody was earning

18:07

anything on their savings. So we

18:10

pay, except in ISAs, which

18:12

obviously are tax free, you

18:15

pay interest on, you

18:17

pay tax on the interest on

18:19

your savings. And so obviously if

18:21

you're earning almost nothing on your savings, as we

18:23

all were for 15 years,

18:25

you weren't paying very much in the way of tax, it

18:27

wasn't really an issue. And now interest rates have gone up,

18:29

suddenly people are earning more interest and so

18:31

they have, they're now being taxed on it.

18:34

And they need to know what that means

18:36

and how that's done. Well,

18:38

let's explain it then. Chris, let's start with

18:40

the basics. How much interest can people earn

18:42

on their savings without paying tax? Okay,

18:46

so it's not a straightforward answer and it's

18:48

going to be different for different people. So

18:51

most people get the personal savings allowance

18:55

of £1,000 if you're a basic rate taxpayer,

18:58

you'll get £1,000. That's

19:01

on top of your personal

19:03

allowance, your normal personal

19:06

allowance of £12,570. But

19:10

some people will also get

19:12

the little known starting rate

19:14

band, which allows an extra

19:16

£5,000 worth of savings

19:18

interest to be earned. And I think

19:20

we're going to come to that in just a

19:23

minute because we have got some people with their

19:25

questions ready to go. Here's the first one from

19:27

Richard. Hi Moneybox Live. I have

19:29

a question about tax

19:31

on savings. I

19:33

and many other savers

19:35

have gone over the

19:38

£1,000 tax-free limit because

19:40

of the increased savings

19:43

rates. Is there a simple way

19:45

of reporting this to HMRC

19:47

without having to fill in

19:49

a full tax assessment? Anna,

19:52

do you need to fill out a tax

19:54

return because of your savings? Not

19:57

necessarily, but as we've

19:59

all been saying... it's always different per

20:01

person. So you do have to

20:05

check whether or not you need

20:07

to do a tax return. I'm

20:09

no tax expert, but if you're

20:11

simply going over the personal

20:14

savings allowance of £1,000, you're

20:17

just going over that. It's likely you're not

20:19

going to have to do a tax

20:21

return. But if you have more

20:23

interest, then you may have to

20:26

do that. Now, Gov.uk does have

20:28

a very useful tool that allows

20:30

you to put in, ask you a load of

20:32

questions and it'll tell you whether you need to

20:35

do a tax return or not. If not, then

20:37

what will happen is all the banks and bills and

20:39

societies are going to report to HMRC how much interest

20:42

you are earning each year. So the HMRC

20:44

will make an assessment about how much they

20:46

expect you to earn in the following year

20:48

and change your tax code. So you need

20:50

to keep an eye on that because obviously

20:53

the HMRC is looking back at what you have

20:55

earned and what you did have and

20:57

you might have a very distant situation going forward. So you

20:59

do need to keep an eye on it and then speak

21:01

to HMRC if you can get through. Well,

21:04

that's a whole other program. That

21:08

guidance you mentioned on Gov.uk, if you search

21:10

for tax on savings interest, you could find

21:13

out more. And HMRC told us it will

21:15

contact those who are not employed, do not

21:17

get a pension or do not complete a

21:19

sales assessment should they need to pay tax

21:21

on their savings interest. Okay,

21:23

Chris, this is your time to

21:25

shine. Hello, my name is

21:27

Claire and I'm on a retirement income

21:30

of two pensions. I've heard that

21:32

if your income is below 17, 570,

21:35

which mine is, you get a higher

21:37

allowance on your savings and that's what I'm

21:40

interested in asking about because a lot of

21:42

people, I think, have

21:44

low fixed incomes but they have some capital

21:47

which they've got invested or in

21:49

various bank accounts. And

21:51

at the moment the allowance of

21:54

£1,000 is

21:56

quite easily reached now that interest rates have gone

21:59

up. Okay Chris, this is what

22:01

you were mentioning just a few minutes ago and we've

22:03

had a few messages about this. Explain

22:05

to us the starter rate for lower incomes.

22:07

What it is, what are the rules, who

22:09

does it affect? Okay,

22:11

so the starting rate savings

22:14

bond is £5,000,

22:17

big if you like. Anyone

22:19

who's got salary or pension

22:21

income below £12,570 is almost

22:24

certainly going to get access

22:26

to that full starting rate

22:28

bond. They can earn up to £5,000

22:31

worth of savings interest and not have to

22:33

pay any tax on it. Now

22:36

if you earn over

22:38

£17,570 you're just simply

22:41

not going to get it so those people can just switch off for

22:43

a second. Don't switch off, listen

22:45

to the whole programme. If you

22:47

earn between £12,570 and £17,570 then that starting rate bond will be tapered by £1

22:50

for every pound you exceed the personal allowance.

23:05

And there are some examples of that I think

23:07

on the gov.uk website so that you can see

23:09

how it might break down. Thank you. Here is one

23:11

more and this is our last question on this I

23:13

promise. Hi, I'm Andy.

23:16

How does the tax-free threshold work

23:18

for savings in a joint account?

23:21

Does each account holder enjoy the

23:23

same tax-free allowance? Thanks

23:25

a lot Andy. Anna, how are joint accounts

23:27

treated? Oh yes, another,

23:29

this is nice and easy. Joint

23:31

accounts basically the interest will be

23:33

split between the people who own

23:36

those accounts, so between those two people.

23:39

And yes, the personal savings allowance is

23:41

a personal savings allowance so each of

23:43

you could have either £1,000 if

23:45

you're a basic rate taxpayer or £500 if

23:47

you're a higher rate taxpayer that you can

23:49

earn tax-free. So split that interest between the

23:52

two of you. Good to know, thank you.

23:54

Now 9 million people in this country don't

23:56

have any saved money. That's according to research from

23:58

the Money and Money Fund. and pension

24:00

service, this part of the

24:02

program is for them. I want to talk

24:05

about some of the help that's out there

24:07

to encourage people to start saving. Anna, I

24:09

want to ask you about lifetime ISAs. These

24:11

are accounts you have to open before you're

24:14

40 and then the government pays you a

24:16

bonus. Now I've had an email from Sarah

24:18

who says I'm approaching 40 and

24:21

wondering if I should open a lifetime ISA before

24:23

it's too late. Are they worth having or is

24:25

it better to get a normal ISA so I

24:27

can access the money when I want? And

24:30

that's a really good question because that's the

24:32

key. The lifetime ISA in a

24:34

nutshell, if you open it between the ages

24:36

of 18 and 39 then any money that

24:39

you deposit into it the government will add

24:41

a 25% bonus. Sounds brilliant and sounds

24:43

straightforward. However, it's up to a grand a year. I

24:45

mean it's not a small amount. Well that's right, you

24:47

can put up to 4,000 pounds into a lifetime ISA

24:50

which is part of your 20,000 pound

24:52

ISA allowance. So it's

24:54

within that allowance but if you've put

24:57

20,000 pounds into an ISA somewhere else

24:59

you can't also do the 4,000 so

25:02

there are those rules. But yes,

25:04

you could earn up to a

25:06

thousand pounds bonus. However, accessing

25:08

that bonus is determined by one, if

25:11

you are using that money to buy

25:13

your first home or if

25:15

you don't do that you have to

25:17

hold that ISA until you are 60

25:19

and if you take it out either

25:21

before you're 60 or not for your

25:23

first home there will be a penalty

25:25

which means that you might get back

25:27

less than you actually put in to

25:29

the ISA. So you must understand the

25:31

rules. Plus if you are even buying it

25:33

for a first home you need to

25:35

hold that account for at least 12 months. There are

25:37

lots of terms and conditions around this so do

25:39

make sure you read the small print and understand

25:42

what you can and can't do before you open a lifetime

25:44

ISA. But as a whole, brilliant because you get a

25:46

25% uplift which is which

25:48

is super. Thank you very much.

25:50

And Francis there is also a bonus

25:53

offer for some low-income savers. That's right

25:55

there's a scheme called Help to Save

25:57

which is for some people on universal

26:00

credit and also on working tax credit. Now you

26:02

have to be working and you have to

26:08

be earning more than I think £722 a

26:10

month either yourself or with your partner. But

26:16

if you are then you can save up

26:18

to £50 a month and it doesn't have to be

26:21

in one lump sum you can just keep dropping it

26:23

in in like £5 or £10 as

26:26

long as you don't exceed the £50 in a

26:28

month and the government will match that with

26:31

a bonus of £50 for every

26:33

pound you put in over

26:36

four years. You can't do it for longer than

26:38

four years it will be closed immediately after that

26:40

time but I know that time that can be

26:42

quite a substantial nest egg and it will increase

26:45

by 50% simply by the government matching it. It's

26:47

rather a good deal. Thank

26:49

you. Chris some employers let you save

26:51

through your pay. Tell me about workplace

26:54

savings. Yeah

26:56

so most of us will have

26:58

workplace pensions but providers now are

27:00

offering other products as well

27:02

so it might be things like ISAs that are

27:04

on the same platform as your pension. If

27:07

you can save regularly through

27:09

payroll it's a great way

27:12

to build up a nest egg. It instills

27:14

some discipline to do it every single month

27:17

and it's often money that you just don't miss.

27:19

So if you get the option yeah do

27:21

that. That whole set and forget which can

27:23

be so very helpful. Francis really quickly

27:25

open banking lets people use apps to

27:27

potentially save money without thinking about it.

27:29

Yeah and again this is rather good

27:31

if you are quite tech savvy and

27:34

you're comfortable with allowing third

27:36

party apps to look at your

27:38

bank accounts which is

27:40

essential open banking. Then

27:43

you can use a third party app

27:45

to essentially analyse your accounts

27:47

and see when you are able

27:49

to when you have a bit

27:51

of surplus money perhaps on a

27:53

payday or now and then and

27:56

we're going to have to weave it into an account. have

28:00

to think about it. Absolutely. Thank you.

28:03

Savings grow over time, Moneybox doesn't. That

28:05

is all that we can squeeze in

28:07

today. Many thanks to everyone who took

28:09

part and thank you of course to

28:11

our experts, Anna Bowes from savingschampion.co.uk, the

28:13

banking analyst Frances Coppola and Chris Gray

28:15

from Forrest Boyd Wealth Management. And if

28:17

you want to get in touch with

28:19

me or the rest of the team

28:21

here about any money story, then email

28:23

us. It's Moneybox at bbc.co.uk. Please do

28:25

include a phone number if you can.

28:28

In this podcast, the producer was Sarah

28:30

Rogers, production coordinator Sandra Hardiel, the

28:32

studio manager Chloe Wilson. Our editor

28:34

is Jess Quayle. I'm Felicity Hanna

28:36

and this was the BBC News

28:39

Money and Work production for BBC

28:41

Sounds. The

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Post Office Horizon scandal has shocked Britain.

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so much publicity hasn't it over the

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