Beginners' Guides
If you don’t fancy giving up access to your money, then consider putting money into an investment fund.
These funds pool your money with other people’s, and allow the fund manager to invest in a much wider spread of shares and other investments than you could do alone.
You can choose where your money is invested, though you may want to talk to a financial adviser to help find the best fund for your circumstances.
You can also normally access the money whenever you need it – maybe to pay school or university fees – and switch easily between different funds.
If you want your child to benefit directly from the money you will need to set up a trust.
Please bear in mindYou should be aware that the value of an investment fund isn’t guaranteed and can fall as well as rise depending on investment performance (and currency exchange rates where a fund invests overseas).
Questions to ask Things to think about with an investment fund
Fill out our Budget Planner to see how much you may have free to save
5 years is the usual minimum recommended time for an investment in the stock market.
Helpful notesFurther information on the different varieties of pensions that are available can be found in our Investments Guide.
See our Guide to Risk for more details about different risk levels.
You can find out more about trusts here 
As part of the Lloyds TSB Group, Scottish Widows is proud to be an Official Provider of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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