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How to make your child a millionaire before 40!
Most parents would like to ensure their children have a strong financial footing when they are older, but don’t always know the best way to do this. There are many ways to support your children financially throughout their lifetime, but what if there was a way to make them a millionaire before they even reached retirement age? Here we look at the best ways to put money aside for your children and how you can maximise the benefits of compound interest to make your child a “millionaire”!
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The first step to saving for your children’s future is understanding your saving options. Here are the most common options that benefit from tax-free growth:
Junior ISA(JISA)
From the day a child is born you can put money into a JISA for them. The current contribution limit is £9,000 per tax year (or £750 per month) and you have the choice of a Junior Investment ISA or a Junior Cash ISA. The most important benefit of a JISA is that any gains made, or interest earned will be tax-free!
If we assume you receive an average annual net return of 5% per year and you save the maximum of £9,000 every tax year, from the day your child is born until they turn 18, you will have contributed a total of £162,000 to their account. However, due to the magic of compound interest (where you earn interest on interest), they will have a pot of over £265,000 saved in a tax-efficient wrapper, what a great 18th birthday present!
At their 18th birthday they can transfer their JISA into an Adult ISA to continue to receive tax-free interest/ investment returns.
Junior Self-Invested Personal Pension (Junior SIPP)
Setting up a pension up for your children may seem like you are overly preparing but this can actually give your children a significant head start. The maximum you can currently save into a Junior SIPP is £2,880 per tax year, and the UK government will add tax 20% tax relief of £720 per tax year, which would bring the total contribution to £3,600. If you can contribute to your child’s Junior SIPP for 18 years and again assuming a 5% growth rate, you will have contributed £51,840 but their pension pot will be worth £106,340 due to the added tax relief. If your child doesn’t contribute to the pension again, by age 57* they could have a pension pot worth around £712,986. Similar to the JISA, any gains made within the SIPP are exempt from tax, and based on current pension rules, you can take up to 25% as a tax-free lump sum upon reaching retirement age.
Recent statistics released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated how the average pension wealth for all persons in the UK is £67,800 at age 57*, highlighting how starting to save early can set your child up for their future and give them a greater opportunity in retirement or even to retire early.
How to make your child a millionaire!
And this is how to do it! If you do the following and assume a 5% growth rate per annum:
- Open a JISA before your child’s first birthday and contribute £9,000 every year until age 18. This results in a total contribution of £162,000 (18 years x £9,000).
- Open a Junior SIPP before your child’s first birthday and contribute £3,600 (including tax relief) to the Junior SIPP every year up to their 18th birthday. This totals 18 years x £2,880 (or £3,600 with tax relief) which equals £51,840 (£64,800)
This would mean you will have contributed a total of £226,800 (including tax relief) to the JISA (£162,000), and Junior SIPP (£64,800). At age 18 when you stop contributing, they could have a total net worth of £372,191 when taking into account compound interest and growth. If they leave this money invested and continue to achieve 5% per year growth, by age 39 they could have a total net worth of just over £1million (£1,036,911), although the funds in the pension would not be accessible until age 57*.
At that point the pension fund could have grown to £712,986, while the ISA, could be worth £1,782,465 if it remained untouched too - an extraordinary total of almost £2.5m. That is a gift worth giving.
The power of starting to save early
Using the same assumptions as above, with a 5% annual growth rate and maximising both Junior SIPP and JISA contributions until age 18:
| Starting from date of birth | Starting at age 5 | Starting at age 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JISA Value at age 30 | £477,430 | £300,604 | £162,056 |
| Junior SIPP value at age 30 | £190,972 | £120,242 | £64,823 |
| Total Value at age 30 | £668,402 | £420,846 | £226,879 |
This shows the benefits you can provide by starting the process of saving early for your child through compounding the interest or investment returns. This is a representation of how you can save for your children and assumes maximum contributions are made at each birthday, but we understand the circumstances for each parent and child will be different and may require different forms of financial planning, such as monthly contributions instead of lump sums.
Despite the examples above, it is never too late to start. If you would like to understand how, The Private Office can structure savings and investments for you and your children to help provide the whole family with a strong financial future. So why not get in touch for a free initial consultation.
* Based on current pension regulation, where the normal minimum pension age is increasing to age 57 from April 2028.
If you would like to know more about this topic, one of our Partners Kirsty Stone appeared on BBC Radio 4 Money Box live, giving her suggestions in a programme all about saving for children.
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This article is intended for general information only, it does not constitute individual advice and should not be used to inform financial decisions.
All the calculations in this article assume that lump sum contributions are made for 18 years, from birth, unless otherwise stated, to the 17th birthday and are not adjusted for inflation.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) does not regulate tax or cash advice.
The growth rates provided are for illustrative purposes only. Investment returns can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. You may get back less than you originally invested. Investments may be subject to advice fees and product charges which will impact the overall level of return you achieve.
