Is a Junior ISA the Right Thing to Buy?

Gardenut

I have two grand-daughters and would like to put some money on one side to help with their education in the future. I am on a state pension so don't have any regular money I can invest but I have recently come into an inheritance which will allow me to put £1,000 each into something for their future. Their ages are 2 and 6 so I would hope that the investment would increase over the next 12 - 16 years. Would a Junior ISA be the right thing to buy, bearing in mind that I would not be able to make regular monthly payments into the accounts or should I choose something else?

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]At age 2 and 6 a S&S JISA may be the best option if you are happy for funds not to be available until age 18.

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]My 2 are with Cavendish where charges are low but there may be others equally cheap.

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/investments/buy-junior/[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The parent will need to sign the forms.[/FONT]

MallyGirl

you cannot get the money out of an JISA till they turn 18 so it is a reasonable place to put money for university. Just be clear on what you want them to be able to use it for. My in-laws gave me £1000 on the birth of my DD. It is in a JISA. Recently they told me that they want it to go to her at 17 (next year) to help her with learning to drive, insuring a car. Luckily I have other savings for her that are not tied up to 18 so I can meet their needs - if they had said this at the beginning I would not have tied the money up in a JISA.

Keep_pedalling

MallyGirl wrote: »

you cannot get the money out of an JISA till they turn 18 so it is a reasonable place to put money for university. Just be clear on what you want them to be able to use it for. My in-laws gave me £1000 on the birth of my DD. It is in a JISA. Recently they told me that they want it to go to her at 17 (next year) to help her with learning to drive, insuring a car. Luckily I have other savings for her that are not tied up to 18 so I can meet their needs - if they had said this at the beginning I would not have tied the money up in a JISA.

It has not been their money foe 16 years, seem a bit strange to try and dictate what it is used for now.

We have given the full allowance to set one up for our first GC earlier this year and will do the same when the second come along later this year. We got our son to open one with Vangaurd with everything going into LS100.

The fees are percentage based, but the fixed fee option we were also looking at was more expensive with funds under £25,000.

MallyGirl

yes - it wasn't helpful but they are not very financially savvy.

DD's money was in a S&S ISA for quite a while in my name as I wasn't using my allowance. I moved it into a cash ISA when Halifax were offering 6%. Now it is down to 3% but she might be needing the cash for uni/gap year so that is the approach I am comfortable with.

Keep_pedalling

MallyGirl wrote: »

yes - it wasn't helpful but they are not very financially savvy.

DD's money was in a S&S ISA for quite a while in my name as I wasn't using my allowance. I moved it into a cash ISA when Halifax were offering 6%. Now it is down to 3% but she might be needing the cash for uni/gap year so that is the approach I am comfortable with.

Probably wise this close to her 18th.

Gardenut

I'm happy for the money to be tied up until they are 18 and I have told my DD it's for their education. You all seem to think a JISA is the way to go so I'll look for suitable ones and keep my fingers crossed for the interest rate to go up. Many thanks.

Tom99

At age 2 and 6 you should probably think about a S&S ISA as opposed to a cash one.