David Brooks, Technical Director at Broadstone, comments on George Osborne’s introduction of a Lifetime ISA:

“The Lifetime ISA, with a combination of pension and mortgage saving, sounds like a very interesting idea but is surely the thin end of the wedge. With the age of 40 set rather arbitrarily it isn’t hard to see (if successful and with high take up) that it couldn’t be opened up to all savers in due course. However, the Government will want to be wary of wealthy pension savers already maxed out on existing allowances using it to squirrel away more money and so perhaps some form of exemption will need to be established.

 “It doesn’t seem to tick the box of saving much in tax relief but as a move to shake up the pensions industry for the future, George has certainly laid his cards on the table. The future is Pension ISA. Great news for pension providers – a savings boost will help their bottom line as pension freedoms sees large payments going out at the other end (the retirees).”