As the sun sets on a tax-free scheme used by nearly a million people, there are calls for a better deal on retirement saving
Emilia Farr opened a lifetime Isa when the accounts went on sale in 2017 as a way to save for her retirement. But having built up a pot of £76,000, the self-employed IT worker was shocked to hear that the accounts are being pensioned off.
“For me, [opening one] was a no-brainer. I treat it like a pension, and the government bonus is a real incentive to save,” says Farr, 40, who lives in London.
She adds: “If you’re employed, even if you do nothing, you have a pension – but it’s very different for the self-employed.”
Lifetime Isas have proved to be a hit with millennials and generation Z: the number of “live” accounts has jumped by 45% in two years and now stands at almost a million (an estimated 964,000 in 2023-24, according to the most recent official data).
