There are now over 5,000 ISA millionaires in the UK today. And even though Britons face numerous short-term economic difficulties, making a million in a Stocks and Shares ISA continues to be a far more achievable prospect than most might think.
All it could take is £500 a month, a good investing strategy, and a bit of patience. Here’s how.
The mistake many make
It may be tempting for new ISA investors to chase the most popular and fastest-growing shares on the market. After all, who doesn’t love the idea of getting rich quick, especially when everyone else seems to be making loads of money?
This fear of missing out (FOMO) is the most common trap investors can fall into. And even experienced professionals can end up getting caught out by it. Perhaps a perfect recent example of this in action is hydrogen-related stocks in 2020.
With the pandemic giving way to a ‘green recovery’ narrative supported by the government’s UK Hydrogen Strategy and Europe’s EU Green Deal, hydrogen stocks were all the rage. And ITM Power (LSE:ITM) in particular saw its market cap explode by roughly 2,440% between January 2019 and 2021 as customer orders came flooding in.
Just to put this into perspective, this momentum would have transformed £1,000 into £25,400 in the space of just two years!
But while everyone was getting swept up by FOMO, most were overlooking what now seems obvious – ITM Power didn’t have the infrastructure or scale to actually deliver customer orders on time. What followed was a complete and utter collapse of the share price that’s still down 90% from its 2021 peak.
A better approach
Rather than looking at what’s popular, a better strategy is often to look for businesses that are unpopular. Why? Because, while the market’s distracted by the next shiny new thing, potentially fantastic companies can be overlooked, allowing investors to buy top-notch stocks at attractive prices.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at ITM Power again.
At around 65p, the hydrogen stock is still nowhere near its 2021 peak levels. Yet while most investors have lost interest in this space, this business has recently made some substantial progress. Its order book has been restructured, and the product portfolio simplified. And subsequently, orders are finally being fulfilled.
2025 delivered record sales, while losses are steadily shrinking as older, lower-margin contracts are phased out and replaced by new, more profitable deals. Looking ahead to 2026, revenue’s expected to reach yet another record high of up to £40m, with losses shrinking even further.
ITM Power stock is still trading at a lofty valuation even after its collapse. The difference is, this time, it’s nowhere near as extreme and it’s actually got fundamentals backing it up. That’s why it could be worth a deeper dive today.
The bottom line
Throughout the history of the stock market, quality at a reasonable price has almost always trumped hype and FOMO over the long term. And even if a portfolio only musters a 10% annualised return, consistently investing £500 a month at this slightly higher than average rate will grow an ISA beyond the £1m threshold in roughly 29 years when starting from scratch.
