Investment options 17 year old

[Enigma52]

Any thoughts on how DS 17, could invest £1200 cash and get some return? I was thinking maybe a S&S ISA with Vanguard, but not the junior account as he wants to open
the account himself.

Thanks.

I think it really depends on what he wants from it and - particularly - the kind of time horizons involved.

If he's looking to fund uni, driving lessons, first car or something in the next few years then the highest interest deposit account he can find, perhaps fixed term or notice accounts if he can be more specific about the timeframe.

If it's for a house deposit a LISA makes a lot of sense once he turns 18 for the government bonus, but if he doesn't use it to buy property it's basically gone until retirement. I'd look for a stocks and shares LISA for anything more than 5 years in the future.

If it's for general purpose use at some point in the future then a stocks and shares ISA is historically likely to give the best returns.

If he's not going to miss it and depending on what sort of career paths are open to him, then there's actually quite a compelling case to invest it all in a pension.

Some good ideas there, thanks.
University is not on the radar. More that he wants to save for a property I think. Driving lessons could be on the cards, sooner rather than later.

Seems the S&S ISA could be a good shout for now. Then once he turns 18, a LISA.

He will need to be 18 to open a SS ISA in UK.

While under 18, as I understand it, the only thing he could open as a junior ISA

@Maneattraction yes I think
you may be right. Think we will try and steer DS into applying for his provisional driving licence and subsequent driving lessons.

If he's looking for fast returns he could directly invest in specific stocks via Trading212. It's high risk/return though.

You have to be 18 yrs old to invest with Trading 212, and other investment platforms. You could open a JISA for him, which he could manage himself at 17.

Does he have a bank account? Nationwide has the FlexOne account for 11-17 year olds paying 2% (which I think they can hold until 21). This gives access to their FlexOne Saver account which is currently paying 5% interest.

Mine has a Junior S&S ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown and it’s making decent returns after only a couple of weeks (6% increase) so I’m super pleased