The Investing Time Machine is a free investing game for anyone in the UK. You start with £200 a month and jump through the decades to retirement at 67. Along the way, markets crash, scams appear and life gets expensive. How big will your pot be when you get there?
Jump through the decades from your first pay packet to retirement. Every choice echoes through time.
Ready to travel through time?
Tap to load the game
How to play the investing game
A full game takes about ten minutes. Better still, the markets are different every time, so no two journeys are the same.
Step 1: Pick your starting age
First, choose to start at 22, 32 or 42. Starting at 22 gives you 45 years for your money to grow. Starting later is harder, and that’s the point.
Step 2: Choose a plan
Next, pick a ready made plan to get going. You can go Steady, put everything in your pension, play it safe in cash or go YOLO on hot tips. Each card shows a forecast of what you could have at 67.
Step 3: Split your money between the jars
Then fine tune your plan with the sliders. There are four jars to choose from:
- Workplace pension: your employer and tax relief add free money, but it’s locked until 57.
- Shares ISA: a global fund of thousands of companies that grows tax free.
- Cash savings: safe and handy for emergencies, but it barely beats rising prices.
- Hot tips: crypto and meme stocks that could soar or vanish.
Anything you don’t put in a jar gets spent.
Step 4: Jump five years into the future
Now hit the jump button and travel forward in time. Each year flashes up a headline, your jars fill and your pot is drawn on the chart. You then get a checkpoint showing your growth, the free money you got and the fees you paid.
Step 5: Survive life’s surprises
Every jump brings a life event. It might be a pay rise, a broken boiler, a wedding or a celebrity scam. Each choice changes your pot, so think before you tap.
Step 6: Retire and see your score
Finally, you retire at 67. You see your final pot in today’s money and a timeline of every choice you made. You’re also compared with a steady saver, someone who started ten years later and someone who only used cash, all in the same markets.
What the investing game teaches you
Starting early beats almost everything
Compounding means your growth starts earning its own growth. Over decades, that snowball does most of the work. In the game, starting ten years later can leave a steady saver with far less, even with the same monthly budget.
Your employer’s pension money is free money
Under auto enrolment, at least 8% of your qualifying earnings goes into your workplace pension. At least 3% must come from your employer. You can read how it works on GOV.UK. On top of that, basic rate tax relief adds 25% to what you pay in.
Remember that your pension is locked away for a long time. The earliest age most people can take a private pension rises from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028.
Crashes are scary, but selling makes them worse
At least one big market crash hits in every game. You can sell, hold or buy more. Markets have often bounced back after a crash, so panic selling can lock in your losses. That’s why investing is for money you can leave alone for years.
Small fees cost a lot over time
A 1% fee sounds tiny. However, it comes out of your whole pot every year. On a £100,000 pot, that’s £1,000 a year, every year. In the game, switching to a cheaper tracker fund can make a big difference by retirement.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Fake celebrity adverts promising huge returns are a common scam. Before you invest with any firm, check it on the FCA ScamSmart pages. In the game, a quick check saves your money and earns you a badge.
Tips for winning the investing game
Grab the full employer match
Your employer matches your pension payments up to a limit. So put in at least enough to get all of it. The Steady plan does this for you.
Keep a cash buffer for emergencies
Boilers break and jobs disappear. With some cash set aside, you won’t need to sell investments or use a credit card. Even a small amount each month helps.
Save your pay rises
When you get a pay rise, saving some of it is one of the easiest ways to grow your pot. You never had the money, so you won’t miss it.
Turn the game into a real plan
Once you’ve retired in the game, try your own numbers. The compound interest calculator shows how your savings could grow. Meanwhile, the retirement calculator helps you see if you’re on track. For the basics, read our UK investing guide.
Fancy another challenge? Try Survive the Month, run the country in Balance the Books or break free in the Debt Escape Room. You’ll find them all in our money games.
The returns in this investing game are randomly generated from long run averages. It’s a learning tool, not financial advice. Investments can go down as well as up.
Play more free money games
Finished your time travel? Try another game. Make your pay last a month, balance the nation’s books or break out of debt. Or see all money games.
Want to run your own numbers? Try the compound interest calculator, the dividend income calculator or the retirement calculator. Then read our UK investing guide and UK pensions guide.