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First £1 to £100k

A step-by-step investing plan for UK employees. Which tax-free box to fill first, what to put in it, and how to stop thinking about it.

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2026/27 edition.

Watch the snowball grow

Move the sliders. The grey part of each stack is money you paid in. The gold part is growth. Watch which part takes over.

Growth a year
Could reach£195k
You paid in£72k
£100k could arrive inyear 22
Coin stacks, one for each year.
Hypothetical. Monthly payments, growth after fees and before inflation. Not a promise: investments can go down as well as up, and past performance does not predict future returns.

Twenty short chapters.
One plan.

Start with a five-minute quiz. It tells you which path you're on and which chapters to read first.

  • Chapter 1How your payslip works
  • Chapter 2The four boxes on one page
  • Chapter 3Why tax matters
  • Chapter 4Inflation, the slow leak
  • Chapter 5Mindset, the part no one tells you
  • Step 0Foundation
  • Step 1Get the full employer match
  • Step 1bFind lost pensions
  • Step 2Open a Stocks and Shares ISA
  • Step 2bWhat to buy (examples, not advice)
  • Step 3Salary sacrifice
  • Step 4SIPP or Lifetime ISA
  • Step 5Automate and ignore
  • Milestones£1k, £10k, £100k, £1m
  • Life eventsA pay rise or a new job
  • Life eventsA house deposit
  • Life eventsChildren (Junior ISA)
  • Life eventsThe £100k trap
  • Rule changesWhat's moving, and what to do
  • BonusAdvanced techniques

One plan, in a fixed order

Most money advice is a pile of good ideas with no order. This book gives you the order. Do step 0, then step 1, then step 2, and you never have to wonder what to do next.

  1. 0Clear expensive debt and build a cash buffer
  2. 1Get the full employer match, find lost pensions
  3. 2Open a Stocks and Shares ISA
  4. 3Salary sacrifice, with the email to HR written for you
  5. 4Choose a SIPP or a Lifetime ISA
  6. 5Automate it, then ignore it
£

Plain English, and useful

££££££££££££££

Four tax-free boxes, on one page

ISA, Lifetime ISA, pension and Junior ISA. What each one is for, and the order to fill them.

£

The £100k trap, explained

Between £100,000 and £125,140, each extra £1 can cost you 62p. The legal fix puts that money in your pension.

28 worksheets for your own numbers

Write your own figures next to the examples, so every page is about your money.

Scripts, ready to send

Emails to HR and phone scripts for pension firms. Copy, fill in, send.

Made for you if

  • you get paid through PAYE
  • you have no investments, or only cash savings
  • you nod along when a colleague mentions their ISA
  • you earn near £100k and your payslip makes no sense

Not for you if

  • you want stock tips, crypto or day trading
  • you want someone to pick your funds for you

What readers say

I used to leave my money sitting in savings and barely understood my pension. Now I know how everything fits together, and I made my first investment transfer that same evening.

S**** KNurse, Leeds

The workplace pension email was a game-changer. I used the template, filled in a couple of details and sent it straight to HR. They got back to me the very next day.

J**** MSoftware Engineer, Manchester

  • Someone finally explained the £100k tax trap in a way that actually made sense. No complicated jargon, just clear examples.

    P**** RProject Manager, London

  • No stock tips, no unrealistic promises. Just a clear, sensible order to follow. Exactly what I was looking for.

    T** OTeacher, Bristol

  • I originally bought it for the Lifetime ISA chapter, but the worksheets were what made the biggest difference. I could finally see how the numbers applied to me.

    A**** LFirst-time Buyer, Birmingham

  • Short, practical chapters that I could read on my commute. Finished it in a week and started putting what I’d learned into practice.

    D** WElectrician, Glasgow

  • I always assumed investing was something you did once you were already wealthy. This book completely changed how I think about getting started.

    H***** BGraphic Designer, Cardiff

  • I never really understood all the deductions on my payslip. The pension chapter helped me make sense of where my money was actually going.

    M***** TWarehouse Supervisor, Leicester

  • Everything is explained in plain English. No unnecessary complexity. I found it so useful that I recommended it to my sister.

    C**** NJunior Doctor, Newcastle

  • I understood the individual rules, but I struggled to see how they all fitted together. Now I have a clear plan on one page.

    R*** SAccountant, Nottingham

The 2026/27 edition

£12one-off payment

  • The full PDF, 2026/27 edition
  • 28 worksheets and an action checklist
  • Read on your phone, tablet or laptop, or print it
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Questions

Is this financial advice?

No. The book is education. It explains how the boxes and the rules work and gives a general order of steps. It never tells you which fund to buy.

I live in Scotland. Does it still work?

Yes. ISAs and pensions work the same across the UK. Scottish income tax bands are different, and the book notes where that changes the sums.

I'm self-employed. Is it for me?

A lot of it still applies: ISAs, funds, the Lifetime ISA, the habits. The parts about your employer's pension and salary sacrifice won't.

How much do I need to start?

£1. That's the point of the title. The plan works at any size.

The rules change every Budget. Is it out of date?

This is the 2026/27 edition. A whole part covers the rule changes already announced, and what to do about them.