How much to save for a child?

OP, I haven't participated in the poll itself because for all the reasons stated above the options are mute I'm afraid.

We have a savings account in our child's name which we contribute into occasionally; the idea is that it will provide them with 'some' money (it will not be a large amount ant will be nowhere near £20k mentioned).

The child also has an account with a debit card (which they deposit gifts / earnings etc) the idea is that from a relatively young age they get used to the concept of 'If I want it I have to spend my money. If I haven't got the money I can't have it'. You'd be amazed how much they decide they don't want after they realise they need to spend their money on it.

They have a CTF (forerunner of the JISA) which has investments and does have the potential to deliver a significant amount (we / relatives made the account up to £2000 and the investments have done rather well since then). Come age 18 we'll have to hope they are sensible enough to 'deal' with the money.

We have an investment account in my OHs name which we notionally have assigned to the child 'for their benefit', i.e. university, etc. It is this account that we contribute to so that we can assist or even gift some/all when deemed appropriate/required.

Following on from this a grandparent wanted to leave a lump sum to the child but I have discussed this and they have a agreed to leave a smaller amount to the child and leave the rest to be held in trust for the child (to be used for the benefit of the child and any remaining money to become the child's at 25).

There is no one size fits all and I am concerned about children simply 'having money', without the concept of understanding that you have to work for money. There is very much a understanding in the young (very young) of entitlement, something I'm keen to extinguish (as much as possible). You'll never hear the words 'pocket money' in our house. You do tasks, you earn money.

I'll get off my soap box now

Flobberchops wrote: »

I certainly agree. I have every intention of keeping my daughter's savings top secret until they legally come under her control at 16...

My view is that complete openness on finances is much better.

In my case (mentioned above), I knew from a young age that the share certificates were there, the number was growing, the letters with the additional dividend shares arriving. I saw them and counted them...and valued having them, even though they were just bits of paper. In due course, I blew my first university grant cheque on a camera, but the thought of selling these shares never once crossed my mind as they had a value way beyond the actual cash value of the shares.

Flobberchops wrote: »

Why did I choose age 18? Simply because that's the age money held in bare trust (as in a junior ISA) will become legally the child's.

I hesitate to mention this but in practical terms it may be possible for trustees of a bare trust (but not a JISA) to delay paying out the money past 18, which they may want to do if the child is acting irresponsibly with money at that age.

It's a controversial subject which has been debated in depth in past threads.

I gave this topic far too much thought when my daughter was born.

I wanted to give her a solid start in life, but more importantly enough time to breathe (financially speaking) so that she could find her way without feeling pressured to jump into the first job she was offered/a university course that she was unsure of etc. I'm from a fairly large family and this sort of luxury just wasn't an option!

We are investing just under the amount that we receive monthly in Child Benefit and also invest cash gifts from grandparents and ourselves. I think that it should grow to £25,000+ by the time she is old enough to be trusted with such a large sum.

In a lot of ways, I think that saving for children should be a secondary concern to teaching them about how to save their own money, when they get it

Anonymous101 wrote: »

Why presumably? I thought lots of people started a pension for their children? I don't have children but i'll start a pension for them (if the situation remains as it is now) if/when i do.

'Presumably' because Another Joe referred to his child/ren possibly accessing the money earlier than typical pension age (i.e. 18/21, as opposed to 55+).

While a pension would definitely be a big help for children, I'd rather give them a leg up earlier on in their lives when their earning power will likely be at its lowest. A pension is too inflexible for this.