pensions, USA News (Oxfordshire): Sophia Jarvis is planning an unconventional kind of Christmas list for her twin daughters this year. Instead of asking friends and family for toys, she’s sending them a link to contribute to her girls’ investment accounts.
Lily and Rose, who are one and a half, already have £2,000 saved each towards their future after their mum made the same request for their first birthday. For birthdays and Christmases, that’s when the family asks for a contribution to their future instead.
Sophia, 33, who lives in Oxfordshire, is the founder of Mia Wealth, an app designed to help families invest for children. She wants money given at birthdays and Christmas to help her daughters eventually buy a home, start a business, or fund their retirement. There will still be presents to open, as she and her husband plan to buy a few items through Vinted, and she understands why relatives might want to give something the girls can enjoy straight away.
Family Gifts and Alternative Presents
For their first birthday, the girls’ grandparents bought a sticker book alongside their financial gift. Family members also clubbed together for something bigger, such as a climbing frame, rather than buying lots of smaller presents. At their first Christmas, the girls’ stockings contained something rather less expensive — wet wipes, which Jarvis says were their favourite toy. She jokes that it makes her sound like Scrooge, but notes that at their age, kids often find wrapping paper and cardboard boxes more interesting than what is inside.
The idea for making it easy for families to give financial gifts grew out of her own experience of being a mum. After coming home from hospital, Sophia felt overwhelmed by the number of presents and clothes people had bought for the twins. She appreciated the generosity, but remembering who to thank, writing messages, and taking photographs of the girls wearing their new outfits became another job to fit around caring for two babies. It made her question whether there was another way for loved ones to give.
Professional Background and Savings Options
Sophia had been thinking about helping families invest long before she had children. She has worked in family wealth management for more than 15 years and has a background as a chartered financial analyst. Her work involved helping wealthy families invest for children and grandchildren, and she wanted to make starting easier for other families too. Becoming a parent only strengthened her belief in the business and changed how she thought about what families could afford.
The family makes regular contributions to the girls’ junior stocks and shares ISAs and pensions. However, Sophia notes that parents should consider their own finances first, including emergency savings and their retirement plans. There are several options families can explore:
- Junior ISA: Can hold cash or investments with a combined annual allowance of £9,000 in the 2026-27 tax year. The money belongs to the child, who can normally withdraw it from their 18th birthday.
- Junior Pension: Features a much longer timescale. Under current rules, someone with no earnings can receive basic-rate tax relief on up to £2,880 paid into a qualifying pension each tax year, taking the total to £3,600. Access is restricted until the minimum pension age, which is due to rise from 55 to 57 in April 2028.
