Top Child Trust Funds Article Discussion Area

Housebear51

BBC says here bbc.co.uk/news/10147773 "If the child is born into a family where the annual household income is £16,190 or less, then the initial payment is £500."

Well our income is less than 16K and we only got 250 last month.

Can we get another 250 before it all stops?

wriggly

Housebear51 wrote: »

BBC says here bbc.co.uk/news/10147773 "If the child is born into a family where the annual household income is £16,190 or less, then the initial payment is £500."

Well our income is less than 16K and we only got 250 last month.

Can we get another 250 before it all stops?

Since the additional £250 is based on your annual income, it is not paid until after the end of the tax year. If you started receiving Child Benefit for this child on 6 April or later, you'll have to wait until April next year!

Make sure you're receiving Child Tax Credits, as this is what determines your eligibility (with a few exceptions).

supadunc

So to sum up,

Where would I look to place my £250 cheque for my daughter to ensure that the most is made out of it?
Also what sort of monies should I look to 'top' it up with? (hypothetically of course, as no one can see into the future)

thanks for any help/advice in advance

Reaper

supadunc wrote: »

Where would I look to place my £250 cheque for my daughter to ensure that the most is made out of it?
Also what sort of monies should I look to 'top' it up with? (hypothetically of course, as no one can see into the future)

I assume you have read the article this thread refers to? If so you have not said whether you favour savings or investments. Personally I favour investments as it is for the long term and over the long term investements ought to do better than savings. If you agree then you can find my personal top picks in post 5 of this thread.

You can add up to a maximum £1200 of your own money to it per year. There is no right or wrong amount, just what you can afford.

a1enty

Hi Everyone,

I have recently had a little baby boy, and gratefully recieved the £250 cheque from the government to invest for our son in a CTF. Now, I have been en-trusted with this task and do not want to stuuf it up .

I have trawled through countless threads, information sites, called organisations, and asked friends...and have come to no real conclusion, so this is a real cry for help.

We have the cheque, and also a very kind relative that has offered to deposit £50 per month, to invest. What should I do?

We only want to invest in ethical if we go down the shares route..I am happy to take the risk for investing, but want to make sure the choices I make give the returns we would like.

So what would you all advise to do with the money?

Thanks in advance

First time poster/threader

BenC_2

Im in the same boat and would like to know the best option for putting money away for my son for the next 20 years

Reaper

a1enty, BenC,

I'm a fan of shares rather than savings accounts for CTF because:
1) Shares ought to do better over the long term
2) Once new CTF money stops there will be no competition for new business and I fully expect CFT savings account interest rates to gradually dwindle away.

Although I recently researched the various options I ommited ethical so I am less sure of the market for this. However from what I have seen the options have been drying up. Possibly you could hunt round and find a non-stakeholder option that allows you to invest in an ethical fund, but as far as the CTF ethical stakeholders go I don't think you have much choice as many have already stopped accepting new business.

You seem to pretty much have 1 option - to invest in a tracker following the FTSE4Good UK 50 with Family Investments (making sure you pick the "Ethical Stakeholder Child Trust Fund" option). Maybe there are others (as I say I'm weak on this area) but if so I haven't seen them.

a1enty

Hi Reaper,

Thanks for the advice, it is much appreciated. I have found a similar trend with accounts closing down, and agree with you on the interest rate front, I would also expect them to dwindle.

Family Investments seems like an excellent choice.

Thanks again.

A1enty

Bizza123

CTF Problems - Feeder account Issues - Help..?!!

HI there. I'm a newbie to posting, and was hoping someone could tell me if I am being ripped off or not..I opened a CTF (in kid's name) with SelfTrade for my kid and got the £250 from the government as well as deposited £2500 to be placed in some sort of Unit trust for him. However when I went to place the trade I was told the total amount i could trade in the CTF was £1200 and the rest of the money would remain in the Feeder account.

I asked if I could have the £1500 or so back as it was doing nothing in the Feeder account, and was a genuine mistake that we deposited too much. I was told NO..! I spoke to Govt CTF helpline, who said SelfTrade should not have accepted more than the total CTF yearly amount of £1200, but could do nothing to help me. Selftrade.co.uk are flatly refusing to give me the balance back.

So what can I do..? There;s alot of money of mine that is now doing nothing, and I can't access. Does anyone know how I can get it back ? Or even if Selftrade are allowed to do this ?

Thanks for any help....!
B.

mylifestory

i bank with both and wondered if there'd be any major difference in their ctfs - both stakeholder accounts?

thanks!