Im looking into opening an s&s LISA to save a little nest egg for when I’m 60. Only thing is I was just reading up and apparently you can be forced to cash in early if you go bankrupt or lose your job but have too much in savings for benefits. This stuff won’t affect me now but who knows what the future holds, I’m just wondering if they’re still a decent option for saving? Seems a little unfair to have to pay to use the money early if you fall on hard times. I guess this is where a pension beats the LISA.
I wouldn’t be against using it for a house deposit, but it seems unlikely i’d be able to save anything close to the amount id need anytime soon so I’m thinking longer term.
I have a LISA too and apart from topping it up with the max amount for the first year. I now only put in £2 a week into it. I'm not really in a place to be buying my first home either. You can make a withdrawal but you lose the bonus of around 25% For benefits you're allowed up to 16k in savings, but anything over £6k is supposed to result in a reduction in the amount you get paid.
I don't like that money being locked up for that long either.
-I only became serious about saving money at the age of 26. I was stupid with money and spent a lot on presents for friends, but It coincided with a period when my depression was at it's worst and I needed that time to grow up.
-I stopped buying clothing- I haven't bought any new items of clothing for myself in one year and it was two items in the year before that. I really did have too much.
-I haven't bought myself new make up for almost three years. At one point I had 26 red lipsticks.
-I stopped buying books and only use the library now and still get through 3 books a week. (I use Manchester central library).
-I share my father's Netflix account.
-I use Topcashback if I do buy anything.
-Starbucks will give you a discount if you use one of their reusable cups and you can also add multiple cards to the same account and collect points together and use the gold benefits, but only do this with people you actually trust.
-I do YouGov surveys and earned my first £50 after around 8 months.
-I signed up with Scottish friendly for a 10 year saving plan when I was 18- mainly for the £40 giftcard they were giving and paid £25 into that every month. When it matured they gave me an extra £400 on top which I was happy with as I didn't even notice the money going out and know I 100% would have wasted it otherwise.
-Last year I also started investing in stocks and shares after just watching youtube videos about investing- I got around £43 in dividends. Including last month in I earned £3.06 (I love the humble penny and Nicole at the frugal cottage channel on youtube). I wish I started sooner though!
-I placed an online shop for my sister, with Iceland who offer free delivery with a £40 order in her area and they give you £1 off for every £20 you top up your bonus account card by.
-I send flowers using Bloom&wild and rarely pay full price anymore as they will always send you a 10-20% off code.