What is a lifetime ISA?
A lifetime ISA is an ISA with a government bonus that can help you save for your first home or retirement.
Lifetime ISA rules explained
- You can save up to £4,000 into your lifetime ISA each year, subject to contributions made to other types of ISA. Your total ISA annual allowance limit - including your lifetime ISA - is £20,000.
- You get a 25% government bonus on your savings if you use the money to buy your first home or to pay for your retirement (from the age of 60). For every £4 you save the government tops this up with a £1 bonus, up to a maximum of £1,000 each year.
- Withdrawals that are not for a first time house purchase or for your retirement after you are 60 years old will be subject to a 25% withdrawal charge, which means you could get back less than you pay in.
- Your lifetime ISA must be open for 12 months before it can be used to buy your first home, otherwise it will incur a 25% government withdrawal charge.
- Lifetime ISAs can be saved in cash or invested in stocks and shares. Stocks and shares tend to provide greater potential for growth over the long term, but they also carry greater risk that the value of your investment could fall. OneFamily's Lifetime ISA invests in stocks and shares so its value can go down as well as up meaning you could get back less than has been paid in.
- You can transfer to a lifetime ISA from a cash ISA, stocks and shares ISA, or matured Child Trust Fund - so long as the value is £4,000 or less. The same applies to anyone under 40 with a Help to Buy ISA.
Got a Help to Buy ISA? Find out more about the differences here.

Lifetime ISA eligibility
To be eligible to open a lifetime ISA you must be:
- a UK resident
- aged between 18 and 39
Once opened you can continue contributing to your lifetime ISA until you are 50.
If you already have a lifetime ISA, you can still open a new one. However, you can only pay into one each tax year and only receive the bonus on one lifetime ISA at a time.
Watch our Lifetime ISA video
Find out how you could get a £1,000 government bonus towards your first home or retirement with the OneFamily Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA.
How to use a lifetime ISA for first-time buyers
You can withdraw all or some of your lifetime ISA balance when you purchase your first home, but there's a few important points to consider:
How to use a lifetime ISA for retirement
After your 60th birthday you can withdraw some or all your savings, tax-free and without penalty. Tax advantages depend on your individual circumstances and could change in the future.
Open a lifetime ISA with OneFamily
Find out more about our Lifetime ISA, which invests in stocks and shares, and apply here:
Looking for more information on our Lifetime ISAs?
Read our lifetime ISA FAQs or use our lifetime ISA calculator to see how your investments could grow over time.
