Disappointed we didn’t save in child trust fund?

If the CTF only earned 59 in 18 years, you probably left it in cash rather than a stocks and shares CTF. That latter would have most likely grown exponentially in 18 years even without even for you to contribute anything further.

I am guessing that is how the poster who also did not add anything ended up with a 1,600 CTF for her dd.

Well I would have loved the opportunity but the scheme closed before I had dc.

My mate scrimped and saved and her ds got 8k..
Blasted the lot on 10 months. Nothing to show for it whatsoever..
Imagine having to witness that?. He had a great job and didn't even pay board.. An absolute tosser imo.
Your dc has some memories to bank away instead of cash.
Worth more imo.

Have you got the money to help with the car now?

Honestly I'm not convinced getting access to a large sum of money aged 18 is a sensible idea. 18 year olds have very poor risk assessment skills and are prone to being impulsive. You don't know when your child is young what they will be like at 18 and whether they are likely to blow it all on drugs, buy a sportscar, or invest sensibly.

We just put £10 birthday cheques from distant relatives in ours plus a small inheritance they got (a few thousand). And they have around 7k to show for it. Luckily DD1 (18) is currently very sensibly continuing to save. But there was a time a couple of years ago when I was terrified of what she would do with this money.

If you want to save/invest for their future there are other ways. Maybe something which keeps it in trust for them until 25 or something. Or keep an account still in your name but be saving it to give to them when they have something you agree with spending it on eg house deposit, buying a car, world travel, whatever.

I got mine to use their money to start a pension! Boring but again it wasn't much (oops) and I can pay a small amount into their pension monthly until they start work and can do it themselves.

We started putting in a small amount monthly a couple of years ago and it meant my child got just over £3k when they turned 18, which they were delighted with and helped them buy a car.
Most of their friends got a similar or a smaller amount, however 3 got over £20k, 2 of them have blown the lot and have absolutely nothing to show for it!
18 years old is not the right age to be coming into huge amounts of money!

There’s not much you can do about the trust fund. Can you top it up when she cashes it or start a new savings account for her future. It’s never too late.

I dunno, are they likely to be talking to mates about how much they have received in their CTFs really? I guess it might come out if people want to spend it on stuff, but what's done is done, so no point regretting.

We didn't put anything in initially and I couldn't when we had childcare costs. About 9 years ago we were on holiday with some mates (who all earn more money than me) and putting money into CTFs came up in discussion. Not how much or anything, but a couple of people said they were doing it and I felt bad because I figured they were probably putting in a lot. So I started a small amount since then that has gone up since.

My dd is turning 18 next month and is receiving £1600 ( give or take a pound or 2 )

I didn't add anything. I wasn't in a position to.