Around 70% of Brits think they lack the knowledge to invest, with many fearing they may become a victim of a scam, new research has found.

The study from the digital investment service Wealthify surveyed Brits who have at least £5,000 in cash savings but haven’t invested before.

The survey revealed that over half (52%) of people surveyed haven’t considered investing in the past year, and three in 10 people (28%) state that they don’t feel confident investing because of the lack of education on investing provided at school.

Two-thirds of respondents said that the thought of investing makes them nervous and over half (52%) doubt that investing would benefit them financially. A common misconception that the survey found was that the average amount people think they need to have to start investing is £41,354.

“Many people believe that you need a substantial amount of money to start investing, but this simply isn’t true,” said Andy Russell, chief executive at Wealthify.

Wealthify’s research also found that older age groups were the least likely to invest their money, with just 20% of those aged 66 and over having considered investing in the past year.