The huge new ISA and Lifetime ISA changes explained | Flight crew secrets

22:14Martin Lewis:And it is not in the consultation. I mean, if this is part of the consultation, what that limit will be. However, they say in the consultation they aim and remember consultations are proposals so they can change after people feed in. They aim to align the LISA and help to buy ISA property limit with the new first time buyer property limit. Now, the help to buy ISA property limit is£250 ,000 or£450 ,000 in London. The lifetime ISA property limit is£450 ,000 across the UK. So my view is if they're hoping to align all of them, the minimum the new threshold must be is£450 ,000 because it would be unthinkable and political suicide to screw young people over by lowering the lifetime ISA cap when they've already put money in.

23:10So logic dictates it must be at least 450 ,000. And if it isn't, people should rightly be absolutely up in arms about that. What we don't know is whether they will be uprating the 450 ,000 or whatever the new property threshold is with inflation or house prices each year. I will certainly be campaigning for that to be done so because that's caused a mass unfairness on the lifetime ISA. A few more points. You will, just like the other two, have to be getting a residential mortgage to do it.

23:38Martin Lewis:it will be an individual product so it depends on whether you're a first-time buyer not on who you're buying with the bonus is paid at exchange not completion which is good the help to buy isa was a big problem it was paid too late in the process this is paid at exchange so you can use it not just as your mortgage deposit but you can use it to help give a deposit to whomever you're buying the house off that also means there isn't a withdrawal penalty because unlike the lifetime isa where the bonus is paid each month here if you withdraw early and you're not buying a house There's no need for a penalty because you haven't had the bonus yet.

24:11Martin Lewis:You must, like the lifetime ISA, you must have it open for a year to use it. So, you know, you're going to want to get a pound in as soon as possible. So you've got to open and get that clock ticking, just like I suggest with the lifetime ISA. It will be cash or shares, first-time buyers, ISAs. The most first-time buyers, you're only saving for the short term. You should probably want to get it in cash. Transfers will be allowed between different providers. And this is the crucial one, which I think is going to cause a lot of people, maybe frustrations but maybe some positives when I explain it a bit more.

24:41If you have an existing help to buy ISA which is a now closed product that many people still do have money in from when it was an open product you will be allowed to transfer that into a first-time buyer ISA. If you have an existing lifetime ISA or LISA you will not be able to transfer it in to the first-time buyer ISA. However, you will be able to use a LISA and a first-time buyer ISA together to buy a property and get the bonus on both, which is quite important. Again, a reminder, all of this is consultation and proposals and things could change. Okay, some questions. Yeah, I'm sure. Lisa says, I know I get things wrong sometimes, but replacing me is a bit harsh.

25:29Oh, I'm sorry, Lisa. I'm sorry, Lysa. But look, the most important thing for Lisa and for Lysas, what they are saying quite clearly is if you have a Lysa and a help to buy ISA, they will continue on current terms.

25:43Martin Lewis:So when the new one comes in, you may not be able to open a new Lysa, but you will be able to continue to use it as you currently can. They're worth noting the help to buy ISA has a time deadline. It has to be used by 2029. The lifetime ISA doesn't. So existing... So ISAs can continue. I was going to say, people can't put things in you, Lisa, but I think that's probably a bad phrase. I think we'll move on from that. OK. Carol, given the balance is paid in exchange... I realise what I said. Do you know when you realise the words coming out of your mouth? It's all right for you. You can take it out of the podcast, can't you?

26:11But it's gone now, Martin. We'll keep in. We'll keep in. Given the balance is paid in exchange, says Carol, Would it be a percentage of the balance at exchange or a percentage of all deposits? Depending how long the account is open, those two amounts could be very different with compound interest. It is a very interesting point. And under the consultation, it will be based on the amount you have contributed without interest. I will be certainly suggesting they also add the bonus to interest because this is a big difference between the LISA and the first time buyer ISA. At the moment, with the lifetime ISA, you get the bonus on what you've contributed each month.

26:50Then you have the bonus sitting in your Lysa account. And then you have interest on top of both what you contributed and the bonus. So effectively, you have a compounding benefit on the bonus. Now, if they're going to add the bonus at exchange and they're only going to do it on the money on the way in, you're not getting that compounding benefit. And I think there's an argument to say you should.

27:12Martin Lewis:I think it's an argument I will lose, though. OK, Stacey, can someone 40-plus access any of these savings accounts as a first-time buyer? So the proposals are you will be able to open a first-time buyer ISA when it starts next April because there is no upper age limit as there is with the lifetime ISA. There wasn't an age limit on the help to buy ISA, but it's gone and you can't open it. It is worth noting it's the age you open it that counts. So anybody aged 39 certainly should be getting a pound in it now so you have it open and then you can continue to use it, even if you don't want it. Even if you think it's pointless because you're not a first-time buyer, there might be a chance you want to use it later for retirement savings.

27:55But the answer to the question is the proposal is the first-time buyer. ISA will be available for over 40s. Right. Alexandra, what about a singleton who lives with boyfriend, but boyfriend has a house? The singleton, however, is not on, doesn't have a mortgage. Well, he's not on the mortgage, I should say. Can it be used to purchase a house in the future with the boyfriend as she will be a first-time buyer? Yes, so let's be very plain. For both the help-to-buy ISA, the lifetime, it's not a both, for all three, I've got to change my language, it's you coming in, for all three of the help-to-buy ISA, the lifetime ISA and the first-time buyer ISA, they are all individual products.

28:38What matters is, are you a first-time buyer? If you are a first-time buyer, you can use this and get the bonus.

28:47Martin Lewis:Whether you're buying with someone else who is a first-time buyer, in which case they could also use this and get the bonus, or whether you're buying with someone who is not a first-time buyer, in which case they can't use this, but you can use this. So yes, it is not about who you buy with, it is a totally individual product and the rules apply to you, not whomever you're buying the property with. Alan says, so LISA cannot be transferred in as they already have the 25 % bonus. What will happen when a first-time buyer now buys a house? Can the LISA and the new ISA be used together, one with 25 % already added together, with the new ISA with 25 % added to the exchange, or only one?

29:26So my current reading of the proposals is, and these are technically, I hope people are following, You cannot use a help to buy ISA and a first time buyer ISA together, but you could move your help to buy ISA money into the first time buyer ISA. But you can get the bonus on both a lifetime ISA and a first time buyer ISA.

29:46Martin Lewis:Now, this is actually incredibly important, and I'm going to move this to a bigger point now. That means there is a chance that you can double up. And everybody who has the ability right now, everybody, if you are aged 18 to 39 and you do not have a lifetime ISA, even if you have already bought a property, may I strongly suggest you put a pound in one. Top payers are Plum and Moneybox. Plum pays 5.6%, Moneybox 5.8 % interest. There's a big price war on that at the moment. And I just need to explain this in detail for anyone. There are a number of reasons why. If you are a first-time buyer, because you'll be able to have a Lysa and a first-time buyer Issa, you may be able to double up.

30:36Martin Lewis:The reason I would do it now is with both those products, you need to have had it open a year before you can get the first-time buyer bonus. So if you put a quid in now, even if you're not expecting to buy your first house now, and something were to happen next year that meant you suddenly could buy, you could dunk your four grand in the lifetime ISA because that's the maximum you could have in each tax year and you would instantly be eligible for a thousand pound bonus from the state or boost from the state. And you could do, well, you couldn't do it next year because the first time bar ISA has to be open for a year.

31:07But if you bought in two years time, you could get the bonus on both.

31:10Martin Lewis:So putting a quid in now gives you that facility. But even if you are a, you've already bought a property, so it isn't useful for you. If you're aged between 18 to 39, the lifetime ISA allows you to save for retirement and you get the 25 % bonus. Now, for most people, certainly for all employees where you're in the auto-enrolment scheme and you get matching contributions from your company, a pension is better. And for many self-employed taxpayers, a pension is better, although it's much more, it's quite similar putting money in a state pension, the tax benefit for a basic 25 % rate taxpayer as it is putting money in a lifetime ISA.

31:51But you do not know your future.

31:52Martin Lewis:And we have now been told the lifetime ISA will stay open. So I would absolutely make sure I have the facility of a lifetime ISA available to me because they're going to shut it to new entrance probably next April. That's some guesswork. I would have the facility available to me by putting a pound in so that at some point in the future, it becomes worthwhile for you to use it as a first time buyer, or it becomes worthwhile for you to use it for your retirement savings, or both. You have the facility, you have it open, and then you can use it. So just tell everybody aged 18 to 39, do you have a Lysa?

32:31If not, just get a quid in, get it open. That's what really matters. Thank you very much, Martin. Talk again after, just chill out. Are those sweat patches receding at all now. Yeah, yeah. And yes, and the odour is good too, Adrian. You'll be pleased to hear. OK, so those continental shapes are getting smaller by the minute. Nice to know. Tell us about your tellus, and there's some great ones this week. So the original question was, tell us, do you work for an airline, hotel or overseas travel business? If you do, what are the biggest mistakes people make when flying or going abroad, and what are your top tips?

33:08The response was absolutely fantastic, I have to tell you. So much so, Adrian, that I have segmented them, so we're going to just do flight crew today. We're only going to do the ones from the flight crew, and I'm going to save the rest till next week. So, why don't you start, because my computer has just decided not to show them. OK, I'll start with the first one, because I really want to do the third one. It's one of my favourites ever. Tell us, response it so. OK, so, insurance, says Simon. Speaking as air crew takes you abroad. also don't get too drunk before you board the plane you can be refused boarding don't vape don't misbehave the aircraft could end up in divert have you disembarked ruin your holiday you basically you could get your pants sued off as well it's only a few hours enjoy the flight and come and say hi to us at the front end once we land sounds fair to me absolutely right and insurance is important because let's just remember my golden rule you get insurance as soon as you book or if you've already booked and you haven't got it, you get it as soon as you hear me say this because half the point of travel insurance is to cover you if something happens before you go that stops you going.

34:19Just to be clear, buy it now to start now not to start on the day. No, buying it now to start on the day that you go on a single trip policy is fine. So if you're going away at the end of August, you'd buy it today with the dates the end of August. On an annual policy, you need to have a contiguous one in place. So if you have one now, if your annual policy ended the end of August and you were going in September, Most policies would cover you if something happened now to stop you going in September, even though it was after the period. But you'd want to be buying now a policy to start the day after your existing annual policy stops so that you're covered all the way through and you'd want to have that in place now, too.

34:52OK, Steve. Yeah.

34:55Martin Lewis:Working for TUI at Manchester. Scary how many people are turning up to the airport with a due to expire passport. So let's be really plain about the passport check here. So this is me, not Steve. Now, there are. Two checks. For the only day you enter the country, there needs to be at least six months left before the expiry date or three months if you're going to the EU. And even so, if you're going to the EU, you need to check, will your passport be under 10 years old? So because it used to work that you could get your passport, if you have eight months left on your passport when you were renewing, you could get that eight months added to your new one.

35:37Martin Lewis:so your new one would last 10 years and 8 months. It means that you could be more than 3 months away from renewal of your passport, but your passport be over 10 years old and that can stop you having entry. And I genuinely have people who get in touch with me, who this has happened to, who have been denied boarding on the plane, which is bad, or worse, they've got on the plane and they've been denied entry when they land and sent back. Check your passport date. Steve is right. You do, Sarah. Sarah said I work for an airline. Biggest mistake ever. is people going to the toilet on the aircraft with no shoes on.

36:11Let's not dwell on that, but we hear you. I'm one of those people. Really? Yeah, I'm not sure I will be from now on. Sometimes you're taking your shoes off, you're tired, you're sleeping, you suddenly need the ear, you get up, you go, and you're not thinking. But on a private jet, it's different. Yeah, right. I've never been on a private jet. One day I'll do it. Have you, Adrian? I have, actually. No, I have, yes. Oh, so you made the joke about me. Well, I have, no. It was when I was... A couple of times when we were covering football, and it was just cheaper to get the ITV team. I think San Sebastian.

36:41But he's very cramped. Very cramped, I'd say. We were all feeling pretty terrible for you, I'll be honest. Yeah, yeah, but you're not missing much. Please do get in touch if you feel sorry for Adrian and think of anything, cheer me up about his cramped experience on a private jet. Gemma, cabin crew here. Travelling without simple painkillers, not all airlines can give you paracetamol or others without a doctor present it's much easier if you have your own with you some passengers really think the aircraft first aid kit is a personal pharmacy yeah I mean I always take painkillers with me just in case Alex don't pack your medication or keys in your hold luggage always bring spare underwear and a change of clothes in your carry-on do you know what I would it's relaxed me no end is putting one of the tracker devices an apple tag, putting one of those in your hold luggage.

37:37Martin Lewis:Well, I mean, it will help you locate where your hold luggage is, but if it's gone somewhere else... If it's gone to Cancun and you're in Barcelona, then obviously it's a problem. It's still not helping you, yeah. So the change of underwear is a good one. I think that's really important. And your medication, absolutely. Sam, used to work for an airline. So many people would get on a late-night flight from a winter sun destination wearing little more than a bikini and then wonder why they were freezing on the plane and on landing back in the UK too. and no, we do not have any blankets we can give you.

38:06Right, got it. Ali, work for BA Complaints. Don't complain your ice melted too fast, that's science. Well, in first class, you're paying a good amount, Ali. I think you're entitled to slow melting ice at least. We have so many good ones of these, but if you forgive me, Adrian, I'm worried we're not going to get through the lifetime ISA stuff, which we need to do as well. Shall we finish there? Are you happy? Yes, I'm happy. I'm really enjoying going through them. I know you're doing more of them. On the podcast.

38:35Let's move on to existing first-time buyers product, a lifetime ISA, which is going to be replaced, but you can still open now and use it. Again, we've had more questions asked than England did of Ghana's defence, but give us the basics first here. Yeah, lifetime ISAs can be opened if you're aged 18 to 39, and if you've never owned a home, you can get a 25 % boost to first-time buyer savings, up to a maximum£1 ,000 free each year. There's a rate more on two now at 5.8%, as I've already said. So let's just give you a success on this. Hi, they actually say, Hi, love the newsletter and the Martin Lewis podcast.

39:12Lovely double one there. This is from Jordan, who emailed a while back. Another lifetime ISA success for you. I saved for seven years and my partner six. So we got£13 ,000 towards our deposit from the state with interest that got us to a 20 % deposit on a£330 ,000 property. Thank you. So you can see how important it is. Here's your quick five lifetime Icer needs to nose. The 25 % bonus is on everything you put in up to£4 ,000 a year till you're age 50. So if you started at 18 and saved till age 50, you could have£33 ,000. If you put£1 ,000 in, you'd have£1 ,250. If you put the maximum£4 ,000 in, you'll have£5 ,000.

39:50It can be used on your first residential home, costing up to£450 ,000.

39:56Martin Lewis:It is defined as first-time barriers those who've never owned or part-owned a home anywhere worldwide and you need to be getting a mortgage. This is the big warning, though. If you're not buying a qualifying home and withdraw before age 60, there is an effective 6.25 % penalty. What actually happens, let's not worry about the maths too much, is you get a 25 % bonus on the money you've put in and then you get a 25 % taken off the money that you've got in there when you withdraw. The way the maths works on that is it's effectively about six to a quarter percent less than you put in you get back.

40:33Now, I don't have a problem with the penalty in the generality where I have a real problem with the penalty is if you've been saving your price out of the market and that£450 ,000 has not risen since 2017. So it's been frozen since they launched the product and you save for the right reasons and now you want to buy your first property, but it's gone at£460 ,000 because you're in London and it's expensive, you're now having to pay a penalty to the state to get your first-time deposit money out because you did what the state suggested you do and use a lifetime ISA to save for your first-time buyer property.

41:08I have been campaigning on that for a long time. It has not been fixed yet. We've already talked about how people buying together can have one each. That's probably where I'll stop because I know you've got loads of questions. There's one from Colin. If you haven't opened one yet, should you do so or wait till the new one is launched? Absolutely. As I mentioned before, I would be opening one now and getting a quid in now. And then you've got a choice of which one is best for you. Or maybe you can use both when you get there. So have one open. Having one open doesn't stop you. And you can open with a quid the two Best Buys, Moneybox and Plum.

41:37OK. We've got a question from Natasha. Where are you today, Natasha? Hello, gentlemen. You all right? Hello. You all right? Hello. Yep, yep. I'm calling from North Devon, Biddeford. All right. Very nice spot. It's very hot there today, isn't it? Aren't you in the hottest part in the country? Yeah, it's very lovely. You work in a shipyard, Natasha? I do indeed. Oh, exciting. Indoors or outdoors? Well, we're indoors. We're indoors. Is it an air-conditioned indoor shipyard? Wishful thinking, wishful thinking. Oh, no, all right. Okay, so what's your question? My question is, is I'm hoping, or I'm looking to save from wood deposit as a first-time buyer, but I'm not sure of the best way to go about it.

42:19I used to have a Help to Buy, I said, but obviously that closed last year. So now I'm in a better financial position. Well, you say obviously, why did it close last year? You closed it because... Yeah, I didn't actually contribute. At the time when they were saying that they were going to close it, me and my brother opened it for just in case. But obviously we didn't reach the financial position we're in now. So things have changed and now it's not there anymore. So I think that there are two questions. Forgive me. You're not supposed to do this. How old are you? 43. OK. So very simply, you cannot open the lifetime ISA because you have to open it before you are 40.

43:03OK. I would still check. They actually wrote you and said we're closing it down because you've not put any money in the help to buy ISA, did they? It's definitely closed. That's correct.

43:11Martin Lewis:OK, so then your option will be this new first time buyer ISA that starts next April. My guess. They haven't said that. That's my guess, which currently in the proposals does not have a maximum age limit. We don't yet know the lifetime ISA gives you a 25 percent bonus on money you put in. We don't yet know what the bonus will be and we don't yet know how much money you can put in because that's not in the proposals. You will have to have it open a year to get the bonus. So when are you thinking about buying? When do you think you will be financially be in a position to buy? Maybe 18 months, maybe.

43:49OK. Yeah. 18 months, two years. Right. So let's be really plain based on the information I have at the moment. But please remember, it is a consultation and things could change. If they launch it next April, I would put my money in the first time buyer ISA because you can. and hopefully when you buy, you will get a bonus. Let's guess it will still be at 25 % of the money you put in. Now, you will only be able to get that bonus

44:18Martin Lewis:if you've had the property open, if you've had the ISA open for a year. If you buy an 18 months time, you won't have done. But under the current proposals, unlike the lifetime ISA, if you're not going to get the bonus, you can just take your money out with no penalty and you'll have still got interest. So you will not be any worse than just putting it in a normal ISA or a normal savings account. it'll be the same and if you wait a little bit longer and you buy a little bit later then you would get the bonus too so you would be better off so at the moment you need to be saving in just a top normal savings account or cash isa if you pay tax on your savings where you can build up your savings with the most interest and then from next april you want to put your money as much as you're allowed to in the first time by isa unless these proposals change when they become real does Does that make sense?

45:05That's fantastic. Yeah, that's absolutely fantastic. Just wasn't what I'm sure to do in between the meantime. But yeah, just go and use a savings account. If you haven't got much savings and, you know, somewhere like Chase is paying 4.5 % interest, easy access. So you could put your money in there. You can start to build it up in there and you wait to see if this new first time bar ISA launches. I mean, there is a tiny caveat. Of course, we're about to have a new prime minister. And these are proposals under the current regime. I don't think this will change. But who knows? OK, that's brilliant.

45:38Thank you very much, guys. Thank you. Have a lovely day. Have a good day. Cheers. Bye. Bye-bye. OK, thank you. My sons each have SNS license. That's from Steve. Do you believe it's still worth putting in the 4K each year given the restrictions on property purchase value and withdrawal penalty? We live in Greater London. Bracket's sort of pricey. So basically what you're saying to me is we've got money in stocks and shares lifetime ICAs, but we're worried that the property they'll buy will be above the£450 ,000 cap. So this, funny, we covered this in the Question Time podcast last week, but it's got even more complicated with the announcement that's been made by the government this week.

46:13So look, if you're going to buy a property over£450 ,000, then under the current rules, you would pay the penalty of 6.25%. Now, you might be using your stocks and shares lifetime ISA for retirement savings, in which case, continue to put the money in because it doesn't look like that's changing. The consultation doesn't seem to be changing that at all. But if you're going to be using it and you want to use it for first time buyer savings, then yes, there is a potential problem. Now, the only hope here is that the first time buyer ISA consultation says it will align the thresholds of the lifetime ISA and the help to buy ISA with the first time buyer.

46:51And it could be higher and they could start to increase it with inflation. We just don't know yet. So whether I'm not sure I would be putting any new money in, I wouldn't necessarily be taking any money out. I certainly wouldn't be taking any money out because we don't know what's going to be happening and you would pay a penalty to take money out. The interesting answer I gave to the person on Question Time who had£40 ,000 in and wanted to buy a house above the threshold is because you pay a 25 % penalty to withdraw, he had£40 ,000 and that meant he'd only withdraw£30 ,000 and he was devastated by this and thinking I might keep it in for retirement even though it's going to potentially stymie me buying the house that I need for my family.

47:30Because when he had originally started saving, it was for a young, he was a young single man. My answer to him was, while you're thinking of this as 40 down to 30 ,000, if you had known this was going to happen, you would never have used a lifetime ISA.

47:46Martin Lewis:And you would have saved probably in a normal ISA where there's no withdrawal penalty. And you would have probably had 32 ,000 pounds in because you wouldn't have had the bonus added. so the real loss is 32 ,000 down to 30 ,000 I don't like that I don't think that's how it should work but that is the practical way to think of it and in that case I said to him if you had to pay two thousand pounds to access your money which is the real opportunity cost of having put it in a lifetime ISA so that you could buy the house you want would you and his answer was yes because I want to buy that house in which case I said then I'd get on and I'd buy the house and I would just you know stamp and swear a bit about the£2 ,000 but it's not actually a£10 ,000 loss.

48:27So we have to do a lot of

48:28Martin Lewis:that type of thinking at the moment but I would probably be holding putting any more in a lifetime ISA until I know the result of the consultation and that should come before the end of this tax year so you will be able to put the money in later in this tax year if it's still right for you. So I would be holding off for now yes. Adrian shall we move to Mastermind and people I've got lots more of Leo Lysa questions I'll be going through in the podcast but let's play that Mastermind theme tune now.

48:58Hello, welcome to Money Mastermind. Adrian, you've currently got 19 right and 41 wrong in this three-option multiple-choice quiz, which means, sadly, you are still, and it doesn't look like changing soon, you are still... N-B-R-C. No better than random chance. So let's do the question. You ready, mate? Yeah. Adrian, you're out polishing and buffing your beloved 2007 mud-brown Fiat 500. You liked it so much last week I brought it back. With the sort of care usually reserved for a royal undercarriage. Suddenly, the garage door bursts open and in screeches three minis, scattering jump leads and pine tree air fresheners, outsteps a man in a flat cap looking slightly disappointed.

49:51Adrian, you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off. Adrian, thrilled, climbs onto a pile of winter towers and says, You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off. I know, Adrian. That's my line. Anyway, I can't keep this up. Anyway, I've got a problem. I'm losing it very badly. I used a claims management firm to handle a car finance mis-selling claim. But now I'm unhappy with them. Their service, their fees, the old caper. I've complained, but to no joy. So how do I escalate this, Adrian? You work on that podcast. So, Adrian, what do you want to know? I'd say, hang on, I'll get Martin on.

50:31That's what I'll do then. So, Adrian, are you Michael Caine or Michael Caint? Yeah, the answer. What's your answer? If you used a claims firm to handle your car finance mis-selling claim, but now think you were misled, who do you escalate it to?

50:46Martin Lewis:A, you could only go to the claims management ombudsman, which is part of the financial ombudsman service. B, you can only go to the legal ombudsman, which is regulated by the Solicitor's Regulation Authority. Or C, you may have to complain to both. Is it A, claims management ombudsman, B, legal ombudsman, or C, you may need to complain to both? C. Why? Well, because I generally know from having listened to you it's a bad idea to use a claims management company, or unnecessary, at least. And, I mean, bluntly, I think you've probably designed the question to hammer home just how unnecessary it is to use a claims management company.

51:35Martin Lewis:Give him a hallelujah. Yes! Here we go. Well done, mate. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! OK, so the regulator of the FCA has recently launched a template letter on its website so you can complain about misled claims management firms. Yes, you can complain about the firms that you use to complain with. And if they don't satisfactorily handle your complaint, you can go to an ombudsman. Now, which ombudsman you go to depends on who regulates them. So if they're regulated by the FCA, then you go to the claims management ombudsman. If they're regulated by the Solicitor's Regulation Authority, you go to the legal ombudsman.

52:19Martin Lewis:But frustratingly, if you were passed from an FCA regulated claims firm to a solicitor, you may need to complain separately to each firm and go to both ombudsman. So C was the correct answer. Why were people misled? Well, the regulator says people were signed up without agreeing to it or were pressured into it. And we have an example on the podcast, the special podcast we did a couple of weeks ago, of a woman who suddenly found that she got a letter from a claims firm because she'd just filled out their online RUO Motor Finance and had not realised that that actually meant she was signing up to the claims firm.

52:48Martin Lewis:In that case, make a formal complaint. You should not be paying them a fee. Say, I never signed up to you. I want to get out of it and go to the ombudsman. If you also feel you're misled about service, costs or chances of success by the claims firm, you can make that formal complaint. If you weren't receiving information you should have given, such as free details or cancellation, you make that complaint. And if you don't want to use the claims firm anymore because you know it's a mastery dress scheme and you know you can do it yourself, then they can charge you a reasonable fee if you want to leave.

53:18But the reasonable fee should be based on the work they've done and hardly any work has been done yet because the whole scheme is still on hold. So what the regulator says is do not pay an exit or other fees if you want an independent check first. CMCs and law firms are obliged to make it clear to customers, including on their website, that free ombudsman services are available. and I made it before the music played. Thanks for having me, mate. Beautifully done. You take it easy. Stay in an air-conditioned environment, no press-ups and limited walking for the rest of the day. That is what I prescribe to you.

53:49Yes. No! Tie your shoelaces together. Do something with him. You've got too much energy. He's too hot for all that.

53:59OK, so we're now into pod only and Adrian got a mastermind right. I know he doesn't believe it, but it does actually make me happy when he gets one right. It's true. And I've got, joining me is, of course, podcast producer Simon. We have loads of Lifetime ISA questions. I want to do a few more tellers, but shall we get straight into the Lifetime ISA questions and try and get through them and get people's questions answered? Well, to give you a little bit of daylight on the magic of podcasting, earlier today, they came over to me and said that the Hallelujah was broken. It sort of automatically deleted and not been said.

54:30And there was a brief moment where I said, it doesn't matter. affair because we haven't played in about five weeks. I'm glad I did actually get it back up again otherwise we'd have been in trouble. Yeah we've got a heap of Lysa questions that came in. Mel asks, for those of us using them for retirement, I'm self-employed, will existing Lysas already opened continue to function in the same way, i.e. the 25 % bonus on a maximum of£4 ,000 paid per year, paid in some weeks later? Many thanks. Under the current consultation, yes they say the LISA will remain unchanged. So I don't see why that would change.

55:06Could change, but the proposal is it won't change. Rebecca wants to know, so will existing LISAs have the old terms, e.g. property price thresholds? Does aligned mean aligned in both directions? It will seem quite unfair if only newer LISAs have the higher threshold. Not that it is likely to affect my kids, but overall it ought to be aligned.

55:28Martin Lewis:So what they are proposing is the new first-time buyer ISA threshold will align with the lifetime ISA and help to buy ISA. So they will all be given the same threshold is the current proposal. I think one of two things is likely to happen. Either that threshold has to be 450 ,000 or above everywhere in the UK, because you can't cut the lifetime ISA threshold for people who've already put money in it. It just goes against natural justice. I mean, they can, but yeah, well, you can imagine what I'll be saying if they do do that and what many others will be saying too. Or they might decide not to align them, even though that's in the proposals.

56:04And if they're going to make the first-time buyer threshold lower than the lifetime buyer threshold, then they would have to keep the lifetime ISA where it is. But currently what they say is they're planning to align it. So I think they will all be the same from when the first-time buyer ISA comes in. Carey's house is full of confusion. They have one daughter who has a full help to buy, but we think it will take too long to move it across, but it's capped at the max. Yeah, so that's£12 ,000 in there, yeah. One has a licep putting the max in each year so a new offer could put her in the same boat.

56:38Surely we should be encouraging our young people with a simple way to save for their first home and not keep changing the goalposts. What should they both do? Stay as they are? I'm going to give you an answer, but don't call me Shirley. So I just need to say I watched, I showed my daughter airplane at the weekend for the first time.

56:57Martin Lewis:Hence, the surely joke is very in my head. Right. So it's very different scenarios. The help to buy ISA, the proposal is you'll be able to transfer that into the first time buyer ISA. Again, caveat, it is a proposal. So I think you would be fine with that one and may even be better off if they increase the property threshold. The lifetime ISA, you will be able to use concurrently with the first time buyer ISA under the thresholds. So your other daughter may well be fine there. What should they both do? Stay as they are? Yes. My answer would be if those products are right for them now, I don't see any reason why right now you would change anything.

57:35Now, if they're not right for them, you're planning to buy properties above the threshold, then you might want to look at doing so depending on when buying the properties. But assuming everything is right. And about the confusion, I think I have a little bit of sympathy here. I gave evidence to Treasury Committee about the lifetime ISA and I talked about its over complexity, this dual use of using it for retirement savings and a first-time buyer, which are very different usage and the way the withdrawal penalty works, which is incredibly unfair. And the fact that the big problem with lifetime ISA is mainstream providers just don't offer it because they're so scared they'll get done for mis-selling over the retirement savings element because people should be using their auto-enrolment pensions ahead of a lifetime ISA that they just didn't want that risk so they don't offer it.

58:19Martin Lewis:Well, clearly that's a broken product. So I think the new first time buy ISA, which sounds to me like it'll be similar to the old help to buy ISA, which worked well, but with some of the problems fixed, the help to buy ISA was paid at the wrong point. It's paid at completion, not exchange. It should be paid at exchange. The putting money in a month wasn't very flexible for people. I think putting money in on lump sums is a much better way to go. So it sounds like they're going back to the old help to buy ISA, just having that simple product, which I think is probably a good move. Some will like the retirement savings element, but it's all very complicated.

58:53But unfortunately, going back to something simple means that you've now got three first-time buyer ISA products, the Help to Buy, the Lifetime, and the First-Time Buyer ISA itself that will be on the market consecutively. And that does add confusion in the transition. As many Help to Buy products as there are versions of student loan repayments? No, not as many. There are way more. There are five different plans, and then even within the different plans you have, the deadline ends on that, i.e. when it's wiped depends within a plan. So, yeah, we're not quite as bad as student loan repayments, but it's going to make things fun over the next few years when I get questions on this.

59:29Yeah. Well, so John wants to know, he's got an age-sensitive question. I'm 39 and thinking of opening a Lysert before I'm too old. Do you think this is still wise? Well, you probably heard my near rant on this earlier. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Whether you should use it and put real money in is a bigger question. Whether you should open it, there's nothing in doubt. Put a pound in. Get one open. Get that facility for yourself. Rachel is linking the two topics that we've had today. Does the new interest on cash held in a stocks and shares ISA also apply to the stocks and shares LISA? Will there be restrictions from transferring from stocks and shares to cash like with other ISA types?

1:00:08If so, any thoughts on how to de-risk as people approach the access date for a stocks and shares LISA?

1:00:15Martin Lewis:Very interesting question, Rachel. I believe the proposal is this applies to all forms of ISA. So it does include the lifetime ISA. As how you would de-risk, well, short-dated gilts would be one option. Money market funds would be another. I'm not going to go in details in those. Go and do a little bit of read it. Short-dated UK government gilts can actually be very similar to saving in NS &I, but there are actually some tax advantages over the capital gains that you would pay on it the way that it works, but it needs a bit of reading. And money market funds are more like cash funds. You can't have all of your shares ISA in money market funds, but if you have just a little in something else.

1:00:55Martin Lewis:So you could use those would be some of the options that if you wanted to de-risk just before you were going to be cashing it in for some purpose. Anna wants to know, my daughter has put£4 ,000 in a Tembo cash LISA in 2024. Can you move a cash LISA to a different provider or to a stocks and shares one once it's opened? Absolutely, yes. ISAs of all varieties must be transferable to new product providers. The way that you do it is you go to the new product provider, you fill in the application form and within the application form, it will have transfer and you put the transfer details and you make sure the new provider does it.

1:01:31Martin Lewis:You don't take money out and open a new one because then you lose your ISA or LISA status in this particular case. And with a licea, you would actually have to prepare a withdrawal penalty to do that. So yeah, as long as they transfer it for you, there is no penalty. And you are allowed to move from cash to stocks and shares. Currently, you can move from stocks and shares to cash as well, but you won't be able to from next April. So yeah, you've got total flexibility. And there's a rate war at the moment, as I mentioned earlier, Moneybox at 5.8, Plum at 5.6. So many people with cash lices can easily increase their interest rate right now.

1:02:05Peter wants to know, I'm over 40 with a LISA of eight years. I opened a new one 18 months ago when I was 39 and transferred to Moneybox. The one year bonus has now expired and the rate is only 2.8%. Can I still apply to open a new LISA and transfer this to a new service provider to take advantage of a better rate? To use parliamentary language, Peter, I refer you to the answer I gave a few moments ago. Yes, you can. The fact that you're now over 40 doesn't stop you opening an ISA to transfer. The only issue, and it's the same with Anna's question before you, I'm telling you what the rules are, but providers can have their own rules.

1:02:44They don't have to accept transfers and they don't have to accept transfers from people who are over 40. So it is provider based. But I think most of the providers that I'm mentioning will allow you to open for a transfer. I'll have to double check that, but I think they will. Final straight, Simon. Let's do it. So AR will kick us off. If the£450 ,000 threshold had increased in line with inflation, what would it be? You'd think that would give a clue as to what the revised threshold would be and hopefully help a bunch of people who are stuck. So I can answer the question. If it went up with inflation, it would now, the£450 ,000 based on 2017 would be around£620 ,000.

1:03:26But I think actually it would be more likely to go up with average house prices, which would be a more sensible metric. And that's what's always been muttered. And those of us have been campaigning on that because we think that's more arguable. So that would be£550 ,000. Whether you can use that as a read-across to what the new threshold should be is a very different matter. It just depends on what the government's thinking. They may well say, hey, we don't want to pelt people who've bank houses over£450 ,000. So I don't think you can do the read across, but those are the answers. Well, last, but by no means least, we've got John.

1:03:59Can I use my Lycet to contribute to my partner's existing mortgage? If I don't own the home, what are the pros and cons of doing this? No, effectively, you would be having to get a new mortgage to buy a new property. So you could potentially buy part of your partner's property separately. You'd have to talk to a solicitor about that one. But it is quite difficult to do. I think the real key is you want to save your Lysa if and when you and your partner buy a new property together. And then you will be able to use it. But it is very difficult to do a workaround within the rules in your situation unless you're going to take ownership of that property and get a mortgage yourself to take part ownership of that property.

1:04:41And with that, you have managed to complete the questions. Thank you very much. We've done cash ICAs. We've done help to buy ICAs.

1:04:50Martin Lewis:We've done lifetime ICERS. And for the first time ever on this podcast, we've done the first time by our ICER. And I'm done.

1:05:03That's it for this week. We tend to put out a new podcast every Thursday and Monday. Our Monday one is our question time episode where you can ask me absolutely anything and everything you like within reason, close brackets. I'm not sure I open the brackets, but I close them anyway. That's what matters. If you've enjoyed today's show, please tell your friends you've been listening to the Martin Lewis podcast. And why not subscribe? And hey, why not leave us a review? A nice one would be lovely. Then your pockets will be pleased with you. And if you haven't enjoyed it and you've been listening this long, you've only got yourself to blame.

1:05:48I got the feet, so I'm going to make sure everybody eats.

1:06:18listen.

1:06:49So is he a philanthropist reshaping capitalism? Or is he just the king of the attention economy? Find out on Good Bad Billionaire. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.