CTF discussion area

pinkparrott

Hi Pamaris
I am doing a similar thing to you, I have had an F & C non stakeholder ctf for 6 months for my son. Is performing well enough, but as i am going to start making small monthly top ups i am thinking of opening a F & C child investment plan as i want to have a bit more control over the money that the ctf offers.

swanny65

From the outset i put both my childrens vouchers with F&C and paid £25.00 pcm into each plan.
I put the voucher into one fund the monthly contributions into another fund. Roughly two years on i am pounds ahead of my friends who played safe with a savings account.
Yes there is a risk, but over time the stockmarket will outperform savings accounts.
To avoid unnecesary risk near the end of the plan the funds can be amalgamated into a lower risk cash fund.
I also intend to switch new contributions into a different fund every 2 years or so.

Nineveh

Hi,

I have a quick question about the CTF. We recently had a baby boy and got the CTF voucher in the post. However we are leaving the UK in the next few months, probably permanently. Do we just put the cash in a an account/fund which he can then access when he's 18?

We're just worried that in 18 years time he may have difficulty accesing the cash (if we remember it is there) from Ireland. Is there any way around it?

Thanks,
Nineveh

Mum_of_5_2

How confusing! I have An Abbey CTF Stakeholder that i've had for my daughter for about 2 1/2 years. It's now got about £670 as we added a lump sum. We don't pay into it otherwise. That's why i picked the stakeholder as i thought it may earn a little more and if it all went caput in the markets they we wouldnt have lost a lot.

I also have a CTF Stakeholder with the Children's Mutual (have now read the article) which has been running about a year. They say they charge 1.5% of the total as management.

Too be honest i set these up fairly quickly as life was a bit chaotic, i checked rates quickly. I can't find anything in the info that i have that says what the rates are as of now.

Can you tell me what figures i need to find out and what if any pitfalls i should be careful of if i move them. Also can you explain about the problems of the management fees?

Any advice appreciated

one last thing - do i have to move them by the beginning of the financial year or anytime?

Thanks
Mum of 5

Now i've a little more time on my hands i wanted to double check what i've done. None of the letters i have seem to say what the rate is paying now and how do you compare the management fees and is it really important to?

fleetingmind

Hi,

Need to get on and invest my daughters £250. I want to put it in a CTF that has a bit of risk but more of a return. I want to commit to paying in about £5-£10 a month. What is the best one to go for that other people recommend?

I also want to open a Savings account for odd bits of cash to be paid in on Birthdays. Anyone recommend a good one (Want one with a high street branch to be able to pay cash in).

Thank you in advance.

squishy_2

Wow, am a little relieved to see that others find this so tricky and shocked that it is such a complex process! Have had my DD's voucher for a while now and have decided to stick it into a CTF to get it all started and then to chill for a bit.

So, had finally plumped for the Co-op and children's mutual ethical fund (requires min £10 each month) but then was shocked to read in their handbook the effective (forecasted) deductions they will make for even the government vouchers, without any contributions.....scary.

Am thinking I will do this and then open a second investment account which doesn't have the 1.5% admin charge.......anyone else done this?

I've also seen somewhere that parents can open a pension for their children (not accessible until age 50 or 55 after 2010) and the government will add £22 for every £78 invested....hmm, do I want her to have to wait that long......who'd have thought this would be so tricky!?!!!

cloud_dog

squishy wrote: »

Wow, am a little relieved to see that others find this so tricky and shocked that it is such a complex process! Have had my DD's voucher for a while now and have decided to stick it into a CTF to get it all started and then to chill for a bit.

So, had finally plumped for the Co-op and children's mutual ethical fund (requires min £10 each month) but then was shocked to read in their handbook the effective (forecasted) deductions they will make for even the government vouchers, without any contributions.....scary.

Am thinking I will do this and then open a second investment account which doesn't have the 1.5% admin charge.......anyone else done this?

Squishy, all fund based investments have annual management charges (AMC) which are deducted from the fund undermanagement. AMC vary from 0.35% for a good tracker to much much more (5%+).

My advice to anyone is not to get bogged down in the differnt offerings and types of CTF's and to do something. The 'something' is to open a building society cash based CTF and then you can consider other options. You can always transfer CTF's to different providers.

So relax, do something, then think about how you really wnat to provide for your child going forward. I think a pension contribution is useful but is probably near / at the bottom of the list.

cloud_dog

LillieFlower

Hi everyone.

My first baby is due today (!!!) but as it doesn't seem keen to make an appearance yet I thought I'd take the time to think about the CTF issue now.

What DH and I would like to do is take the £250 voucher and shove it somewhere where there is a fairly high-ish risk factor but where we won't get charged loads of management fees for the privilege. We don't want to add to this at all except for maybe the second £250 that the government hands out in a few years (don't like the idea of handing out loads of cash to an 18 year old on a plate).

We like the idea of playing with the stock market to see what happens (especially as it's over an 18 year period). We usually stick with savings accounts for our spare money so are complete investment virgins! Would like to be able to stick the money somewhere and then not really have to do much except keep an interested eye on it.

Does anyone have any advice/recommendations?

LF

LJacks

Does anyone have any up to date information on Ethical Child Trust Funds?

Previous MSE advice says only ones are CIS and Children's Mutual provide them. However, a quick search now shows Family Investments/New Star now have one.

Are there any others?

Anybody got any experience of these?

Obviously being MSE inclined would like good performance but ethics very important.

Any advice gratefully recieved.

tyllwyd

LillieFlower wrote: »

What DH and I would like to do is take the £250 voucher and shove it somewhere where there is a fairly high-ish risk factor but where we won't get charged loads of management fees for the privilege. We don't want to add to this at all except for maybe the second £250 that the government hands out in a few years (don't like the idea of handing out loads of cash to an 18 year old on a plate).

We like the idea of playing with the stock market to see what happens (especially as it's over an 18 year period). We usually stick with savings accounts for our spare money so are complete investment virgins! Would like to be able to stick the money somewhere and then not really have to do much except keep an interested eye on it. LF

(Hope the baby has/will make a safe arrival!)

There are three main options for your CTF - a cash based account, a stakeholder account (where fund options are limited but fees are also capped) and non-stakeholder accounts (with more options for funds you can invest in, but also higher fees). If you want something that involves the stock market, you will need one of the second two.

If I were you, I'd start by doing some reading around - we've ended up with a stakeholder from the Children's Mutual for my daughter, where the money is invested in a FTSE tracker fund. There is a similar stakeholder from Foreign and Colonial. Since I've taken it out, the Children's Mutual CTF has done well, but I feel I'm being lazy leaving the money invested in one fund, so in the future I'm planning to look into a non-stakeholder account, but that needs more research and more involvement from me.

Why not start by looking at the Children's Mutual and F&C websites, then you can go on and compare what they offer with other providers, and then you will be in a better situation to make up your mind. You can always change later if your investment priorities change.