If you were born between 1985 and 2006, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has one piece of advice for you: open an ISA and deposit just £1 into it before April.
Speaking on his ITV show The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, the expert said that those between the ages of 18 and 39 get a bonus of 25% on up to £4,000 per tax year in a Lifetime ISA for first time home buyers.
Even if you have no intention of buying a house soon or don’t have the money to be putting away chunks towards buying a home, Martin said: “Put a quid in, because you have to have the account for a year before you can get the bonus, so you may as well put a quid in now in case you want to use it in the future.”
The top recommended ISA from the expert is currently Moneybox with a rate of 4.4% per year.
Martin Lewis issues payslip warning
Additionally, the finance expert warned that ‘millions’ of people in the UK have the wrong tax code and could be owed thousands of pounds.
He said that this code tells your employer or pension provider what tax to deduct and if it’s wrong, you could have paid too much in taxes over the past year.
Adding that it’s not HMRC’s or your employer’s responsibility to check that your tax code is correct, Martin said that it’s your responsibility to check it. If you’re not sure what yours should be, he advised that there are free tax calculators online which can guide you through identifying yours.
He also added that if you wear a recognisable uniform to work that you wash or repair yourself, you can claim tax back via P87 on the government website.
What would we do without him?