Hundreds of children are sitting on Junior Isa pots worth over £100,000, This Is Money can reveal.

Over 2 million children currently hold a Junior Isa (Jisa), a popular tax-efficient vehicle which lets their parents grow a savings pot that the child can access once they turn 18.

While some parents and grandparents may put a small amount into a Jisa every month, others have committed to the maximum annual limit.

This was £3,600 when the Jisa launched in 2011, rising to £4,260 in 2018, £4,368 in 2019 and then leaping to £9,000 in 2020.

Now, a freedom of information request by financial advisory firm NFU Mutual reveals that 50 children have Jisa pots worth £200,000 or more.

That far exceeds the maximum amount the parents could have paid in each year since Jisas launched, with the rest coming from returns on investments in stocks and shares Jisas. 

Savings bonanza: Hundreds of children have six figures in their Junior Isa 

Overall, approximately 2,025,750 individuals held Jisas in the 2022-23 tax year.

Some 680 individuals had a pot worth between £90,000 and £99,999.99 at the end of the 2022/23 tax year. 

Nearly 400 parents have saved between £100,000 and £109,999.99, with a further 220 sitting on pots worth between £110,000 and £119,999.99.

Junior cash Isas – find the top rates using This is Money’s savings tables 

Should you save or invest a Jisa pot? 

Like adult Isas, Jisas have both cash and stocks and shares options. 

The average amount put in in the 2022-23 tax year was £1,220, according to the government’s data, which also shows that 42 per cent of the £1.5 billion saved was in cash.

While keeping the savings in cash can be a lower-risk option, putting the money aside over 18 years means it’s likely to lose money thanks to inflation.

The longer time period also gives more of an opportunity to ride out stock market ups and downs.  

Chris Hood, personal finance expert at NFU Mutual, told This Is Money: ‘Parents and grandparents are increasingly looking at junior Isas as a tax-efficient way to invest for a child’s future – particularly as they are considering the implications of proposed inheritance tax changes.

‘Junior Isas are a great way to help save for a house deposit or university fees in a tax-efficient environment, but many families are missing out on potentially higher long-term returns by sticking with cash-based junior Isas rather than investing in a stocks and shares Isa.’ 

A Jisa is invested differently to a standard stocks and shares Isa because it is often invested over a longer period of time.

Hood added: ‘It is important that the overall investing time horizon is considered as this allows an opportunity to take on more risk in the portfolio and achieve potentially greater returns.

‘There is also a valuable financial education aspect. Junior Isas are a good way for parents to help their children understand about the value of investing and the effects of compounding over a long period.

‘The figures here show the potential for Jisas to grow into large sums when the investments are given many years to mature and to ride out short term stock market volatility. 

‘This can give children the confidence to invest for the longer term and to understand the benefits that long term investing has the potential to bring.’

These figures come as some families choose to gift their cash to children and grandchildren ahead of proposed changes to inheritance tax.

The last Autumn Budget announced plans to reform IHT, including bringing unspent private pensions into people’s estates.

The Bank of England reported record transfers of £14 billion into cash Isas at the end of the most recent tax year.

There is also speculation that Rachel Reeves could slash the cash Isa limit.

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