child bank acount to isa

twinnies6

hi, i have been saving money each month in my twin boys account since they were born, they are 15 now and the interest they earn is ridiculous. this is what i want to give them when they turn 21, i was wondering about taking there money out cause there is £1000 in each account and putting it in an isa to earn more interest. my children don't know about this account because it is my present to them when they are 21, they will be due to take over when 16 which i dont want, i'm scared to put it in isa in my name because i am on social security and i don't want them thinking its my money when its my childrens. am i allowed to have isa and money if i am on social security. any advice will be appreciated.

sharon

latecomer

I dont imagine it matters where the money is kept - if you are getting means tested benefits then any money you have in an account would be included.

I have seen mention of setting up trusts on here but dont know anything about them.

twinnies6

thanks for your reply, im just scared to put money in my name incase the social think its mine

daveyjp

Why go for an ISA? Children generally don't earn enough to pay tax so you can move the money to another child account, many often have interest rates higher than ISA anyway.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free

twinnies6

thanks for the advice i will look into it

thenudeone

Most places have children's accounts paying much more than on adult's accounts.

The best is Halifax which pay 6% on a Junior ISA if the parent has an ISA with Halifax (or if child is over 16). Even £1 in the parent's account will do, and this could even be £1 transferred from an existing ISA elsewhere!

Archi_Bald

daveyjp wrote: »

Why go for an ISA? Children generally don't earn enough to pay tax so you can move the money to another child account, many often have interest rates higher than ISA anyway.

None will beat the Halifax 6% kids ISA though

twinnies6

i dont have an isa of my own and my children will be 16 in 5 months time. they will be in charge of there accounts then. like i said i have been saving it for them so i can give them money when they are 21. i dont want them taking charge of there account so it needs to be my name. i am on benefits and scared the social will think it is my money.

bowlhead99

A few points:

Firstly, congratulations on having saved up a pot for them over the years, it can't be easy on low income/ benefits.

Secondly, hold on a moment, I and millions of others are paying tax to give you benefits to get by, but actually you have used it to save up a nice big present for them at 21?

On the one hand maybe I shouldn't bother about whether you spend my cash on a more comfortable lifestyle now for you and your family, or a less comfortable lifestyle now and a dedicated chunk of cash for your kids later. But the idea I should keep paying you benefits because you don't want to live on your family savings because you would prefer to give something nice to your kids in six years time, is kind of twisted.

At the end of the day, we means test benefits and start to reduce them at an arbritrary figure - £6k for JSA - because we have to draw he line somewhere. This £6k is not an absolute limit it is just the point at which you start to get a bit less JSA. You can keep getting JSA/ income support, housing benefit until you have £16k, right? But if you have say £6500 we'll assume you have a couple of pounds a week income from it so you don't need quite as much benefits. If you want to hoard £2k of cash for your kids because you have been building up to give them a big gift and can't trust them to have it in their own name at 16, you should think of it as a £4k limit for your own savings and just get on with life.

If you want the 'best' result for you in terms of cash right now, it's to move £1000 into a top ISA for each of them - allowing them to earn a few pounds a month interest on it, and you to have less cash stashed in your own name so you get a few pounds a week more benefits from me and the others here, than if you'd put it in your own ISA.

But you are right maybe actually the best result for them is not see the cash yet, so they have more incentive to go out and get that part time job at McDonalds or Tesco next year, or if they've left school a full time job. By the time they reach 21, they'll have had five years of earning and will have brought in thousands themselves over the years. They'll probably have spent most of that and will still love getting the surprise on their 21sts, but won't be as desperate for it.

So - keep the cash in your name, accept that I and the other taxpayers here will pay you marginally lower benefits (if it takes you over the threshold), and rejoice in the fact that your kids will be more incentivised to find their own income because they don't know about the free cash, therefore are more likely to go and get a part time job and it will cost you less to run the family as they can buy some of their own stuff.

daveyjp

Archi_Bald wrote: »

None will beat the Halifax 6% kids ISA though

Except this is a regular saver ISA with a max deposit of £100 per month for a year and max age is 15.

opinions4u

daveyjp wrote: »

Except this is a regular saver ISA with a max deposit of £100 per month for a year and max age is 15.

You're clearly not familiar with the Halifax Junior ISA.

https://www.halifax.co.uk/isas/cash-isas/junior-cash-isa/