saving for childrens future

flexingh

Hi everyone,

i have got a question for you experts and hopefully someone here can help me out.

i am looking to save and plan for my 2 childrens future my eldest is 9 and youngest is 4.
a typical course at university is around 3 years and i expect to hopefully give them £15,000 per year so i need your advice on the best savings method or investment method for this i have got some money ear marked and put aside in a normal low interest paying account.

a friend of mine also mentioned putting this in trust but as soon as he started saying bare and discretionary trust he had lost me, what is the benefit of having the money in trust and do i loose control over it

thanks in advance for your help

agrinnall

Better asked on the Savings board.

xylophone

Do your children have CTF/JISA?

https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/overview

Money in these is an absolute gift to the children and they have the right to control at 16 and access at 18.

Parental contributions to these are not affected by the "£100 rule".

The contribution is limited to a certain amount each year - see guide.

With regard to setting up a trust of which you as parent would be the settlor, see http://www.aviva-for-advisers.co.uk/site/public/tech-centre/tech-article-detail/saving-for-children-and-grandchildren

https://www.gov.uk/trusts-taxes

In the case of a bare trust, the money would belong to the child absolutely and he would have the right to access and control at the age of 18 - the income would be taxed as that of the parent settlor as in link above.

You might choose to regard your own ISA as "earmarked" for your children but the money would remain yours until you chose to gift it.