My Money Week and opportunities in ISAs

My Money Week is a national initiative from Young Enterprise, designed to equip young people with the financial skills they need to thrive. ISAs offer a valuable opportunity to build these skills and start investing early, as Miranda Seath, Director of Market Insight & Fund Sectors at The Investment Association (IA) explains:

Through greater awareness and understanding, we can empower young people to feel confident in investing and ensure they are prepared to reach their future financial goals. ISAs play a key role in helping people build confidence in investing, offering a tax-efficient way to start putting money to work and plan for the future.

Our 2026 ISA Barometer survey found that Cash ISA use increased from 31% to 40% and Stocks & Shares ISA use increased from 16% to 21% year-on-year. Despite the increase in ISA holdings across the UK, our research shows there remains knowledge gaps about key features, with increasing complexity and policy changes impacting consumers’ confidence and engagement with various ISA vehicles.  

53% of Cash ISA holders believe the ISA system is becoming too complicated: preserving a simpler ISA landscape could help consumers more confidently navigate the ISA system and contribute to increasing usage.

Despite the shifting landscape, it is encouraging to see that younger generations are demonstrating increased confidence with investing, with our research showing that 1 in 5 Gen Z and Millennials hold a Stocks and Shares ISA. This is particularly evident for younger generations putting money aside to buy their first homes, where younger savers are more likely to hold a Lifetime ISA, with ownership reaching 19% among Gen Z and 15% among Millennials. 

Among investors, there is also a good level of confidence in investing in UK companies as a means to grow wealth. Just over two in three investors (67%) are confident that investing in UK companies would help to achieve their financial goals, higher than confidence in the US (54%) and Global (65%) markets. Younger investors are the most interested in investing in their home markets, with three-quarters of Gen Z (71%) and Millennials (74%) saying they like the idea of investing in UK companies through a Stocks & Shares ISA.

Building a stronger culture of retail investment requires encouraging people to start investing earlier in life, enabling individuals to benefit from the long-term advantages of compounding and allowing their savings to grow steadily over time. We are seeing a growing group of young people making the decision to invest and this represents a positive change. However, it’s important for all generations to have a strong understanding of the various ISAs available and the role they play in helping them reaching their personal and financial goals, whether that’s providing income in retirement or purchasing a home.  

It is therefore vital that initiatives such as the Invest for the Future campaign continue to raise awareness of the benefits of long-term investing, improve understanding of investment risk, and give more people the confidence to invest through a Stocks and Shares ISA. Improved financial education will help to ensure future generations are well informed to make smart investment decisions to build financial resilience.