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Investments

Children savings

11 replies

MrsDexter · 24/12/2021 23:28

Hi can anyone recommend a saving account which doesn’t require a set amount per month and we can transfer elsewhere if rates are good. We would need to be able to transfer online and at a branch. Thanks

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JamMakingWannaBe · 28/12/2021 22:47

HSBC. 2.5% on up to £3k.

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Newyearoldyou · 01/01/2022 21:33

Stocks and shares junior isa.

My dcs are running at 25 %


25%!!

Just very common vanguard funds.
I did get some individual shares but I'm going to sell those and stream line them

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seekingasimplelife · 03/01/2022 02:01

How old are the children, and what are the savings for? You don't have to answer obviously, just something to think about!
Are you a parent, grandparents, or someone else? This might well determine the type of account you can open on their behalf.

For instance, are you a parent saving into a Junior ISA? If so - are you happy for your children to take control of it at 16, and have complete access and ownership of the money at 18 years old?

If so, and the money can be invested for at least 5 years - (and you don't need to access the money before the child is 18) you might benefit from a Stocks and Shares Junior ISA - such as the Vanguard Lifestrategy funds ISA, which is easy to manage and has very low fees.

In the same circumstances, but where you are not the parent; or you don't want your children to access the money at 18 - or indeed you want some say over what they might spend it on (such as driving lessons, house deposit) you might consider the Vanguard ISA fund, but opened in your own name and which you manage on their behalf.

At the moment these routes of investing are paying much higher rates than cash savings - but of course, carry higher risk.

If your children are sensible with money and you want to teach them money management, you might consider a children's current account that pays interest - such as Halifax Money Smart account which pays 1% on balances up to £1000.

Are you a relative looking to leave a longterm legacy for a child? You could consider investing in a pension for them, For every £80 you invest the government would top up another £20 in tax relief.
Vanguard don't offer this at the moment but an Aviva Stakeholder pension can be opened for a child of any age, with minimum contributions of £16 a month (made up to £20 by the government), but you can stop and restart contributions at any time. Fees are capped on stakeholder pensions and you have freedom to move the investment to another provider if you wish.

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AlwaysLatte · 03/01/2022 02:17

We use St James Place for our children's investments, around 8 years now. A little pricey but we're happy so far.

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CovidPassQuestion · 03/01/2022 02:57

@Newyearoldyou which vanguard fund are they in, please?

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Oddbutnotodd · 03/01/2022 03:37

Not St James place

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MrsDexter · 04/01/2022 09:32

Thanks all. I’ll have a look online at your suggestions once kids are back at school

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MrsDexter · 04/01/2022 09:34

@seekingasimplelife

How old are the children, and what are the savings for? You don't have to answer obviously, just something to think about!
Are you a parent, grandparents, or someone else? This might well determine the type of account you can open on their behalf.

For instance, are you a parent saving into a Junior ISA? If so - are you happy for your children to take control of it at 16, and have complete access and ownership of the money at 18 years old?

If so, and the money can be invested for at least 5 years - (and you don't need to access the money before the child is 18) you might benefit from a Stocks and Shares Junior ISA - such as the Vanguard Lifestrategy funds ISA, which is easy to manage and has very low fees.

In the same circumstances, but where you are not the parent; or you don't want your children to access the money at 18 - or indeed you want some say over what they might spend it on (such as driving lessons, house deposit) you might consider the Vanguard ISA fund, but opened in your own name and which you manage on their behalf.

At the moment these routes of investing are paying much higher rates than cash savings - but of course, carry higher risk.

If your children are sensible with money and you want to teach them money management, you might consider a children's current account that pays interest - such as Halifax Money Smart account which pays 1% on balances up to £1000.

Are you a relative looking to leave a longterm legacy for a child? You could consider investing in a pension for them, For every £80 you invest the government would top up another £20 in tax relief.
Vanguard don't offer this at the moment but an Aviva Stakeholder pension can be opened for a child of any age, with minimum contributions of £16 a month (made up to £20 by the government), but you can stop and restart contributions at any time. Fees are capped on stakeholder pensions and you have freedom to move the investment to another provider if you wish.

Hi I am a parent. I looked at ISAs but told you can’t move them into a savings account if interest rates get better so I was abit unsure of them whereas with savings, you have more flexibility. My children are in primary school so still fairly young.
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Newyearoldyou · 04/01/2022 18:44

I have cash isa for them and stocks and shares isa.

At the same time.

Maybe try that?

Why do you want to move them if interest rates get better?

We have two "pots" one in my bank for extra lessons, drama or whatever.

In joint we have another pot for school expenses, lunch money, clothes.

They each have a normal bank saving account which I try and add too when I can. The odd ten pounds here and there over the years is now a few 100 each. The older one has started to spend that a little and it's in her name. But younger hasn't and I use that as and when needed but the idea is she can start to buy her own clothes with it, add to it with a job etc and learn to manage money.

Then in the two isas they have small inheritance.
Again it's kept in two so they don't splurge it all in one go. (hopefully)

The cash isa earned about £150 interest.
The stock and shares isa... Several thousand pounds.


I have several vanguard and individual shares and I'm going to prune and stream line this year.
Including life strategy and several others.

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MrsDexter · 05/01/2022 17:49

@Oddbutnotodd

Not St James place

Why not this one?
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seekingasimplelife · 05/01/2022 20:25

@MrsDexter - I think you've either been misinformed or not quite understood about moving money from a Stocks and Shares (S&S) ISA.
You can certainly withdraw it, or close most accounts if it's in your own name (so not a Junior ISA). You can move the whole balance to an ordinary savings account. You can deposit it in a new cash ISA but only up to £20K per year.

What you can't do is TRANSFER from a S&S ISA to a Cash ISA and keep the tax advantages. So suppose you had a S&S ISA in which you had invested £40K over 2 years. You couldn't then transfer £40K to a cash ISA. But you could withdraw £40K and put £20K a new Cash ISA during one financial year, and put another £20K in ordinary savings. For most people the first £1000 interest on savings is tax free anyway, so it depends on the levels you are saving whether this will impact or not.

As @Oddbutnotodd says - not St James Place!!
Fees are high and can have a significant effect on how much your investments grow.
From their website..total charges (for ISA) of 5% of the initial investment and an ongoing charge for a typical portfolio between 1.6% and 1.9%.

Compare that with self-investing in a Stocks & Shares ISA with a Vanguard Lifestrategy Fund - account fee is just 0.15% per year, (capped at £375), and annual fund charge of 0.22%. It's very easy to just apply yourself online!!
(Please be aware - this is just my own experience and not financial advice - I am not a qualified financial advisor, and you need to do your own reasearch).

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