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But be careful about opening accounts for children in your own name. Especially if you are likely to breach the tax-free allowance on those savings!
Why do you need to be careful? You are entitled to have as many accounts in your name as you wish.
The OP is already using accounts in their own name, so I doubt they are worried about tax, and assuming they are a basic rate tax payer they have a £1,000 interest allowance. You have to have a lot of savings to breach that allowance, and even if you do you still earn interest, but pay 20% tax on the amount above £1,000.0 -
ValiantSon wrote: »Why do you need to be careful? You are entitled to have as many accounts in your name as you wish.
The OP is already using accounts in their own name, so I doubt they are worried about tax, and assuming they are a basic rate tax payer they have a £1,000 interest allowance. You have to have a lot of savings to breach that allowance, and even if you do you still earn interest, but pay 20% tax on the amount above £1,000.
We don't know the OP's tax position. Therefore it is quite wrong to assume that the OP may not be earning enough interest to breach the 1K allowance. The children are taxpayers in their own right and have their own allowances that can be used to ensure that the parents tax liability is minimised. The OP could have earnings that puts them in the 40% bracket and therefore the tax-free savings allowance is less! So more reason why they should properly utilise any tax breaks that the children also have.0 -
Thanks. I like the idea of lumping it together and getting a better interest rate and share between the 3 of them. That could work.
I won!!!8217;t reach the tax threshold so no problem their.
I would prefer the accounts in their name, just because in effect it is money saved for them but I need to be able to pay the things that come up for them out of their pots iyswim.
Thank you.0 -
We don't know the OP's tax position. Therefore it is quite wrong to assume that the OP may not be earning enough interest to breach the 1K allowance. The children are taxpayers in their own right and have their own allowances that can be used to ensure that the parents tax liability is minimised. The OP could have earnings that puts them in the 40% bracket and therefore the tax-free savings allowance is less! So more reason why they should properly utilise any tax breaks that the children also have.
Whatever.
I work on the principle that people aren't idiots. Furthermore, unlike you, I read what the OP had written and, as I pointed out, they already had savings for the children in their own name. It was not an unreasonable step, therefore, to assume that this was how they wished to continue. Not everyone is obsessed with minimising the tax they pay, by the way.
Over 80% of tax payers only pay at the basic rate, so on the balance of probability, the OP was not likely to be a higher rate tax payer. They may have been, and if they were then they would most likely be aware of the tax implications of their savings products.
You wanted to pick at what I had written.0 -
Thanks. I like the idea of lumping it together and getting a better interest rate and share between the 3 of them. That could work.
I won!!!8217;t reach the tax threshold so no problem their.
I would prefer the accounts in their name, just because in effect it is money saved for them but I need to be able to pay the things that come up for them out of their pots iyswim.
Thank you.
You can stil make withdrawals for things for them for accounts that are held in their own names. You will be the trustee of these accounts and you are entitled to make withdrawals to pay for things that are for their benefit. At the age of 18 you will no longer be able to do that, as the children will gain full control over their own finances.
You could open children's savings accounts if you wanted (but still use the regular saver as described). However, children's savings accounts are not necessarily as good as adult ones. There are some exceptions, although the age of the children limits access:
Santander 123 Mini pays 3% on balances between £300 and £2,000.Children have to be between 11 and 17 to hold this account. However, you can get round this barrier by opening a Santander 123 Mini In Trust if they are under 11, and then transfer to the 123 Mini when they reach 11. If you opened these accounts for them then they would have access to the 5% regular saver in their own name too.https://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/123-mini-current-account0 -
ValiantSon wrote: »Whatever.
I work on the principle that people aren't idiots. Furthermore, unlike you, I read what the OP had written and, as I pointed out, they already had savings for the children in their own name. It was not an unreasonable step, therefore, to assume that this was how they wished to continue. Not everyone is obsessed with minimising the tax they pay, by the way.
Over 80% of tax payers only pay at the basic rate, so on the balance of probability, the OP was not likely to be a higher rate tax payer. They may have been, and if they were then they would most likely be aware of the tax implications of their savings products.
You wanted to pick at what I had written.
I wanted to highlight options and potentials that I considered you had overlooked.0 -
Not sure if tho is the right area to discuss kids accounts so please forgive me if it’s wrong. Basically, I have 3 savings accounts, they’re used for my children as it’s money I save for them but it’s accessed by myself for items that they may need. Eg one child has a medical condition and we self fund some equipment, so we access the account when the next payment is due (every 2 to 3 months). At the moment their money is sitting in savings accounts linked to my Santander 123 account. I like the simplicity of moving money between accounts when required but I’m also mindful that they’re not getting a great interest rate but also the accounts are in my name rather than theirs which can look as if I have more than I actually do but I also need control.
Is this the best option? Stick with what I’m doing or is there a better way?
Thanks
You'll only get higher rates if you devolve some authority to the children. That might be just the thing to do.
See:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free/0 -
Hi
Thought I'd let you know my experiences after switching to the HSBC Advance account from Santander. The switch went fairly smoothly and I got the £150 for switching but doubt I will be able to hang in long enough (a year) to get the extra £50. I have had real difficulty with the online banking aspect of this account. I don't really like banking on my phone, I prefer to do it on my PC, but it doesn't seem to be an option on this account as in order to do anyhting online you also have to log into your mobile phone. It is incredibly complicated to do anything at all with multiple log-ins and passwords, all named something similar (eg Digital Secure Password vs Digital Secure Key Password) which generate codes on the phone that you have to input on the computer within 30 seconds or they expire. I find their online dashboard very unclear. Once you figure out how to do stuff like transferring money to another account (under a small headline "move money") then despite the fact that you have already entered at least two passwords/codes to log on you have to go through it all over again. It takes absolutely ages and due to the "ticking clock" countdown, is rather pressurised!! It's not helped by the fact that you can't actually see the passwords/codes, you are inputting, only dots for each character. If you do input the password wrongly, it still generates a code, it will just be a code that doesn't actually work..! And it takes ages to load the codes. Until I had this account, I did most of my banking online; I have three other accounts, with Nationwide, Santander and Halifax, none of which I have any issues accessing and using. Now I dread having to log on. I tried to transfer some money to an existing payee tonight and failed on both the computer and my mobile. So I tried telephone baking and that was rubbish as well; I ended up having to go through to an advisor who did it for me in seconds. When I said that the online banking system drove me bonkers she said "you wouldn't be the first I've heard that from". As I'm writing this, I'm realising I need to switch again asap - having this account means I rarely even look at it, let alone try to do anything on it. Not good, considering it is my main current account. Oh! And in branch - the first time I went in most of the automated machines were out of order or playing up, there was only one person behind the counter (upstairs) and the person overseeing the machines was reading a brochure whilst people struggled. the second time I went in, the branch was flooded. Why am I staying with this bank for the promise of £50!!!? :rotfl:0 -
you can run a HSBC account on a PC0
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I've an Advance account and have no problem with online banking via a PC. I log in using the security device and - yes - there are two other bits of data to be entered - which I regard as a good thing. No phones involved at all.
You obviously need some REAL problems in your life .
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