Family savings, childrens & adults

jd226

I'm new to this forum, however I feel in need of some advice regarding savings. Me and my girlfriend have just had a baby daughter and are in the process of setting up savings for her as family members are wanting to give her money. Can anyone recommend any accounts/bonds etc that provide a good level of interest. I am happy for the money to be locked away to a certain extent, but not to the extent of a junior ISA, which seems a bit draconian. It doesn't matter if it a lump sum saving or a monthly regular saving account as any lump sums can be drip fed into monthly accounts if needs be. I have looked at the Halifax regular saver at 6% which seems to be the best 'normal' regular saver account, but a limit of £1,200 per annum seems quite restrictive.

While on the topic of savings me and my girlfriend have cash saved up in our own separate savings accounts. Speaking from my point of view I know the account it is sitting in is paying minimal interest. With these savings accounts they need to be fairly easy access, but I wouldn't be adverse to having an account where you have to give a notice period before withdrawl. Neither of us have ISAs so potentially the money could be shifted towards these.

If someone could point me in the right direction regarding these types of accounts it would much appreciated, especially the childrens account. The adults savings account are on the backburner at the moment, but I'm trying to make some use of my paternity leave!!

CLAPTON

will the child's money be the child's or yours?

xylophone

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tdsi/children.htm Note £100 rule if the money comes from parents - this does not apply to JISA.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free

Interest rates on cash are low at the moment but the Halifax is offering 6% on the JISA if the parent holds a cash isa with them.

You might want to consider an investment trust held in bare trust if the money is for the long term. example here http://www.sit.co.uk/products/investing_for_children/features/questions_and_answers/

jd226

The money will be the child's given to her by various family members and a bit from ourselves, we won't incur £100 rule (£200 bearing in mind we can apply £100 to both of us)

Investment trust might not be a bad idea, as I'm assuming stock investment plans tend to outperform conventional savings over a period of say 10-15 years?

For conventional savings accounts would it be worth shifting the cash every 12 months to take advantage of bonus introductory rates?