Yes, this is real. Bear with me.
The government has launched a financial education campaign. Which, in principle, is a great idea. Long overdue, actually. Years of people parking money in cash ISAs earning next to nothing, a nation largely baffled by the stock market, and genuinely no mainstream effort to bridge that gap. So yes - needed. The face of this campaign is a squirrel. Called Savvy.
I'm not joking. Billboards. Social media. Television from the autumn. A fleet of "Savvy Cabs", taxis that give people a free journey if they're willing to talk about investing on the way. I've been in this industry for decades. I've seen a lot. But a cartoon squirrel hailing a cab to discuss equity ISAs is, I'll admit, a new one.
The budget for all this? Up to £8–10 million a year, running for three to five years, backed by up to 20 financial services firms alongside the FCA, the Money and Pensions Service, and the Treasury.
Good money. Interesting choice of mascot.
Here's the thing. Strip away the squirrel, and the problem this campaign is trying to solve is completely legitimate. The numbers behind it are genuinely sobering.
Seven in ten people in the UK rarely or never talk about investing.
Around 44% of people who have savings but no investments, potentially over 10 million people, say they'd be interested in learning more. They're not opposed to it. They just don't know where to start, don't feel it's for them, or quietly assume it's something other people do with other people's money.
Meanwhile, the FCA has previously found that around seven million adults hold more than £10,000 sitting in cash savings. Money that, over time, is slowly being eaten away by inflation without them even realising it.
And the government is making changes that will push people further in this direction whether they're ready or not. From April 2027, adults under 65 will only be able to put up to £12,000 per year into a cash ISA, with the remaining £8,000 of their £20,000 annual allowance potentially moving into stocks and shares. That's not subtle. That's a structural nudge with a deadline.
So where does that leave you?
A billboard with a squirrel on it is not financial advice. It's awareness raising, and that's probably the best it can do. Getting someone to think "hmm, maybe I should look into this" is a reasonable first step. What happens after that step is where it gets important. Where getting it wrong actually costs people money.
If your cash has been sitting still for a while and you've been meaning to have that conversation, this is probably a decent time to have it.
SPEAK TO AN ADVISER
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Always seek independent financial advice before making investment decisions.