The savings account you can open with £1 – and it could get you a £4,000 bonus

SAVVY savers could open a banking account with just the small change in their pocket, and benefit from THOUSANDS down the line.

Opening a Lifetime ISA (or LISA) means you get paid for stashing away your cash.

The savings account allows you to get a 25% bonus from the government on any money put away towards a first home or retirement.

If you put £4,000 into the account (the maximum amount allowed each year), you'll be given an extra £1,000 as a bonus.

But even if you can't afford to squirrel away that much, you can still get a 25% bonus on what you save.

So if you just put £1 in, you'd get an extra 25p on top after a year.

But if you managed to put in the maximum for four years, your bonus would be a whopping £4,000.

Your allowance resets at the start of each tax year, so every April 6 you can put another £4,000 in - if you have that much to spare.

But you can also only open a LISA if you are aged between 18 and 39.

Money experts like Martin Lewis have encouraged the move in the past - as it is so easy and cheap to open one, you have nothing to lose.

If you put a pound in now, even if you're not thinking of buying a house yet, then the clock starts on your bonus totting up.

The account has to be open for at least a year before you'll see the bonus added too, so it's a good idea to get started sooner rather than later.

But, it's important to only put in money that you can afford to stash away.

That's because the money in the savings account can ONLY be used on either your first property or your retirement.

There's a penalty of 25% of the amount withdrawn if you use the money for anything else.

Opening the account does have other benefits though, so you're not just sitting around waiting for the extra money to come in.

You earn tax-free interest on whatever you save as well as getting the bonus.

How do boost your money with a Lifetime Isa

Like with other forms of Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) the LISA comes in two forms, cash LISAs or stocks and shares LISAs.

Stocks and shares can be risky and your invested money could go up or down, but could grow your money more over the long-term.

A cash account, meanwhile, will pay a set interest rate like a savings account.

There area few more rules to be aware when it comes to withdrawing your cash though.

If you're saving for a first home, you'll need to be buying a property that costs £450,000 or less to qualify for the bonus.

You can't be a cash buyer and the mortgage can't be a buy-to-let deal.

And if you're putting the money away for your retirement, you can only withdraw cash from the savings account once you reach the age of 60.

That may be a long wait but the bonus is paid in every year you save something into the savings account, and this will continue until you hit the age of 50.

So you could get up to £32,000 if you opened an account at 18 and continued adding to your savings until the maximum age.

Just don't forget to shop around for the best LISA rate.

You aren't tied to one provider, so if you've got an account you can still shop around for the best rates.