Saving for your kids

pukkamum

Yes it's great to save for them but you have to consider whether you will be able to save the same amount for any subsequent children, I have 3 kids and I just cannot save for them without it being to the detriment of or current lifestyle.
Dh was given 5k that his mum and gran had saved for him when we first started living together, it was peed up the wall.
I got nothing but was no worse off in the end it just made me more independent, I learned that nothing was given on a plate you had to work for it.

geoffky

Daughters money is for driving lessons and a car..She has always been told this and when the time comes will be used for the purpose...
Now and again we get asked can she use some and the answer has always been the same..

Tomcatsmum

We have also started a savings account for both DD and DS, neither of them know about it and they will get the money when they are 21. I wish someone had done it for me when I was that out rather than having to take out loans for first car etc.

ognum

While Ithink it's great to save for your children you really need to consider how the value of what you save will be eroded by inflation.

Consider what you could buy with £5 twenty years ago and what you can buy now, the same will happen with the money you save.

Have you considered any other type of investment that will keep pace with inflation?

lady1964

Our dd's have been really fortunate.

DH's parents put 'pocket money' into accounts for each of them and as they've turned 21 (one yet to have that birthday), it's been given to them. We've also done the same and they've all had their money, which was around £3k each.

One dd saved all hers and is currently in Australia for a year, one dd has just started planning her wedding so I imagine her money has been put aside towards that, other dd is planning Camp America next year so is using some of hers for that and her car insurance and has put some in an ISA.

They've all been pretty sensible and can actually/will be able to see something from their money without it being frittered away on 'stuff'.

Mojisola

Tomcatsmum wrote: »

We have also started a savings account for both DD and DS, neither of them know about it and they will get the money when they are 21. I wish someone had done it for me when I was that out rather than having to take out loans for first car etc.

I thought all accounts had to be handed over to the children when they reach 18.

indsty

When my three were small (many years ago) I considered starting up a savings account for each of them. However, although it would have been easy to put in say £20 a month for the first one, I would have struggled to do that for three. So I just set up one central account in my name and put in what I could afford, plus money any of them were given at birth etc. It was all in one pot and I then was able to dole it out fairly evenly when they actually needed it - on starting work, finishing uni or whatever. They always had their own accounts for pocket money/birthday money as well.

Queen_B_3

My 8 month old has her own account which birthday, Xmas etc money will be paid into and we will hopefully help her to use it sensibly, and to learn the value of money as she's growing up. Also me and OH are putting what we can afford in a separate account and it will be given out to our daughter and other children we may have in the future when the time is appropriate, we'd like to think we will bring up a responsible adult but who knows what she will be doing at 18.

74jax

I put around £150 a month away for DD. I plan on using this if she wants to learn to drive at 17 or to help her buy a place if she wants to leave home in the future.

I don't plan on just giving her it, my parents did that to me and boy did I have fun........... But would rather I gave her it to be spent more sensibly. Hypocritical yes.

Kynthia

I think you and OH need to agree as you are both her parents and especially if it's both of your money. If the account's in her name then it becomes her money and you can't really take it if you're ever short, which reduces your flexibility and is another reason why you should both agree on the amount.

I'm considering having an account in the child's name for their birthday, Christmas and other gift money that they can later use as they wish. However we'll possibly have an account in our names that we save into that is to be used on our children in the future for big things, such as university, car, house deposit, etc. By having just the one and in our name we keep flexibility of what it's used for, how much goes in it depending on our current circumstances, etc.