Key takeaways
- Whether you’re a first-time investor or an experienced one, £1000 is a healthy amount to put to work in the financial markets.
- Depending on your financial circumstances and goals, there are plenty of investment options available, including Stocks and Shares ISAs, General Investment Accounts, and Personal Pensions.
- When it comes to beating inflation, investing is generally considered to be a better long-term option than cash savings.
Having any spare money to play around with nowadays is always a nice problem to have. But an extra £1000? That's an even nicer one — especially if you want our investment experts to put it to work for you in the financial markets.
After all, you only need £500 to start investing in a Wealthify Stocks and Shares ISA or Personal Pension, meaning there are actually a few different ways to invest £1000 with us (but more on this later).
So, whether the money is from an annual bonus, inheritance, or surplus savings, if you're looking for inspiration on how to invest £1,000, you've come to the right place.
Jump to a specific section:
- Should I save or invest £1,000?
- Where to invest £1,000
- Investing £1,000 in a Stocks and Shares ISA
- Investing £1,000 in a GIA
- Investing £1,000 in a SIPP
- Potential returns on a £1,000 investment
- Considerations before investing
- Summary
Should I save or invest £1,000?
On the fence about whether you should save or invest £1000? Then it might be worth taking a deep dive.
For a quick summary, however:
Saving
- If you’re building your emergency fund or working towards short-term goals, £1000 could provide a much-needed top-up.
- Just be aware if the interest rate of your savings account is lower than the rate of inflation; your money will have less purchasing power.
- At Wealthify, we offer two savings products: a Cash ISA and Instant Access Savings Account.
Investing
- If you’re looking for potentially higher returns over a period of five years or more, investing is generally considered a better long-term option to beat inflation. Because of the up-and-down nature of financial markets, however, you could also get back less than invested.
- For example, over the past 10 years, the S&P 500 – an investing index that tracks the top 500 US companies – has delivered average annual returns of around 12.2%. [1]
- What’s more, there are plenty of ways to invest £1000, making it a good amount to have as a starting point.
Where to invest £1,000
How and where you invest that £1000 will depend on your financial circumstances and goals.
Do you want to invest using the tax-efficiency of an ISA, for example?
Or maybe you want to invest for your retirement?
Thankfully, Wealthify’s award-winning range of investment products can help you work towards a variety of goals at the same time.
One option could be to invest £1000 as a lump sum in one of the following products:
Although our GIA has a minimum initial deposit of £1000, you only need £500 to get started with our Stocks and Shares ISA and SIPP. So, if you want to explore multiple options with Wealthify, putting £500 apiece in each could be one of the best ways to invest £1000.
To help you make a more informed decision about how to invest £1000, let’s have a look at a more detailed breakdown of each product.
Before we do, however, just bear in mind the following:
- With our Stocks and Shares ISA and GIA, five years is generally considered the minimum amount of time to stay invested, as this gives your money the opportunity to ride out the ups and downs of the financial markets.
- Likewise, you can’t access the money in a SIPP until you’re 55 years old — a figure that’s rising to 57 in 2028.
Investing £1,000 in a Stocks and Shares ISA
A Stocks and Shares ISA is a tax-efficient account that lets you invest in a range of assets, including shares and bonds.
Sometimes called an ‘Investment ISA’, you can invest up to £20000 each tax year; this is known as your annual ISA allowance, and it leaves you with plenty of room to invest more than your initial £1000.
What's more, you don’t have to pay capital gains tax or income tax on any profits — meaning you get to keep more of your returns.
Wealthify’s Stocks and Shares ISA is what’s known as a Flexible Stocks and Shares ISA; the ‘Flexible’ part being that you can withdraw and re-deposit money within the same tax year, without affecting your annual allowance.
Unlike DIY investing – where you pick your own investments – Wealthify’s Stocks and Shares ISA is managed by our team of in-house experts. All you have to do is tell us a bit about the investor you want to be — then we pick and manage all your investments for you.
Following your first deposit of £500, £1000, or more, you can then add to your Investment Plan with one-off payments or a monthly Direct Debit.
By drip-feeding your Stocks and Shares ISA (or any of our investment products, for that matter) with regular top-ups, a Direct Debit gives your money more chance to benefit from the power of compounding.
Investing £1,000 in a GIA
Because there’s no limit on how much you can invest, GIAs are a good option if you've used your annual allowance but want to carry on investing.
Although a Wealthify GIA offers all the same managed investment options as our Flexible Stocks and Shares ISA, it doesn’t offer the same tax-free returns.
With a GIA, there’s capital gains tax and income tax to pay on profits; the amount you will depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.
Investing £1,000 in a SIPP
A SIPP – or Self-Invested Personal Pension, to give it its full name – is a flexible way to invest for retirement.
Our SIPP provides the same access to financial markets as our Stocks and Shares ISA and GIA.
You pay your own money into a SIPP, with the added bonus of a 20% tax relief top-up on all personal contributions. So, let’s say you add £100 to your SIPP every month; another 20% (£20) is added, taking your total contribution to £120.
Just like the annual ISA maximum, your pension allowance is the amount you can contribute across all pensions without having to pay any tax: for the 2025/26 tax year, it's £60,000 or up to 100% of your income (whichever is lower).
And, because you can adjust how much you pay in, our SIPP could be a good option to invest £1000 if you’re self-employed — or looking to have more than just your workplace pension for retirement.
Potential returns on a £1,000 investment
Having an idea of your potential returns might help provide some clarity on how to invest £1000.
If you invest £1000 in a Wealthify Stocks and Shares ISA, for example, you could end up with £1365 after five years if markets perform as expected. [1] If markets perform worse, you could end up with £998, and £1775 if they perform better than expected.
If you invest £1000 in the same account for 10 years, that figure rises to £1807 if financial markets perform as expected. [2] However, this figure may drop to £1181 if they perform worse than expected, but may increase to £2763 if they perform better than expected.
And after 20 years? £2929 if markets perform as expected, which is a total return of 192.94% — and an average annual return of 9.64%. [3] Again, if they perform worse, then this figure could drop to £1586, but could also almost double to £5531 if markets perform better.
But why not see for yourself by trying out our Stocks and Shares ISA calculator?
The projected values include the impact of fees at our standard rate and any fund charges. The projected values show the possible future value of your Plan in different market conditions. These are only forecasts and not a reliable indicator of future performance. With investing, your capital is at risk and you could get back less than you put in.
Considerations before investing
If you’ve made it this far, chances are you’re seriously considering investing at least £1000.
Before you do though, it’s important to ask yourself the following questions:
Am I comfortable with market volatility?
There’s no escaping the fact that the value of investments can go down and up. So, if you’re unsure as to whether you can handle this volatility, the following blog could help you find the answer.
Am I in it for the long-term?
As mentioned earlier, staying invested for at least five years to give your money enough time to ride out any volatility. If you’re uncomfortable with this timeframe – or think you might need access to the money sooner – this is something important to consider.
Am I confident enough to choose my own investments?
Choosing your own potential winners can be a daunting process, one that requires knowledge, commitment, and the ability to spread your risk by creating a diversified set of investments. If you’re not quite ready for that level of investing, you might just want to let the experts do it for you.
Summary
If you’ve made it this far and do want experts to choose how to invest £1000, why not leave it to Wealthify?
Backed and owned by Aviva, over 100,000+ busy people trust us to manage their investments for the long term, letting our team of experts make the most of their money — so they can make the most of their time.
And because £1000 is more than enough to get started with us, all you have to do is:
- Choose between our Stocks and Shares ISA, SIPP, or GIA.
- From Cautious to Adventurous, pick one of our five investment risk levels, as well as an Original or Ethical Investment Plan theme.
- Sit back, relax, then let our experts find and manage the best ways to invest £1000 for you!
Got a larger lump sum to invest? Read more about the best ways to invest £20,000.
Investing offers potentially higher returns than cash savings, although performance varies and returns aren’t guaranteed.
Your tax treatment will depend on your individual circumstances, and it may be subject to change in the future.
Wealthify does not provide financial advice. Please seek financial advice if you are unsure about investing.
References
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This is the projected value for a Confident Plan (Medium Risk Plan) with an Original theme. This is only a forecast and is not a reliable indicator of future performance. If markets perform worse, your return could be £998.44. If markets perform better, your return could be £1775.46. Values correct as of 16/12/2025.
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This is the projected value for a Confident Plan (Medium Risk Plan) with an Original theme. This is only a forecast and is not a reliable indicator of future performance. If markets perform worse, your return could be £1180.95. If markets perform better, your return could be £2762.64. Values correct as of 16/12/2025.
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This is the projected value for a Confident Plan (Medium Risk Plan) with an Original theme. This is only a forecast and is not a reliable indicator of future performance. If markets perform worse, your return could be £1585.93. If markets perform better, your return could be £5530.88. Values correct as of 16/12/2025.
