Savings account for my 2yr old.

mps83

Was wondering who does the best interest? I'm with Natwest and ideally i wanted to open it with them. The savings account they offer is the Young Savers account, the interest is 0.80%. Is there anywhere that does a greater interest rate?

Ideally i want an account that i can put between £25-50 a month in it via direct debit, but also want to be able to pay money in whenever i want.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

xylophone

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free
But see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tdsi/children.htm and http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/savings-income.htm re parental gifts to children.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ChildBenefitandChildTrustFund/ChildTrustFund/AnintroductiontotheChildTrustFund/DG_193690if your child is eligible.
You are not confined to products specifically for children - many savings providers accept "re" accounts.

skintdad

LloydsTSB young saver pays 3% gross (need to fill in R85 form from HMRC) and comes with Stanley money box. I think its the dog in the advert. But you need (or whoever opens it for child) a LloydsTSB current account
Halifax childrens Regular Saver pays 6% but you'll struggle with the extra payments unless you adjust the standing order.

I bank with NatWest and am really disappointed by the rates they offer and lack of incentives. As a child I had the 5 pigs for saving £100 in Natwest savings account and was hoping for an incentive for my little one. I'm thinking of opening a backup current account with LTSB and getting Child Benefit paid into that so I can pay it into his Halifax Regular Saver account by standing order so I can build up some savings for him. He could then get LTSB acc for his pocket/birthday money/my spare change

ses6jwg

you're better off with an investment like a stakeholder ctf or junior isa stocks and shares version.

the value of the cash will be eroded by the time they reach 18

The_Red_Baron_2

If you have a lump to invest I have found 3.75% for a 2 year growth bond with the post office. :j The only down side is that you have to go into branch to sort it or send the form by post.

greenface

The_Red_Baron wrote: »

If you have a lump to invest I have found 3.75% for a 2 year growth bond with the post office. :j The only down side is that you have to go into branch to sort it or send the form by post.

Which has nothing to do with the first question but thanks for the imput . 6% with Halifax is a great rate for £50 per month but as said unless you adjust it it going to be a set amout without being able to dump spare cash in also . May think of opening 2 accounts one with a decent rate and another (or your own) to stick the bits in then Place all into a fixed rate saver for a few years and start again with the reg kids one

barak

ses6jwg wrote: »

you're better off with an investment like a stakeholder ctf or junior isa stocks and shares version.

the value of the cash will be eroded by the time they reach 18

Agree absolutely with the idea [for a 2yr old!] of at least some of the cash going into equities.

I'm not sure exactly how you would organise it for a child, but Edinburgh Investment Trust Plc managed by no less than Neil Woodford has a savings scheme that accepts £25 a month.

I wish somebody had invested a small monthly amount in something similar for me when I was 2yrs old!

atush

I cannot recommend investment trust savings plans higher for small children. My 3 boys have them and they will hlep with Uni living costs and to gt them settled after graduation.


Cash accts are all well and good (they have them as well) which I trun into current accts at 18 or when they get a job. then they use this for everyday spending at Uni. but to pout all your child's investments in cash for 16 years or more means you will erode the value over time as rates do not keep up with inflation, even now inflation has dropped it is higher than savings rates.

barak

Glad you agree atush !

I see that Baillie Gifford also accept £25 per month into their Investment Trust Savings Plans and are helpful in giving some information about investing for children on their website.

http://www.bailliegifford.com/pages/UKPersonalInvestors/Children/InvestingforChildren.aspx

martinman3

F&C also allow monthly payments of £25 with a minimum initial lump sum of £250.
http://www.fandc.com/new/IT/Default.aspx?id=78401
This gives you access to the Foreign & Colonial and my personal favourite F&C Global Smaller Companies.

The initial lump sum for Baillie Gifford is only £100.
They have what I think is a more interesting selection of I.T.s including Scottish Mortgage I.T., Monks and Mid Wynd.

Witan (JUMP) currently allows minimum monthly/quarterly payments of £25, lump sum £100 rising to £50/£250 from 6th April.
http://www.jumpsavings.com/jump-savings-plan

All the investment plans mentioned have no admin costs (the I.T.s themselves do have small costs).

There are other investment plans but they either seem to have high transaction costs, or only allow large lump sum investments.

Hope this helps.

atush

I have Witan and am happy with performance but I no longer rec them for smaller sums. I invest 40/mo in each of my boys plans, and as they are instituting a new 30/yr flat fee instead of the charges for buying (ony around 1.25/mo for me) it is going to work out more expensive unless you sell as well (1% fee I have spent 14.50 on selling and 15 on buying in one, and 15 in buying for the others).

I may wait til the fee comes in this april and then liquidate as my selling costs in each plan will be well over 30 each.

With F&C i didn't realise they allow 25/month- when I joined with them I had to pay in 50? Invesco per also allow investments from 20/month.