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loveallfreebies
21-08-2006, 9:54 AM
Please help me, my mum has given me £600 to put away for my daughter (as she missed out on the childrens goverment grant) but im usless at bank accounts and wondered if anyone could suggest the best. Its to go away until she's 18 (she's 5 now). What the best account to open?
Mr Mumble
22-08-2006, 1:38 AM
Check the following three sites to compare childrens accounts:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/Savings/Default.asp
http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/searches/savings.aspx
http://www.moneyextra.com/compare/deposits
MattyNeth
22-08-2006, 6:34 AM
Halifax's SaveIt pays 4.8% gross
RaspberryFool
22-08-2006, 12:41 PM
I suspect that most financial advisors would suggest that, given the reasonably long time timescale involved, you should consider investing the money in some sort of stock market linked product rather than to save it in an account. Rates paid on the latter barely keep up with inflation.

Even though you missed out on the CTF, you can still invest in a children's savings plan e.g. the one run by Foreign & Colonial. By reinvesting dividends to buy more shares - it should grow much more than money in a savings account over the long term. We have started schemes on behalf of our two 'raspberrylets'. Make sure that you do not panic when the stock market falls.

There are numerous websites to help you choose. You could start with The Motley Fool. They recommend simple tracker funds for beginners to the market.

Good luck.
si1503
22-08-2006, 5:23 PM
I'm currently also looking to put some money away for my little man (hes only 6 months). He lives with the mother and we are not exactly on great terms, I think she has control of his CTF so i'm going to leave that to her. I was looking at buying some childrens bonus bonds with NS&I, if you have a couple of £K to invest for them then they seem like a rewarding option. In terms of savings that halifax rate mentioned above seems pretty good! I'm probably either going to open a young savers with natwest or smart account with nationwide, as they are the 2 banks i am currently with, they are currently giving 4.5 and 4.7 something on returns, most childs accounts are around the same, if you are looking to contribute money on a more regular basis something like this would probably be the most straightforward option.