UK Lifetime ISA (LISA) Calculator 2024-25
Calculate your Lifetime ISA growth including the 25% government bonus (up to £1,000/year) for first home purchases or retirement savings. 2024/25 rules.
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How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your planned annual contribution. The tool limits it to the annual figure built into it for this page and ignores anything above.
- 2
Enter any balance you already hold, the expected annual return and how many years until you need the money.
- 3
Pick first home purchase or retirement. This only changes the reminder lines shown beneath the result; the projection itself is the same either way.
- 4
Read the projected balance alongside your contributions, the bonus total and the growth, then change the return or the period to compare scenarios.
Frequently asked questions
How does this tool add the government bonus?
It takes 25% of your annual contribution, adds it to the contribution, divides the total by 12 and treats the result as a level monthly deposit into the pot. The bonus therefore compounds along with your own money for the whole period. The bonus rate and the cap are figures built into this tool, labelled 2024-25.
What contribution limit does the tool apply?
Any annual contribution above the figure built into this tool, £4,000, is cut back to it before anything else is worked out, so entering £6,000 produces exactly the same result as entering £4,000. The maximum bonus line is a fixed text of £1,000 on £4,000. Contributions already made in earlier years are assumed to sit in your current balance.
Does your current balance earn a bonus?
No. The existing balance is compounded at the return you enter, but only the new annual contributions attract the 25% addition. If the balance already includes bonus paid in earlier years, it will simply grow with the rest of the pot.
What do the first home and retirement options change?
Only the explanatory lines. First home shows the property price limit and a first-time-buyer reminder as text built into this tool; retirement shows an access-age reminder and a note that withdrawals are tax-free. The projected balance does not change, and the tool does not check your age, how long the account has been open or whether a purchase qualifies.
What does the withdrawal penalty line mean?
It is a fixed note stating a 25% charge, described in the tool as returning the bonus plus 6.25% of contributions. It is not deducted from the projected balance. For example, a charge of 25% on a £5,000 pot would be £1,250, which is the bonus of £1,000 plus £250. The tool does not model whether a withdrawal would be charged.
What happens with zero, cleared or negative values?
A return of 0% is honoured and produces a straight-line total of balance plus contributions plus bonus. A cleared box counts as 0 because the page turns an empty number box into 0, so it does not fall back to the 5% or 10-year starting values. A period of 0 returns your current balance, and negative contributions or balances are treated as zero.
Does the projection include charges or tax?
It includes neither. The return is one steady percentage with no platform or fund charges, no inflation adjustment and no yearly variation. The rules, rates and limits can change at least every tax year, the tool’s tables are not refreshed automatically, and HMRC or a qualified adviser decides what applies to you.
Lifetime ISA projections: how a 25% bonus compounds over the years
How the bonus enters the projection
The tool first limits your annual contribution to the cap built into it, then adds 25% of that amount to give a total yearly input. That total is split into twelve equal monthly deposits, and the future-value formula for regular payments compounds them at your monthly rate, which is the annual return divided by 12. Your existing balance is compounded separately and added. Because the bonus is deposited alongside your own money rather than at the end, it earns growth for most of the period, which is why the pot grows faster than your contributions plus a lump of bonus would suggest.
Three worked examples
With the default inputs, £4,000 a year for 10 years at 5% from a zero balance, the tool projects £64,701: £40,000 of your own contributions, £10,000 of bonus and £14,701 of growth. Entering £6,000 a year with £2,000 already saved, 0% return and 8 years is cut to £4,000 a year, so contributions are £32,000, bonus is £8,000 and the pot is £42,000, which includes the £2,000 starting balance. At £2,400 a year, 6% and 5 years, the pot is £17,443, made of £12,000 contributed, £3,000 bonus and £2,443 growth.
Contribution level against pot size
The table keeps the return at 5% and the period at 10 years and changes only the annual contribution. Each of the first three rows grows in proportion to the contribution, since the bonus is a fixed 25% of it. The fourth row shows the cap at work: £6,000 is entered but the result is identical to £4,000.
| Annual contribution entered | Projected balance | Your contributions | Bonus total | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,200 | £19,410 | £12,000 | £3,000 | £4,410 |
| £2,400 | £38,821 | £24,000 | £6,000 | £8,821 |
| £4,000 | £64,701 | £40,000 | £10,000 | £14,701 |
| £6,000 (capped to £4,000) | £64,701 | £40,000 | £10,000 | £14,701 |
What the purpose setting does and does not do
Choosing first home or retirement does not alter the arithmetic. It changes the reminder lines at the bottom of the result: a property price limit and first-time-buyer wording for the first home option, an access-age note for the retirement option. A fixed line also describes a 25% charge for other withdrawals. None of this is applied to the balance, and the tool does not test your age, how long you have held the account or whether a purchase would qualify.
Keeping the figures in context
The 25% bonus rate, the annual cap and the descriptive lines are the figures built into this tool, labelled 2024-25. Bonus rates, limits and withdrawal terms change at least every tax year, the tool’s tables are not updated automatically, and HMRC or a qualified adviser governs what applies to you. Use the result to compare return and time-horizon scenarios, not as a forecast.
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Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →