To tell you about Help to Save scheme

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Sorry not really an AIBU but there is this new scheme to help low income savers and thought some of you might want to know about it.

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/help-to-save-explained

@Kittykat93
Your jobs can't be that low paid or you'd be eligible, especially if claiming childcare costs.

I have a help to save and think it's great. Like with everything sometimes you benefit sometimes you don't. I've spent years working my arse off in low paid jobs to support my kids, paying extortionate rent to private landlords. No chance of owning a house. No chance of social housing because most of it has been sold. Finally people like me have the chance to build a bit of a safety net.

Do think it should be extended to people on low incomes who can't claim tax credits though

Just joined it, thankyou

Joining and passing on thanks

@PinkGin24 you must be in agony with such a huge chip on your shoulder.

This is brilliant, thanks for letting us know.

Pinkgin, just get yourself a lower paid job. Sorted.

So hang on a minute.

You get free money from the government.
You then save this free money
You then get a free bonus on top of this free money?

Wow. I must be missing a trick somewhere!

Yes, you definitely are. Seriously, get yourself a low paid job. It's fantastic.

Even better, get ill, lose your full time job, get ill again and find you can never work full time again. Then you can claim WTC as a disabled worker. That's how I got it. Just what I need now I'm 57 and my pension has moved 10 years away. #livingthehighlife

PinkGin24 I'm not saying I wouldn't like the extra money, of course I would! I'm just saying there are people who need it more than me and I'm happy if they can get it to help them save.

The scheme is for people who work on a low income (low enough to be eligible for benefits). Surely schemes like this should exist to help people who work who happen to be on low incomes to keep working and encourage saving, instead of encouraging people to not work and sit on full benefits?

tipexy you just need to sort yourself a lower paid job and then you'll be sorted lovey.

@Cloudsurfing and why should the same not be available to people who potentially earn PENNIES over the limit of WTC!? This scheme maes people claiming benefits BETTER off than those who don't and that should never ever be the case.

Thank you for sharing this! Like @ChoriChori says it seems too good to be true but I’ve also opened one anyway! I didn’t know it existed.

I think this is a fantastic idea. We’re just out of the bracket to be eligible for anything except regular child benefit. But I’m glad this is available for those who are eligible. And it good for people who don’t see that much of a difference between not working and working in a low paid job. This is an extra incentive that helps make working more attractive.

PinkGin24 As I said before there has to be a cut off. There will always be someone just over whatever limit is set and people will moan about it whatever it is. There simply isn't enough money to give everyone everything, and if you earn more than the benefits limit you don't need it as much as those who are under it.

Also, I agree that you should never be better off claiming benefits INSTEAD of working, but this isn't about that, this is for working people who are eligible because their pay is very low. It isn't their fault that employers don't pay a decent wage.

Why do you think you should get it if you earn enough not to need benefits? Do you think everyone in the UK should get it?

minniemummy0 yes this is what I was trying to say but you said it better than me!

@Cloudsurfing, I think the amount should be variable so that regardless you NEVER (with that savings bonus) are better off than someone who isn't able to claim WTC.

how would that work? Even if the earning limit for the scheme was £100,000, there would be someone earning £100,025 who would then be 'worse off' than those on £100,000 claiming.

I think you are also forgetting that not everyone able to claim it will be able to save anywhere near the full amount, so the amount that the majority will get will probably quite a small amount when it comes to it.

I am saying it should be variable. So, as per your example, if the limit is £100,000. Someone on £99,999 should only get a 50p bonus if they save 50p (obviously those numbers are ludicrous but you get my drift).

I admit, I used to think the same as pink gin. Now I'm on the other side, single parent, working for minimum wage (But hours fit in so I only need a childminder in mornings), trying to study again to increase my earning potential to get off benefits in future...

I can see both sides.

Thank you for sharing this, I didn't know about it.

In terms of government spending, it's probably better than having a fair chunk of people's tax credits going to places like brighthouse and wonga. Four years is a long time. Most people won't save the maximum and they won't keep it in the account for the full duration, because most people with need at one big ticket item replaced during that time. At least this way they'll be able to do that rather than being in hock for five years after.

*will need

Benefits should be sufficient for people to save. Spending your entire income every month means either going into debt or making difficult choices (do I eat or heat the house) when the washing machine breaks down or the car insurance is due. Some costs are just unexpected / annual. So this feels like a good thing to me, even though I won't benefit.

I am saying it should be variable. So, as per your example, if the limit is £100,000. Someone on £99,999 should only get a 50p bonus if they save 50p (obviously those numbers are ludicrous but you get my drift)

Variable is a nice idea, but then you need complicated means testing calculations. See tax credits/universal credit - nice idea in theory that there isn't a cliff edge and the benefit tapers down so is mostly concentrated on those with the least money and goes down gradually to nothing as earnings increase, but then it seems to turn into a whole mess of mistakes and overpayments that need to be clawed back or weeks and weeks with no money until it gets sorted out.

It shouldn't be beyond the wit of (wo)man to knock up a few spreadsheet functions to calculate entitlements based on what appears to be a fairly simple formula/set of rules, but endless complaints on here, in the news etc prove the opposite.

Looks like a very good idea indeed. I wish there was something similar that I could save with, I don't qualify for that. I'll certainly recommend anyone eligible to have a look at it.

You only need to get ctc, not wtc. You just have to be eligible for wtc. This actually means get £0 in wtc but get ctc.