Martin Lewis explains how 18–39-year-olds can get £1,000 free per year

With the cost of living rising for Brits and energy prices skyrocketing, many of us are looking for ways to save money, or make a little extra where we can.

Now, money saving expert Martin Lewis has revealed how 18-39-year-olds could get up to £1,000 per year from the government.

Explaining how it all works on his ITV Money Show, Martin revealed how people can get extra help through a Lifetime ISA (LISA).

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You can open an account if you're aged between 18 and 39 and are using it either to buy your first home or for retirement.

Each year, account holders can add up to £4,000 until the age of 50, and the government will also add an extra 25 per cent - which could be as much as £1,000 per year.

Which means if you opened the account at 18 and saved £4,000 each year until the age of 50, the government could give a maximum of £30,000.

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"A Lifetime ISA can be opened between age 18 and 39," Martin said.

"As a first time buyer the state will give you a 25 per cent boost on money you put in.

"You can put up to £4,000 a year [in] so that's up to a grand year bonus from the state."

However, Martin warned: "Lifetime ISAs have a 6.25 per cent withdrawal penalty if you're not using them to buy a qualifying house or you're aged under 60 when you take the money out.

"So, you only want to put them (money) in if you're definitely going to be buying a qualifying house.

"And you have to have had them for a year before you can get the bonus."

Martin has also called for the government to either 'ditch the fine for those buying houses that no longer qualify' or to 'increase the threshold' to ensure 'fairness' to those with accounts.

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Earlier this week, we told you how Martin revealed that a whopping one million Brits could have £2,000 that they might know absolutely nothing about.

The money guru shared the revelation to Twitter, captioning the video: "Age 12 to 20 (or the parent of someone who is): are you one of up to 1m people missing out on possibly £1,000 savings you don't know about?"

He explained that this money comes in the form of a Child Trust Fund - a tax-free savings account that the government had set up for those born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011.

The accounts were set up with £250 from the government, but depending on a child's personal circumstances, they could have been given as much as £500.

You can find out more info here.

Topics: News, Martin Lewis

Lucy Devine