I’m already investing for my eight-year-old – it’s better than saving cash

When Jim Butcher was a youngster, he did not have any idea about savings. His parents had not taught him about it and they themselves knew nothing about things like the stock market or investing.

“I think they bought me a premium bond of £10 when I was about five – then 30 years later, it was still worth the same price. If they had known about the stock market and things like that, they could have done more to teach me about financial things, such as investing.”

Jim, 51, who is married to Malin and has three children – Emma, 15, Tom, 13 and Lucy, 10, began investing in stocks and shares himself a few years ago and became interested in the topic. He and Malin, who is a nurse, decided they wanted to start saving for their children’s future and set up Junior stocks and shares ISAs for all three of them when they were aged eight, 10 and 13.

They opened the accounts about three years ago with an initial £1,000 and have added £500 a year since then. All three children now have around £4,000 in their Junior ISAs and the money has massively outperformed what they would have had in a cash savings account.

Jim, who lives in Farnham, Surrey and works in communications, said: “We belatedly started saving for our pensions and learned more about the stock market and tax free savings and decided we wanted to save for our children’s future alongside our own.

“The future does seem very uncertain right now with the inability for younger generations to afford university fees, save for a property, let alone get a job, so it felt like a good idea to set them on the road as soon as we could.”

New research reveals that just one in five UK parents are investing for their child’s future, even though the majority of them have set up bank accounts.

But this means parents – and children – are missing out on investment returns and tax-free interest, according to the findings from investing and trading platform IG.

The study is part of a joint initiative with parenting app Peanut to raise awareness among parents of the long term benefits of investing as a way to support their child’s future.

While most parents are putting money aside for their children, only 21 per cent have opened a Junior stocks and shares ISA for their child, while 25 per cent have opened a Junior cash ISA. This compares with 55 per cent of parents who have set up a standard bank account for their child.

How much more investments can make compared to savings

Even though the stock market can be more volatile with ups and downs, over the longer-term, the results can far out-perform cash savings accounts.

In the tax year 2021/2022, when he opened his children’s Junior stocks and shares ISAs, with the initial £1,000, the percentage return was actually minus 9.87 per cent. However, the following year, in the tax year 2022/2023, the return was 17.76 per cent.

In 2023/2024, the return was 25.71 per cent and in 2024/2025, it was 8.32 per cent.

This meant the portfolio value for each of his children’s accounts in 2025 was £3,469. Since then, the parents have added another £500.

By contrast, if this money had been held in a cash ISA at the average return over the same period, the percentage return in 2021/2022 would have been 3.5 per cent, in 2022/2023, it would have been 5.25 per cent, in 2023/2024, it would have been 4.75 per cent and in 2024/2025, it would have been 3.75 per cent. This would have meant a value of £2,818 for each account – significantly less.

Jim says it will be up to their children what they use their money for in the future, but they hope they will ideally keep investing for 10 years or longer to allow the money to grow and benefit from compounding.

“It’s up to them how they choose to spend the money ultimately, but we’d want to avoid them cleaning the account out early for university fees or a car.

“Hopefully, they’ll continue to build up the savings themselves once they see the value of longer term investment.

“If they wanted to use some of it to fund some life-changing backpacking trip down the line, we wouldn’t argue. It’s how we met and if we can help them see the world and experience different cultures, that’s some of the best education they’ll ever get.”

Jim wants his children to learn the educational aspect of saving from a young age and realise that drip feeding money into the stock market could give them a chance of credible returns over the long term.

“We want them to understand how important it is to save. When I was around 20, saving was the last thing on my mind and life was just about getting through to the next pay packet and having some beer money in my pocket.”

Angelina Ong, senior investments analyst at IG, said: “The word uncertain barely scratches the surface of the world today’s children are growing up in.

“That is why many are looking beyond traditional savings and towards investments that have the potential to grow over the long term.

“While cash savings provide security, they can struggle to keep pace with inflation over time. For goals that may be 0, 15 or 18 years away – whether that is university, a first home or greater financial independence – investing offers the potential for significantly stronger long-term growth.

“While investing carries risks and returns are never guaranteed, for many families, the bigger risk may be missing out on years of potential growth by keeping long-term savings entirely in cash.”

People are encouraged to speak to a financial adviser if they are looking to invest large sums of money.