Why a pensions might be better than a Junior ISA for your kids
Mouthy Money: Building wealth with long term investing and saving strategiesShow Notes
Ed pays £50 a month into a junior ISA for each of his sons. At 18 it's legally theirs, and he can't do a thing about it. So what happens if he uses a pension instead? Full description Every month he puts £50 into a junior ISA for each of his two sons. On their eighteenth birthdays that money becomes theirs outright — no conditions, no drip-feed, no veto. So Ed modelled the alternative: the same £50 a month into a junior SIPP, a self-invested personal pension. Children get 20% tax relief despite paying no tax, which means £50 goes in as £62.50. Over a lifetime, that relief alone is worth £82,000. The catch is that they can't touch it until 57 at the earliest, and probably 60 by the time his sons get there. Chris and Ed work through the whole model — the tax relief, the charges, the inflation problem — and argue about whether an 18-year-old can be trusted with the money at all. We both end up somewhere we didn't expect. The numbers, at 8% growth and 0.5% annual charges: £10,200 paid in over 17 years becomes £19,930 in a junior ISA at 18, or £24,912 in a junior SIPP. Left alone to 60, that SIPP reaches £511,675. Restart contributions at 22 and it reaches £661,264, against £529,012 for the ISA. Raise charges to 1.2% and £181,915 disappears. Double the contribution to £100 a month and the pot hits £1,322,529 — which 3% inflation reduces to £231,211 in today's money. (00:00) I think I've been doing this wrong(01:12) The junior ISA as it stands(02:32) Chris makes the case for the ISA(05:02) Would an 18-year-old actually blow it?(06:31) The tax relief is worth £82,000(07:20) Junior ISA against junior SIPP at 18(09:01) What happens if they restart at 22(09:40) When can they actually access a pension?(10:30) What charges do to all of this(13:00) Only 23% of UK workers are on track for a moderate retirement(15:43) What £100 a month becomes(17:36) The inflation problem nobody talks about(20:00) Tax on the way out(20:49) What Chris is doing(21:23) What I've decided to do Full tables and charts, at both contribution levels and both charge scenarios, in cash and in today's money: [Substack link] Retirement Living Standards figures from Pensions UK, 2026 update, calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University. Neither of us is a financial adviser and none of this is financial advice. All projections are illustrations based on stated assumptions, not forecasts. Investment returns are not guaranteed and tax rules change.
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Ed and his family spent the best part of £6,000 to £7,000 on two holidays abroad this year. Their old VW Polo then needed £700 for a service and about £1,000 more in repairs, which is more than the car is worth. The loan on their other car was ending at the same time, freeing up £300 a month. Ed explains how the family weighed those three pressures and decided on a converted VW Transporter camper van. Chris Tuite puts the money questions to him. They cover diesel at close to £2 a litre, insurance at £33 a month and a £400-a-month loan in place of PCP. Ed also explains how he checked a used van's MOT history before buying, and how the van doubles as somewhere to sleep after late trains home from London. 00:00 The big decision 02:03 What our holidays cost 07:33 The Polo's repair bill 08:36 Three things at once 10:54 The van we bought 11:52 The super commuter 15:52 Fuel and insurance 19:04 Checking a used van's MOT history 22:13 How we're paying for it 24:15 Holidays with small kids
Around 827,000 young adults in the UK have a Child Trust Fund they have never claimed. The average unclaimed pot is worth £2,310, according to HMRC. The government opened one of these accounts for every child born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. Each started with at least £250, and many families never knew where the money went. Edmund Greaves speaks to Ged Killen of HMRC about how to track down a lost account. He explains what details you need, how long the search takes and what your options are once the account matures at 18. He also says why you should never pay a tracing agent, or hand over your bank details, to find it. Search "Find a Child Trust Fund" on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds The full breakdown is on the Mouthy Money Substack: https://mouthymoney.substack.com/
Andy Burnham has announced the end of the pensions triple lock, but the change doesn't start until 2030 and your state pension still rises in full next April. Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite unpack the three big money announcements from Labour's conference. These are the new state pension formula, the Your First Home scheme for first-time buyers and new council powers over empty homes. They finish with the changes already locked in for April 2027, covering the state pension, cash ISAs and inheritance tax on pensions. 0:00 Intro 2:01 The end of the triple lock 7:52 Your First Home scheme 16:33 Councils taking over empty homes 20:28 What's coming in April 2027 This episode is for information only and is not financial advice.
Nearly half of people paying into a workplace pension can't say how much their employer puts in, and one in five don't know whether their employer would pay more if they did. Paul Davies, pensions expert at Which?, joins Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite to work through new Which? research: what the law says your employer must pay, why the percentages are not taken from your whole salary, how matching works and what to check on your own payslip this week. Edmund and Chris test themselves on air first. The episode also covers how often the legal minimum is all an employer pays, how public sector schemes differ and what the Pensions Commission could change when it reports. Paul's Which? guide to public sector pensions: https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/saving-for-retirement/what-is-a-public-sector-pension-aobOd3f81QK1 Our earlier episode on the £100,000 pension tipping point: https://youtu.be/bjEh2c-4R9I Get the Mouthy Money newsletter: https://mouthymoney.substack.com Research: Deltapoll surveyed 1,294 UK working adults for Which? between 14 and 17 August 2026. General information rather than financial advice. Pension values can fall as well as rise.
From 6 April 2029 the government will cap the National Insurance saving on salary sacrifice pension contributions. The first £2,000 a year stays free of National Insurance, and everything above that will be taxed like ordinary pay. The CIPP puts 3.3 million workers in scope. Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite explain what salary sacrifice is, why middle earners gain more from it than high earners do, and what the cap actually changes. National Insurance falls from 8% to 2% above the higher-rate threshold, which is why someone earning £28,000 saves proportionally more than someone on £80,000. They also work through the drawbacks of carrying a lower gross salary, from mortgage affordability and maternity pay to income protection and redundancy, and answer whether any of it affects your state pension. Nothing changes until April 2029. Check your payslip to find out whether you are already on salary sacrifice, and talk to HR or payroll if you are not sure. Chapters 00:00 The perk in your payslip that's about to be taxed 00:48 What we cover in this episode 01:28 The law has already passed 02:33 Why the £100,000 threshold matters so much 04:24 Fiscal drag is pulling more people in 05:26 How salary sacrifice actually works 07:02 Why the highest earners gain the least 08:06 The numbers at £28,000, £50,000 and £80,000 10:14 The catches: mortgages, maternity pay and cover 14:08 What changes in April 2029 15:19 The cliff edges at £60,000 and £100,000 17:15 What to do before 2029 19:44 Chris's verdict and the name problem 20:56 Over to you