Jonathan likes LISA

Hi everyone! This month I’d like to talk about one of my favourite Snoops from the app ‘My favourite savings and investment apps…’.

I read a few reviews on most of the apps suggested and the three I looked in to further were Moneybox, Freetrade and Wealthify.

My niece recently turned 18 and finally had access to some inheritance money her grandfather left her. We spoke online about what she should do with it and she told me she would like to use some of it for a deposit on a house.

After learning about Moneybox from Snoop I suggested she open a LISA (Lifetime ISA) and for every £4,000 a year she saved in the account the government would add an extra £1,000. I thought this was a great way to for her to save up a deposit, so I helped her set up an account. The app was simple and user friendly and she was able to set up an account and start saving almost instantly.

Be aware though, a LISA can only be used to buy your first property or for retirement. If you withdraw for any other reason you will lose the bonus payment.

I also set up Wealthify and Freetrade accounts for myself. The Wealthify app is the easier of the two investment apps as the app does all the investing for you. After signing up the app asks you a few questions to gauge your risk tolerance, income and investment style. After depositing, the app will invest your money for you into one of their funds. There is also an articles section on the app which I enjoyed reading through to learn more about investing. 

Freetrade is a little more complicated as you must pick the stocks yourself but as the title suggests there are no management fees and is free to use.

Before signing up to any of these kinds of apps I always search to see if there are any kind of sign-up bonuses. Both Wealthify and Freetrade offer referral bonuses and once you’ve signed up you can also share a referral link to invite others. 

Wealthify offer 5% cashback to you and a friend when they deposit £500 and stay invested for 3 months.

Freetrade’s offer is a free share worth up to £200 for both you and a friend after they deposit £1. 

So, after receiving the sign-up bonuses and then using my referral links to sign up my partner I was already off to a flying start. 

One final tip before I go, if you ever get stuck on what to do or how to use these kinds of apps I found some great tutorial videos by searching the companies on Youtube, they give great advice with step by step guides. 

There are also plenty of reviews from ordinary people just giving their honest opinion on the apps to help you along the way.