Martin Lewis: 'How the new Starter Investment ISA could work – a possible boost to investing'

We don't have much detail yet, but my suggestion was not for a new ISA. The ISA regime is already complicated. It was that first-time investors in a shares ISA should get a bonus on the money they put in.

This is something I first suggested to the former Chancellor Rachel Reeves (and repeated to the current Chancellor John Healey), when she was discussing reducing the cash ISA allowance "not to raise revenue but to get young people to invest". I thought it would be better to use a carrot rather than a stick.

As a totem, it would be a bonus of, say, 10% or 15% on the first £2,000 to £3,000 – though research needs doing on what the sweet spot is.

Some investment firms do offer intro bonuses at the moment, but it's patchy and marketing-driven. If you built it as a set allowance, people would understand it's constantly available, and it would be easier for someone like me to communicate without having to get involved in undue prominence for specific deals.

The concept is simple. Many people are risk averse and don't invest. But if you're putting money away for more than five years that you don't need in a broad spread of investments, it should hopefully substantially outperform savings.

The idea is to give nervous first-time investors an incentive to dip their toe in the water, knowing that because of the bonus - they've got wriggle room that if things did fall in the short term, they could still have more than they put in.

That was the concept. And that way, once they get used to it, some will be willing to continue and use the rest of their stocks and shares ISA, if they're lucky enough to have the money. Plus, if combined with an easy starter system that includes basic investment education, it could be a really powerful way to get more young people on the investment track.

I hope it comes to fruition and the investment sector adopts it. In many ways, what it's doing is standardising the minimum marketing incentive for a new first-timer, which firms occasionally offer anyway. As long as they're offering that minimum, they could say they're doing the official Starter Investment scheme. And if it's organised right, there's potential for it to be funded by the investment sector rather than by the state.

I hope you'll think it's worthy of the discussion.