How it works
Your child learns. You stay in charge.
Short lessons and a friendly investing game for them. Progress, rewards and the real decisions for you.
For your child · age 10+
Learning that feels like play
Short lessons, an island full of companies, and a streak worth keeping.
Bite-sized lessons
160 short lessons, from needs and wants to index funds. Read, practise, then a quick quiz.
Rewards worth learning for
Keep a learning streak and earn the rewards your parents set: bonus Squids for the game, or real money at milestones like 7, 30 and 100 days.
The Island Market
Ten made-up island companies, with ups and downs of their own. Your child invests game money, reads the island news, and sees how their picks do against the steady fund.
The Time Machine
Slide forward to 18, 30 or 65 and see what time could do to their savings. Set a goal and watch how close it gets.
If you’re the one learning
Here’s what Squids-In looks like from your side.
- Read a short lesson, answer a few questions, and earn Squids.
- Learn a little most days to keep your streak going.
- Invest your Squids in the Island Market. See how your picks do against the steady fund.
- Use the Time Machine to see what time could do to your savings.
- Has a grown-up set some real money aside for you? Pick where you’d like it to go and send them a request. They’ll talk it through with you and make the final call.
- Squids are game money. A mistake in the game costs nothing real.
For you
You stay in the loop
See what they’re learning, cheer them on, and keep the real decisions with you.
See their progress
Lessons done, levels and streaks for each child, at a glance.
Rewards and a cash pot
Reward chores, learning or a birthday with real money. It waits in their cash pot until they ask for it: you hand over the cash and tick it off. Or they can move some to invest, and you can add a match. We never hold or move money.
You make the real calls
Your child can ask to invest. You say yes or no, and any real trade is yours to make. We never hold or move money.
The family bay
Each child has a boat and a tree on the shore. The lantern on their mast lights up once they’ve done today’s lesson, and their tree grows with the money invested for them.
A postcard every Sunday
Their week in one card: lessons done, streak, Squids earned, what they learnt and a question to ask at dinner. Send an ink note back.
The tax-year tide
See how much of this year’s Junior ISA allowance is paid in, with no pressure to fill it.
Handover, in good time
From 15, a gentle reminder of when they take charge of their Junior ISA, so you can talk about it together first.
Their accounts in one place
Add each Junior ISA, Junior SIPP or savings account and what it holds. You type in the holdings, so there are no bank logins, and prices for many popular funds refresh daily.
Decide what they can ask for
Parental controls let you choose which accounts your child can see and ask about, and what kinds of investment they can request. Every request comes to you.
Portfolio health check
See how their money is split between cash and investments, and what that could mean over the long run. It’s education, not advice: the choices stay yours.
Lessons for you too
Take the same lessons your child does, on a track of your own. You’ll know what they’re learning and can talk it through.
The 25% top-up, in numbers
Pay £80 into a Junior SIPP and the government adds £20. Our free calculator shows what that top-up could grow to. Junior SIPP calculator →
Together
Your child asks, you decide
Real money stays with you and your provider. Squids-In helps you talk about it.
- 1
They learn
Lessons and the Island Market build the ideas, using game money.
- 2
They ask
When you’ve set money aside for them, they choose where they’d like it to go and send you a request.
- 3
You talk it through
Say yes or no, and talk about why. It’s a money conversation that starts itself.
- 4
You make the trade
If it’s a yes, you place the trade with your own provider. We never hold or move money.
Squids-In teaches how investing works. It doesn’t give financial advice or tell you what to buy.
What we believe
Keep it simple, give it time
The ideas behind every lesson. None of them are new, and they work best when you start young.
Start early
Time is the biggest help a young investor has. A little now can do more than a lot later.
Keep it simple
Low-cost funds that spread money across many companies, so no single one can sink you.
Let time do the work
Growth builds on growth. Stay invested through the ups and downs and let the years add up.
Learn by trying
In the Island Market, children pick companies and see how they do against the steady fund. Mistakes cost only game money.
Grow with us from the start
We’re testing Squids-In with a small group of families. It’s free during the beta, on Android, iPhone and the web.