A report commissioned by GoHenry and developed with Development Economics puts the cost of missing early education on investing at £95,000 per adult. Its survey of 2,001 UK adults, run by Censuswide in March 2026, compared people who received financial education on investing as children with those who did not.
The first group reported nearly double the household net worth (£556,000 against £301,000), expected to retire nearly five years earlier and invested more than twice as much each month (£547 against £249). Those without early investment education were three times more likely never to have opened an investment account.
Louise Hill, founder of GoHenry
Louise Hill founded GoHenry, the money app for six to 18 year olds, in the UK in 2012, expanded it to the US in 2018, acquired the French fintech Pixpay in 2022 and merged the business with Acorns in 2023. She campaigned for the compulsory financial education now due in English primary and secondary schools from September 2028. She answered six written questions from The Fintech Times on how the £95,000 figure was reached, what schools and parents can do in the meantime, and what GoHenry has learned from its own users.
The £95,000 figure rests on two survey findings and one assumption. People who received early financial education on investing open their first investment account at around 26, almost five years earlier than those who did not, and they invest more: £547 a month on average against £249. The economist GoHenry worked with took those two differences and applied the standard historical growth rate of a typical UK stocks and shares ISA, which Hill put at about 6.8 per cent. “By the time the group without early investment education even opens their first account, the group with early education is already projecting a £95,000 advantage.”
What surprised her most, she said, is how early education affects wider wellbeing and mindset rather than bank balances alone. Those without early education on investing are three times more likely never to invest and report significantly higher rates of money anxiety. The report itself found that adults without it were more likely to be always stressed about money (18 per cent against 12.5 per cent) and more likely to be dissatisfied with their career progress and financial security (40 per cent against 27 per cent).
A cumulative effect
On the near-doubling of household net worth, Hill sees a cumulative effect rather than a single factor. “Those with financial education on investing begin investing around five years earlier, giving compound interest a potential head start.” Early learners also save and invest more than double each month, carry lower debt relative to income and are more than twice as likely to become entrepreneurs with higher earning potential. Taken across all of those areas, she said, early financial education on investing could help people build their financial health over time.
From policy on paper to the classroom
The report estimates that if every UK adult had received education on investing at school age, the boost to the economy could be £53.5 billion a year. Hill said this is where government must deliver on its promises. After years of campaigning, GoHenry welcomed the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendation that financial education be included in the citizenship curriculum for both primary and secondary schools in England, and she also welcomed the ambition behind Prime Minister Andy Burnham‘s technical and vocational education reforms. “However, to unlock that £53.5 billion economic potential, investment and financial education must sit right alongside technical training in the new curriculum.” Vocational and technical skills, she argued, are only as good as the financial literacy behind them: if young people learn how to earn a living, they must also learn how to save, invest and manage that income. That will require dedicated teacher training, clear guidance and practical classroom resources.
Asked which single policy change would move fastest, she said it has already happened, with financial education added to the citizenship curriculum in primary and secondary schools in England from September 2028. “The real game-changer now is moving from policy on paper to meaningful, high-quality delivery in the classroom.” Schools must be backed with funding, dedicated timetable space and practical support. The appetite is there, in her view. GoHenry’s research found improved financial education on investing was cited by 22 per cent of UK adults as a driver that would encourage them to invest more, second only to higher disposable income at 27 per cent, and its Kids’ Eye View of the National Curriculum report found 72 per cent of children agreed that lessons on investing would help their money grow.
It takes a village
On where fintech apps fit alongside schools and parents, Hill reaches for a parenting analogy: it takes a village to build financial capability, with parents, schools, government and the fintech industry all involved. GoHenry’s part is practical, real-world experience through its app and debit card. Managing money, she said, is not something that can be learned purely from a textbook. “GoHenry lets children safely participate in the digital economy, giving them the freedom (and safeguards) to make a £10 mistake at age 7, rather than a £1,000 mistake at 27.”
Because the new curriculum will not be implemented in full until September 2028, there are two more school years of what she called inadequate financial education provision. In January GoHenry released more than 80 bite-sized money lessons free on YouTube, in the hope of filling the gap for families unsure where and how to start talking to their children about money.
What the users show
GoHenry’s key learning from its own young customers is that financial education leads directly to healthier money habits. Working with Dr Marcel Lukas and the University of St Andrews, the company examined how completing its in-app lessons, called Money Missions, affected children’s spending and saving. Children put more than 30 per cent more into savings in the first month after completing a Money Mission, and those who completed all Level 1 missions increased their savings by an average of 50 per cent compared with where they started. Young people, she said, are not passive spenders. “When given the right interactive tools, they are highly motivated to take control of their financial journeys.”
The report also estimates that universal early education on investing could add 1.3 million new businesses and 820,000 jobs to the UK economy. Financial education is due to be taught in primary schools in England from September 2028.
AI level 2 of 5: drafted by our AI editorial assistant from source material our editor chose; fact-checked, edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean
