Savings for a child

Jet

I have a nearly 10 year old DS. At the moment, I have his savings of nearly £3k in a combination of a childrens bond with Abbey and an instant access savings account with the Abbey.

I'm sure this isn't the best place for it. I have no plans to touch the money until he is 16/18. Also, as I am a working single parent, I am concerned that this money combined with any savings I have, would prevent me from claiming income support (and any other related benefits) should I be unfortunate enough to lose my job.

Any suggestions on where I should put his money?

debbie42

I have two accounts for my children: one I use for longer term savings, and one for their own savings.

You do need to be careful about tax on interest earned on the accounts. The last time I checked, you couldn't earn more than £100 per annum on gifts from each parent for it to be registered for gross interest. The same restrictions don't apply to gifts from others, e.g. grandparents.

Have you looked into NS&I savings? Some of these are tax free.

Jet

Thanks for the reply.

I've looked at NS&I and found their childrens bonus bonds, but although they look good it does mean I can access the money at any time and I really wanted it locked away if you see what I mean? Not sure if you can do that.

debbie42

Although you can get the money out, it's a bit of a faff, and you wouldn't get the 5 year bonuses. Although it's in the children's name, there is a nominated adult who gets the statements etc. Mine are (currently) blissfully unaware of the fact that they have some money in the NS&I.