Child saver

C191

I am looking to open a child savings account for my baby. There are so many options and I'm not sure what would work best. I looked into a first saver with my bank but only one parent can be on this so we would essentially have two savings accounts for him, is an ISA a better option or should my partner and I just open and joint savings account to use for our baby?

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks. 

pramsay13

There are a lot more ifs buts and maybes.

What will the savings be for, how long will they be for, what is the purpose of them, will the child control them later in life or do you want to retain control?

All of these are relevant and may change the answer.

Only one of you needs to be on the first saver for your child, but anyone can pay into it.

pramsay13

There are a lot more ifs buts and maybes.

What will the savings be for, how long will they be for, what is the purpose of them, will the child control them later in life or do you want to retain control?

All of these are relevant and may change the answer.

Only one of you needs to be on the first saver for your child, but anyone can pay into it.

random321

Personally I have split mine in the following way
- A S&S ISA in my name that I will retain control over that myself and wife pay into monthly (potentially to go towards house deposit / uni fees down the line)

Additionally, my son is lucky enough to receive a small amount of regular pocket money from grandparents / other family members which is split monthly into:
- A Junior S&S ISA  that my son will have access to at 18 (about 75% here)
- A Junior Cash ISA with NS&I at 3.25% that again he will have access to at 18 for guaranteed growth (25% of the money here) 

As we now have another child on the way, we will just up the contributions to the S&S ISA in my name and split any other money received in the same method as above.

But as the poster above mentions, it is all down to choice and the reasons behind the savings.

C191

@pramsay13 the savings will be until he's 18, to do with as he chooses, ideally to support with a house deposit etc. The control of the money isn't something I've thought about as the money is being saved for him so whether it means moving it to another account for him to have cronrol etc I didn't really factor as being an issue.
The majority of the money will be from myself and my partner however there will be money from grandparents etc at semi regular intervals. 

xylophone

 Parents have the option to give money to  their unmarried minor child  to be held in an account in his name with  one or both as bare trustee.

However, if  income over £100 (per parent per child) arises on the gifts (unless in a tax privileged account like the JISA),  although it belongs to the child, it will need to be declared to HMRC as it is taxable on the parent(s).

The above does not apply to gifts from other people, whether inside or outside a tax privileged account.

A JISA will not be accessible before the child is 18 although he can control it from the age of 16.

Other child accounts may be accessed before the age of 18 - providers may require that where these are held in bare trust, the parent confirms that the money is to be used for the sole benefit of the child.
https://www.which.co.uk/money/savings-and-isas/savings-accounts/childrens-savings-accounts/children-and-income-tax-ar1lz8u61109

https://www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1583863/Best-savings-rates-Junior-Isas-children-s-accounts.html

https://moneytothemasses.com/quick-savings/parents/best-junior-stocks-and-shares-isa

Giammy85

Barclays still offers a saver at 2% (reducing at 1.5% from July) up to 10k, Halifax and Lloyds offer 1.45% up to 5k (but you can open two accounts each)