Long term savings 1k a year

casslass

I would want access before I am 60. 
The plan would be to use towards helping kids with university. 
My eldest child turns 18 in 12 years time so I suppose that's where the 12 years figure comes from. 

Can you deposit once a year rather than direct debit.

Thanks for the comments so far. 

Albermarle

As briefly already mentioned , the first thing that comes to mind is that with a salary of £90K , saving into a pension is much more lucrative than into an Isa, due to the very generous tax relief for higher rate taxpayers .

Although not accessible until your late Fifties it could make sense to fill the pension and if necessary take a loan to help the kids through UNI . In any case most Uni costs can be covered with Student Loans. 

jimjames

MFW2026 said:

I believe its £100 minimum if its a direct debit however if you pay by card anytime there is no minimum?

That's not correct as far as I'm aware. One off payments are minimum £500 when I looked.

Albermarle said:

As briefly already mentioned , the first thing that comes to mind is that with a salary of £90K , saving into a pension is much more lucrative than into an Isa, due to the very generous tax relief for higher rate taxpayers .

Although not accessible until your late Fifties it could make sense to fill the pension and if necessary take a loan to help the kids through UNI . In any case most Uni costs can be covered with Student Loans. 

Unfortunately the way student loans are setup the amount the student can borrow for living costs is seriously limited starting from if the parents earn over £30k. My kids get the minimum loan which doesn't even cover their housing costs.

In the end we've paid from income rather than using the money we'd invested for them

enthusiasticsaver

There are various ways you can invest in stocks and shares isas and the variability of  how often and how much you can put in depends on the investment platform you choose.  Many of them will let you start with as little as £100 or even £25 a month but check out the charges as on a small portfolio they can be decimating.  Vanguard lifestrategy funds are popular on here as globally diversified multi asset funds. I think you need to do more research on investing first though.  12 years is a decent timeframe but if you need access to the funds just as the market is in a slump you may not want to withdraw at that time. 

jimjames

enthusiasticsaver said:

There are various ways you can invest in stocks and shares isas and the variability of  how often and how much you can put in depends on the investment platform you choose.  Many of them will let you start with as little as £100 or even £25 a month but check out the charges as on a small portfolio they can be decimating.  Vanguard lifestrategy funds are popular on here as globally diversified multi asset funds. I think you need to do more research on investing first though.  12 years is a decent timeframe but if you need access to the funds just as the market is in a slump you may not want to withdraw at that time. 

Vanguard have a percentage charge so it makes no difference whether your portfolio is small or large but for large ones a fixed fee can work out more cost effective.

[Deleted User]

MFW2026 said:

I believe its £100 minimum if its a direct debit however if you pay by card anytime there is no minimum?

This has been my experience of paying by card. I will add small amounts here and there if my budget allows and don't believe there's a minimum. Not sure about DD though.

Nurse2047

I don’t pay minimum £500 and often pay in £100 by DD and is accepted 

casslass

Yes parents are expected to contribute to living costs. I'm more than happy to do this as my parents supported me.

The 90k salary is combined with my husband. He is high rate. I am not. 

I'm sure if there was a slump in 12 years we could fund some from our income. It would be really just to help with the costs and a good way to save money over the long term. 

I imagine we will look to put extra into my husbands pension at some point. I'm in the public sector. 

MovingForwards

I have a small DD set up, plus I make even smaller ad hoc payments throughout the year.

Alexland

casslass said:

The 90k salary is combined with my husband. He is high rate. I am not.

A bit off topic but has he considered if he could put enough into his pension to avoid paying higher rate tax and reduce his adjusted net income low enough that you could get full child benefit?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adjusted-net-income