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Original poster

Pondering on what a difference a lump sum would have made to me at 18....what about you?

148 replies

Artdecolover · 18/08/2021 19:21

Disclosure: its 30 years since was 18 and obviously the world is a very different place!

My ds is 18 and off to university next month.

My dh and I opened a CTF account for him at birth which we started with those Govt vouchers and have been paying in small amounts every month since. It wasn't always much but we always put a bit in.

He is very grateful and today he asked me what I would have done with a lump sum at 18...

It would have utterly changed my life. I was brought up in poverty and didn't go to university. Money would have meant I could have taken resits (I needed to get a job and earn money), or travelled, or bought a car...all of which would have made such a difference.

What would you have done? Or are you glad you didn't get a lump sum at 18? Would you have spaffed the lot in ibiza??? 🤣

I'm not sad as such, but it did make me ponder on the main benefits of money : options.

OP posts:

Original poster

Artdecolover · 18/08/2021 22:26

@Starcar

OP I notice you say that you changed them to Junior ISAs so that you remain the named account holder even when they’re 18. As I understand it, even with JISAs the money transfers to the child at 18 and they have partial control from 16. see info from gov.uk and MSE.

Not according to Nationwide...

I was still the named person as of earlier today...

OP posts:

Starcar · 18/08/2021 22:32

The rules for junior ISAs are universal so shouldn’t alter between banks/BS. Ownership of the account is supposed to pass when they turn 18 - it becomes an adult ISA in their name. Anyway it’s a side issue but I only mention it in case others are parents are thinking about getting one so they’re aware.

www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts/manage-an-account

Original poster

Artdecolover · 18/08/2021 22:40

Interesting!
He tried to transfer some money using the app and couldn't.
We went into branch and were told it was because its still in my control...

OP posts:

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General money

toastfiend · 18/08/2021 22:58

I got about 2k, which I didn't piss up the wall, as such, but did end up spending it on rent, food, bills, whilst job hunting post Uni. I suppose it helped me keep my head above water, but I wish I'd just taken a temporary position to pay the bills and kept the money, rather than holding out for the "right" job and wasting it.

I also had a few pots of money from other things, a bit of an inheritance and a small lump sum my parents saved for me. The inheritance I saved until I bought my first home, the other I still have, 10 years later, as a rainy day fund. I think I'm pretty sensible with money, and always have been. Equally, I've known lots of people who have been fortunate enough to be given tens of thousands of pounds at 18, which they've just spent on having a great time until it's all gone with nothing to show for it. I don't think many 18 year olds make great financial decisions, so I'm dubious that lump sums at that age are really life-changing. If DH and I are in a position to give DS a sum of money when he's older then I don't think he'll get it until he's at least 21.

transformandriseup · 19/08/2021 00:04

I had a similar amount given to me (by a relative) at that age and prior to then had nothing saved for me as my family were too poor. I bought my first car £1400 and went on my first ever flight abroad. I saved the rest.

I was a bit reclusive at that age and I think that stopped me from wasting it.

PattyPan · 19/08/2021 00:10

I did get a lump sum when I was 19 from a personal injury lawsuit and it was a really decent amount - a bit more than your DS has but still mid/low 5 figures. I used it to supplement my maintenance loan (instead of parental contributions) and had an amazing university experience, made the most of every opportunity and travelled extensively within Europe. Then I used the rest of it as the majority of the deposit on our house when I was 24 (2 years ago) with some additional savings from my job and some of DP’s savings. I’ve never bothered with a car though.

Auntienumber8 · 19/08/2021 02:31

I was given 1k 35 years ago I used it towards a deposit for my first property. A two bed flat that cost 35k, I was earning 19k at the time.

Mintjulia · 19/08/2021 02:40

At 18 I left home to study in London. My parents were on minimal income & df resented me studying rather than staying at home and paying him rent so I got no support from them.
I worked in a pub for most of my first two years to make ends meet and so did no student activities, lived in a bedsit which was cheaper than halls and didn't make any friends. Third year was spent studying for finals so again, no socialising.
If I'd had a lump sum at 18, I would have spent less time earning, and enjoyed my student years a bit more.

Muma1992 · 19/08/2021 07:21

I got a lump sum. It went straight in with the rest of my savings, as I was always told it was for a house deposit. I knew it was coming and that it was for a house. I also saved myself since my first job at 16. I owned my own home by 23, with a mortgage. So grateful. My kids will hopefully have the same.

JuliaBlackberry · 19/08/2021 07:32

A lot to me. I just had my mum and she didn't have much money so I had to get a loan for living costs at uni. I've had that 20k hanging over my head for 13 years now- paying a bit off while earning enough then gathering interest when not. Net result is its much the same as when I started! At 18 I could have lived off some money at uni and avoided this debt which I hate.

Camomila · 19/08/2021 07:36

I would have loved a lump sum at 22 (for a masters) or late 20s (when everyone started buying houses)

I was lucky when I went to uni - I came from a disadvantaged background and got good A-level grades. I had the max loan, max grant, and an academic scholarship from my uni so I only had to work a bit in the summer holidays.

DH and I are saving up for the DCs uni costs already (5 and 1) - it was the students from middling backgrounds that were always the most skint (parents earnt to much for a grant, but didn't have enough spare to help out much).

ParentingDilemmas · 19/08/2021 07:43

I wouldn’t have been able to make good decisions at 18. I’d have blew it on a few holidays. It’s far too young to be given a lump sum. Those that use it on driving lessons etc are very sensible.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 19/08/2021 07:47

Mine are unaware of savings we have for them so won’t be getting them at 18. I want them to be able to get on the property ladder so saving it for when the time comes.
We have had will cover driving lessons as I see it as an essential life skill so they won’t need it for that and I’m not funding large weddings.

cleckheatonwanderer · 19/08/2021 08:01

I received a lump sum in my early 20s and spent it on travel. Unlike some on this thread I don't feel like it was a waste of the money, it was something I'll probably never get the chance to do again and even though I spent a number of years saving for a house deposit if I could go back and do it again I would do the same.

I have a small amount in a junior ISA for DS that he will receive when he's 18 and I'll happily watch him enjoy it. I also have a separate account in my name for the majority of savings for him. Based on this thread, instead of handing that over at 18/21 I'll likely keep it until he's in a position to get a place of his own, and it can go towards that. But I won't be pointing it out until the time.

MegaClutterSlut · 19/08/2021 08:04

If I'd have got a lump sum at 18 I would've absolutely wasted it. All I was interested in at that age was going out on the piss

I did manage to convince Ds to start saving when he started his apprenticeship at 17, he's 19 now. He's managed to save 10k so far for his driving lessons/car and wants to save for a house deposit also

TravellingSpoon · 19/08/2021 08:20

I got £6k when I turned 18. I already had a baby by that point so I used it as a deposit for a house and to put heating into it as the house only had storage heaters.

I am glad I did it but at the time I wanted to use it to take DS on holiday. My GM told me that was an awful idea so I didn't.

110APiccadilly · 19/08/2021 08:43

@Newbabynewhouse

Something I don't understand (I'd genuinely appreciate people helping me get my head around this...) why do teenagers spend thousands on going to university when you can just apply for a government loan? .. is it because if your parents earn over a certain amount they don't get the loan and have to pay outright? .. I lived with parents u til I was 25 and they earned a lot of money but I wasn't Interested in uni then so not sure if they would have had to pay (or me if I had the savings) or if I could have got a grant ? I am now in uni and have a grant but think this is becaue I don't earn over the threshold to have to pay for myself?

Owing to one part luck (cheap accommodation, being Welsh meaning lower fees) one part hard work (gap year and holidays working in a care home, scholarship) and one part generous parents (living rent free during the gap year) I managed to go through uni about ten years ago with no student debt at all. A lot of people said at the time that this was crazy, but I am now, and have been for quite some time, 9% of my salary better off each year. It's worth doing if you can do it (though fees make it almost impossible now - I only had just over £1K a year to pay in fees).

110APiccadilly · 19/08/2021 08:47

Oh, and generous grandparents, as I said earlier - I had about £3K from them on my 18th.

Woolver23 · 19/08/2021 08:56

DH inherited a large lump sum at 25, on the death of his grandparents - enough to buy a small flat in a decent area. I met him a couple of years later and it's been totally life enhancing for us - we've since moved from the flat of course but it was a good buy at the right time and but it's meant that for our entire married life, we've at most had only a modest mortgage which we could pay off easily. We're not rich, but we're disproportionately comfortable considering that we both work in moderately paid public sector roles - and I was able not to work at all when the kids were small.
18 would be too young for that kind of money though; DH had graduated and was working and knew where he wanted to put down roots. How pleased his grandparents would be to know how we are still reaping the benefits of their legacy a quarter of a century later.

Babababababybelll · 19/08/2021 09:04

I got a lump sum at 18 , and we used it for a house deposit.

15 years on , hubby got a large redundancy payment, and i have to say we weren't half as sensible as at 18

aSofaNearYou · 19/08/2021 09:20

I'd have wasted it at 18. It would have been FAR more useful after graduating and realising "shit this is all actually really tough and expensive".

CasaBonita · 19/08/2021 09:27

I got a couple of grand when I was 18. I promptly spent the lot on a holiday, boozing, junk food and clothes. Then to make matters worse, racked up a load of credit card debt too. I was very naive and impulsive!

My DS will have a sizeable amount but we have it in a savings account in our names so he can't get his mitts on it when he turns 18. Of course I'll let him have a little bit to spend frivolously but the vast majority will be for a car, house deposit etc when he's old enough to know better!!

Tal45 · 19/08/2021 09:32

At 18 I would have partied it away. I got a lump sum at 23 and used it as a deposit to buy a house. Much better to get the money after uni when you are working IMO.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 19/08/2021 09:54

Having always been broke, I’d probably have splurged the lot - clothes, holidays, driving lessons and a car, if there had been enough. However when I was 18 houses were relatively much more affordable than now - buying a house was something only boring old people like your parents did, or wanted to do.

Themadcatparade · 19/08/2021 10:28

I would not have known the value of a lump sum at that age - although I would have thought I did! I think it would have changed my life for a month and then I would have regretted it years down the line when I truly needed it.

I am putting some money away for my DD but it’s strictly for her first home deposit.

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