HM Treasury The Saving Gateway - £400 for Free!

koru

They did a similar trial in the US. Take a look at the H&R Block study on this site: http://www.retirementsecurityproject.org/index.html

This related to retirement savings - people were offered up to a 50% match: if they invested $1000, the government added $500. But even with that deal, only one on six people invested anything. (The participants were not well off.)

yogibunny

I received an 'invitation' from HM Treasury to apply for a Savings Gateway account at local Halifax branches. It says that the Government will match every £5 of my savings with £1 from Government. This is for 18 months only, and with max £125 per month allowed to be put in. It seems that it is specifically for households where earnings are less that £25,000 or household less than £50,000, or where benefits are claimed.

The letter says it is testing it in my area (Cambs). I wondered how many other people received this, and whether it is a good idea? You only get the Government cash at the end of the 18 months, and you can withdraw in the meantime.

Any thoughts?

Angela

Message from Board Guide - Posted started another thread, I have merged it into this thread

Milarky

Angela,

It's 'free money', so take it!

[Work back through this thread to pick up more details about the specifics of how this scheme works, and many of the questions you may have will probably be anwsered there]

But what strikes me is that someone like yourself is reacting to an 'official letter' with some uncertainty, as though something about it is putting you off? This is the last reaction that the government wants its initiatives to produce.

Can I ask if there's anything specific about the approach you received you found offputting? [eg that it was unsolicited ? that they mention income levels - which might imply they knew about your personal household circumstances - the rather 'folksy name' of Savings Gateway - which for your information was the name of the U.S. scheme it is modelled on - like the 'New Deal'?]

The main aspect of the Savings Gateway - as far as I can understand - is that you save a regular amount for a set period for a guaranteed return - and that no interest is paid on the account as such - the 'free money' simply gets added to it at the end. Nothing more than that really

tk

well we got a letter, and being on benefits we wondered if it was some kind of scam to see if we can save, lets face it most people would assume we shouldnt be able to save at all, especially our neighbours!
also after discussing the letter with family and friends, we have been told it may be a tax scam, or a way to get us off benefits if we end up with too much saved.
as the letter is in his name i cant take up the scheme and he is too wary to do it, so thats us £400 worse off!
people just dont trust the government or the benefits agency 1 bit!

yogibunny

Milarky - thanks for reply. I guess MSE has just instilled a gut instinct to question all banks/institutional offers - especially when they seem too good to be true. My instinct was to check on the wealth of wisdom here before jumping the gun. I also wasn't sure whether the rates of return were actually going to end up better than another method of saving.

Also, our letter wasn't addressed to anyone specific, and I assumed that it was through child tax credits that they knew our income levels. I'm actually less comfortable with the the approach using MORI etc and random phone numbers etc to get the sample.

Still having read the correspondence I am encouraged to go for it - only problem is we have no money to save... and in Camb we have to manage 2,000 to get 400. Not very likely in our current situation it must be said. But, it is an incentive to try...

Cheers,
Angela

rchddap1

My parents have just received one of these letters and are going to go for it....if only I could have one too....

cw182

Sorry to join in late on this thread, but I just received one of these invites today. I live in South Yorkshire where the maximum amount to save is £400 over 18 months and the government match each £2 with £1, i.e. a free £200 after 18 months. I'm not quite sure as to how or why I received the invite - we don't claim any benefits, own outright a £200k property, have 10s of thousands in savings and shares, and don't have a single account with Halifax - but hey, I'm from Yorkshire and if I can get £200 for free I will do! We still qualify since our household income is below the £50k max.

Strangely enough the actual invite is not personally addressed to anyone, just the household. It also states that only one account is allowed. The Halifax deal with it all and get your custom at the end (or so they hope). Seems like another case of New Labour dishing out taxpayer's hard earned money but hey, for once I'm on the receiving end. :T

System

tk wrote:

well we got a letter, and being on benefits we wondered if it was some kind of scam to see if we can save, lets face it most people would assume we shouldnt be able to save at all, especially our neighbours!
also after discussing the letter with family and friends, we have been told it may be a tax scam, or a way to get us off benefits if we end up with too much saved.
as the letter is in his name i cant take up the scheme and he is too wary to do it, so thats us £400 worse off!
people just dont trust the government or the benefits agency 1 bit!

But people on benefits are allowed to have a certain amount before it affects their benefits. Years ago when i was on benefits, if i hadnt saved throughout the year, my kids wouldnt have had anything for christmas as i didnt want to go into debt. As for your neighbours, well they dont have to know do they? After all, it is a bank. Can i suggest, before you bin the invite, you find out how much in the way of savings your allowed to have before you start losing benefits.

justme

I got an invite today. I too thought it sounded too good to be true. I live in Lancashire and no one in the household is on benefits and we get £400 off the government for £800 saved. Sounds wonderful.