Child Tax Fund, Junior ISA's and a 15 year old

applesaremyfave

Hi there
My son wants to look at opening a junior ISA so I started to open one with vanguard and it said he couldnt have one because he already had a CTF account. I have just discovered you can transfer them into an ISA once we have opened a junior ISA. We then looked at Natwest and it said he could only open a junior ISA if he was under 14 years old. Now I am confused - he is 15 and this would be his first ISA. Does this mean he can only have an adult one?

refluxer

You're right in that a child can only have either a Child Trust fund or Junior ISA so if you want to open a Junior ISA, then you'll have to transfer the CTF into it. That stipulation will apply to whichever provider you choose.

If NatWest don't allow you to open a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA for a 15 year old, then that restriction might be particular to them - I've not come across that before. AFAIK, both Junior Stocks and Shares and Cash ISAs can usually be opened at any time up until a child turns 18. One possibility for the Nat West S&S restriction is that they're allowing 4-5 years for growth, considering the child could potentially access the money at the age of 18.

Your son will only be able to open an adult cash ISA if he reaches the age of 16 before 6th April this year because (a) he needs to be 16 in order to be able to do this and (b) ISA rules are changing for the next tax year and 16/17 year-olds will no longer be able to open one.

Note that not all ISA providers allow 16 year-olds to open adult ISAs, so the choice is very limited.

applesaremyfave

Thank you. I had no idea it was so limited for teens in terms of savings.

xylophone

You can open a cash JISA with Coventry BS and transfer in the CTF.

https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/member/help/savings/my-quick-guide-to-isas/learn-more-about-junior-isas.html#:~:text=If your child has a Child Trust Fund (CTF),,take care of the rest.

If your child has a Child Trust Fund (CTF), it’s easy to transfer the savings into our Junior Cash ISA. The registered contact will simply need to fill in and sign a form, then we’ll take care of the rest. Just call us at 0800 121 8899 or pop into a branch and we’ll explain how it works.

Remember: you can only hold one Junior Cash ISA or Child Trust Fund at a time, so you would need to transfer the full balance of a Junior Cash ISA.