Best saving plan for an eight year old

romanab

I am looking to start putting some money away for my eight year old boy so he has a few quid when/if he goes to collage/university at eighteen and was wondering the best place to put it?

I will not have a great deal to invest per month but hopefully it can increase as the years progress.

Any advice will be gratefully appreciated

romanab

My apologies if I have not explained myself well enough.

After having read through the site I am still unsure as to the best way to save for my son. Would a trust be better than an ISA? is an endowement better than a childs bank account?

To be honest I find it a bit confusing so would appreciate a pointer in the right direction

masonic

Have you considered a child savings account. Go here and pay particular attention to the halifax children's regular saver (10%) if you are able to make monthly contributions of £10-£100 for 12 months. You may want to consider dumping the resulting balance into a child trust fund after that, but you would probably want to reassess the situation when that time came if you planned to do the above.

romanab

Thank you masonic.

Am I right in thinking the Halifax account only runs for a year at 10% before swithing to a different account type? and by suggesting the trust fund after the initial 12 months, am I to assume that a trust is superior to any other child saving account currently available?

Sorry if these are simplistic questions but this really is all new to me

Aark

The Child Trust Fund (CTF) is only applicable to children born on or after 1 September 2002.

romanab

No good for me then

So is it a savings account then or is an endowement an option?

masonic

Aark wrote:

The Child Trust Fund (CTF) is only applicable to children born on or after 1 September 2002.

I thought that only applied to the free money given out by the government, but on double checking, you are quite right. :doh:

Romanab, in that case, you are best of with a high paying savings account, children's or otherwise (some accounts will be unavailable to under 18's, in which case you will weigh up any tax you would have to pay if it was in your name when you work out the rate). Unless you can find an ISA with a higher rate (which would have to be in your name), there is probably no point in going for this in preference to a savings account. You are right in thinking of the Halifax account as somewhere to gather some money for high returns before moving somewhere else at the end of the 12 months.