Savings account for niece

Cyberchicklet

I want to open a savings account for my niece which I will put money into each month and give to her as an 18th birthday present, I want to open it in her name so that I don't get taxed on the interest, any ideas which is best, a savings account or an ISA ?

eskbanker

An ISA is a savings account, although Junior ISAs can be used for investing as well as saving, which may be more appropriate in terms of long term growth - how old is she?

JISAs are tax-efficient but the money is locked away completely inaccessibly until she's 18, and they must be opened by a parent or guardian, even though the money can come from others.

cloud_dog

I went through a similar process as you, but via a different method.

I wanted to do something, but didn't know how many nieces/nephews I would end up with, so I decided to simply keep the money in my name.  That way I could manage the distribution of the accumulated money in line with the number and ages of each of them; I ended up with 3 nephews.

I invested it rather than cash savings, as I started shortly after the first was born and I would therefore have c. 18 years for it to grow.

I (we) used our general investment accounts for this purpose and used an investment that didn't pay out dividends or have excess reportable income.  CGT allowance was much more back then (£12k ish), so that wasn't a huge issue, just something to manage over the 18 years.

xylophone

One of your niece's parents could open a JISA for her and you could contribute.

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


Or you might look at


 https://www.ybs.co.uk/savings/childrens-savings

https://www.skipton.co.uk/savings/childrens/childrens-trust-saver