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Original poster

How much is your gov Child Trust Fund?

127 replies

Newtonianmechanics · 22/03/2024 18:12

My daughter is in y11. 15 turning 16.
I haven't invested much in her trust fund as I was unsure her having loads of money at 18 would be useful.

It is worth about 5k now. My dd says her boyfriends is worth £600.

She says some of her mates families have no idea about it.

Guess my Aibu is can't believe some families don't know where there £250 is?

OP posts:
Bartholomewphilipswasrobbed · 22/03/2024 18:54

FleetwoodMacAttack · 22/03/2024 18:45

Why are they so different in value? IsIt because some people have removed the money and put in a different account? How did it work?

From (VERY) hazy memory, we had a choice as to where the money went - we shoved it in Building Society account and then added bits where we could. The money had to stay as a CTF, but we could decide where it was put.

Redruby2020 · 22/03/2024 18:53

DinnaeFashYersel · 22/03/2024 18:27

Eldest is 15 and it's £24k

Youngest 11 missed out so we've been saving into a junior ISA and she's at £14k

I need to set something up for my DS which bank do you do the ISA through if you don't mind me asking.

I am trying to decide who to go through in regards to the best rates now.
Thankyou.

Liliesrus · 22/03/2024 18:52

He’s 16 and its about 40k
I averaged paying in about £250 a month
it’s the only thing I’ve ever saved! Supposed to be for university, but I doubt he’s going now so will put it away for house deposit maybe. I also can’t see him ever moving out 😆

Bartholomewphilipswasrobbed · 22/03/2024 18:51

£7k. Just turned 18. Now moved to an ISA.

blueshoes · 22/03/2024 18:49

I believe that if you have steadily been contributing over the years, by age 17, a stocks & shares (S&S) CTF is easily be worth 5 figures, or even 6 figures for higher contributions.

That is the power of compounding. Shares have also surged over that period as a result of quantitative easing and US tech companies growing so spectacularly. If the S&S ISA is in the right investments, the increase in value is quite phenomenal, equivalent to property investments IMO.

Ludoole · 22/03/2024 18:46

My youngest (21) still hasn't cashed his but was worth just shy of £2000 last time we received a letter. We never added to it. He really needs to cash it.

Dacadactyl · 22/03/2024 18:46

pixiesaresmall · 22/03/2024 18:36

Tahank you @BertieBotts
I lost all the details of my child's when I moved out when I split from her dad.

Does anyone know if it's worth me putting extra into this as she has a very small pot of money gifted or should I look at a junior ISA?
Everyone seems to have such different amounts

Do you know where its been saved and the interest rate or whether its stocks and shares?

If just in a bank account I'd look at what's giving best interest rate and any management fees they charge and then decide on what's giving best return...the CTF account or the ISA.

FleetwoodMacAttack · 22/03/2024 18:45

Why are they so different in value? IsIt because some people have removed the money and put in a different account? How did it work?

NorfolkEnchantsIsThere · 22/03/2024 18:43

DSs is sitting at £1800 and I've never put a penny into it. I have saved elsewhere for him for uni but not into that one which I probably should have.

Greenfluffycardi · 22/03/2024 18:42

TheBunyip · 22/03/2024 18:18

i've never been able to add anything to it, so probably about £243.74

We didn’t add and it’s £467, daughter is 18 in a couple of weeks so you may be surprised 😂

Freshstarts249 · 22/03/2024 18:42

DD 18 didn’t have much, around £1300 and I’m glad because she is not at all sensible, has gone off the rails a bit and it would be wasted.
dd 10 has about £600 in an ISA and I’m really reluctant to save for them because I’m not rich by any means and I’d be devastated if I managed to save 10k or something and they got to 18 and wasted it, which I imagine they would.

Greenfluffycardi · 22/03/2024 18:40

My daughters is worth £467 and she’s 18 in two weeks! My sons £430, he is 17 in a few weeks!

CantFindTheBeat · 22/03/2024 18:39

Can you REALLY not believe it, OP?

The challenges some families go through, the disfunction, the educational and social disadvantages...

And you can't believe that some people don't know where a possible letter or piece of paper sent to them 16 years ago might be?

Hmmm. #SmugStealthBoast

Dacadactyl · 22/03/2024 18:38

Approx 13k and DD is 17.

pixiesaresmall · 22/03/2024 18:36

Tahank you @BertieBotts
I lost all the details of my child's when I moved out when I split from her dad.

Does anyone know if it's worth me putting extra into this as she has a very small pot of money gifted or should I look at a junior ISA?
Everyone seems to have such different amounts

ScarletWitchM · 22/03/2024 18:29

DD had hers when it was the higher amount given by government and had about £2.5k when she turned 16. DS has about £500 in his as we didn’t add much after the first year but he has an ISA we opened for him with £20k in which will go toward Uni. We did the same for DD & she has put the £2.5k trust fund into a LISA to help her on the property ladder

DinnaeFashYersel · 22/03/2024 18:27

Eldest is 15 and it's £24k

Youngest 11 missed out so we've been saving into a junior ISA and she's at £14k

PutOnYourRedShoesAndLetsDance · 22/03/2024 18:24

My Grandson turned 18 last summer.. a month before he received a letter about it .
He took it to his bank and they sorted it out for him.
My daughter didn't add anything to it and it was £1300

TheFTrain · 22/03/2024 18:21

My eldest who received his payout a couple of years ago got just under £8500 and my youngest, who's in year 12, has got about £7000 so far.

We deposited £10 per month for each kid.

Thank you Gordon Brown.

CommeIlFaut · 22/03/2024 18:21

DD is 15. Her DGP’s put a grand in as a christening present and that’s it. Now worth £4900 so I’m hoping perhaps enough for a little runabout at £18.

BertieBotts · 22/03/2024 18:20

This tells you how to find an old dormant one if you've lost track.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/reclaim-child-trust-fund/

ItsFuckingBoringFeedingEveryoneUntilYouDie · 22/03/2024 18:20

We did invest in our DS one. He has nearly 70k. He didn't know we had saved for him, so in parallel to telling him we helped him move it to a hard to access/several months notice account. We will shortly be sitting him down with an IFA to plan whether it should go into a pension, be a house deposit, or some other long term mechanism.

His sibling has nearly 40k with 4 years to go. We will do the same for him.

BertieBotts · 22/03/2024 18:19

I think it was about 800 last I checked.

I didn't add to it but we did get the extra 250 due to being low income.

TheBunyip · 22/03/2024 18:18

i've never been able to add anything to it, so probably about £243.74

PiggieWig · 22/03/2024 18:15

Id forgotten about it actually