Save for DC future or spend now?

[Sleepdeprived42long]

If you had to choose, would you save for DC future or spend just now on experiences which could enhance their life (eg holidays, activities etc)?

Would the future amount change your answer eg £2k, £20k, £200k?

Just a debate DH and I are currently having so would be interested in hearing other people’s thoughts!

I’d try and balance both. I certainly would never give a lump sum unless it was a property deposit.

It depends. If you earn over the amount for minimum student loan then I would save it. Forward planning will mean that you won't need to worry about not allowing your dc to go to university because you haven't budgeted and can't afford it.
If you earn less then I would give my dc some great experiences.

We do a bit of everything but nothing to an extreme.

We put £100 a month into a Stocks and Shares ISA (in my name) that is earmarked for our two DDs, so only £50 a month each but it's money we keep control of so they can't just blow it all.

Money they're given for gifts from family at Christmas and Birthdays goes into accounts in their names that they get access to when they're 18 and is their money so I'm happy for them to spend it on rubbish if that's what they choose at the time.

We have two holidays a year but both are caravan or camping holidays in the UK. DDs are young and are perfectly happy playing on the beach, doing the kids club entertainment etc if on a caravan park so we don't see the point on spending a fortune to go abroad in the school holidays at the moment. The plan is this will probably change as they get older and we'll look to do just one holiday a year but make this a more expensive foreign holiday.

Each DD has swimming lessons which I view as a necessity. No other extra curricular clubs at the moment.

We have National Trust membership and are lucky to live in an area with loads of properties in easy reach (we're in Berkshire) so that covers most of our days out.

@TeenDividedSorry to bump a month old thread but I was curious about this?

It depends whose name the money is saved in.
If it has gone in the name of the child, then yes you do need to tell them at 18.

Why do you have to tell them? Do you mean legally or just that the bank will write to inform them?

Bit of both. Keep savings in your name rather than a JISA unless there are tax reasons. As child gets older you can always transfer it into their name if your child proves to be sensible

We do both.

One pot is in our name which is earmarked for uni as DD won't get the full tuition loan and I don't think it would be wise to start your life full of debt so we hope to reduce the loans the needs.

DD has an account in her name where the grandparents pay in since birth. It was designed to cover the driving lessons but by now it may also help with a small car. She has a child trust fund but we never added to the government cheque, it currently is at £450 and I assume this will be spending money after A-Level and I am ok with that.

We also have a holiday saving account. We do one really big holiday every couple of years, also increased by my bonus payment. Normal holidays were basic when DD was small, only as a teen they become more expensive. Expensive school trips like a potential US one in 6th form next year will also be covered by that.

Things like theatre, theme parks, big days out are either gifts, my PIL especially love giving us theatre vouchers, or limited to once a year.

I think I mean legally and morally.
Things like the CTF are legally the child's once they turn 18.
If you hide it from them and then for example they claim benefit there could be an issue.

Ah I see. I don't save in my son's name but his grandparents do. They don't want him to have it at 18 but they did choose to save in his name.

If I'm being honest, I doubt I'll feel any moral obligation to tell him about it at 18 if he doesn't find out himself. We live in Ireland and according to current rules, he won't be able to claim benefits if he's in higher education, or if not then the first €30k in savings won't effect claiming anyway and he won't have that much, probably around 15-20k.

It's a long way off so we'll play it by ear, if he finds out then he finds out but if not then I'll likely be comfortable not telling him till later on. Or else I could explain to him that its to pay for his college fees (3k a year here). I would refund this money to him after college since it's obviously our responsibility to pay for his fees.

But as soon as he is 18 the bank won't do anything with you anymore, only with him. You can't withdraw funds without him.

We chose to talk to DD about the account her grandparents and we sat up in her name when she was 14, old enough to know about it and still plenty of time until she will have access to it.

@reluctantbrit Oh I think you misunderstood my post. Of course I wouldn't try to withdraw funds from his account! This is an investment fund set up by his grandparents. We have our own separate much larger investment trust for him in my name.

I don't save any money specifically for our children. I don't want to hand them over a pot of money at 18. We have our own savings and will help out as and when needed. We will pay for driving lessons, support them through university and hopefully help them with a house deposit. If they want to take a gap year at 18 they can get a job and we will match what they save.

2k Put £1000 away in ISA/savings for them. The other £1k to be kept in an easy access, this will pay for extracurriculars or 'can't miss' school trips. Extracurriculars to round out what he misses out on due to being in an average state school that mostly focuses on maths and literacy, to the detriment of other subjects.

20k £15K in stocks/shares and savings. £1k as before for extracurricular/school trip. £4k to cover a budget but exciting week every summer in Europe (this may stretch over 3 summers?).

200k I don't even know! Buy a flat to rent out until they're old enough to use it/keep renting it out? Will never see this kind of money so I've no clue.

Ah, ok.

Still, he may suddenly gets statements, so keeping it a secret will also be difficult.

I'm impressed everyone can save such large amounts. Granted I'm in maternity with DS 2 but I would love to have £150
Spare to save. We are trying £30 a month ag the minute but some months we can't manage it

True true. I'm way ahead of myself anyway because he's still so young! This thread just made me think.

We are spending a lot on experiences for DDs. Holidays, days out, extra curricular activities every day, holiday camps, festivals, theatre and concerts a few times a month. I like that it enriches their minds and enjoy sharing the time together (even though they may not remember).

We don't save anything specifically in their names. It's too much of an admin burden as they're US-UK citizens (which means JISAs aren't tax-free, and Junior SIPPs aren't acceptable savings for their retirement). We have plenty of savings in mine and DH's names, although it comes in irregularly so not a specific amount per month. We have some vague plan to pass money to them when they are older, and we'll provide whatever they need for comfortable student days and settling into work. But haven't put anything into writing, and haven't said anything to them as they're too young to understand.

If we didn't have enough for plenty of experiences now and savings, I'd still want to do as many activities with them, but I'd always set aside some savings.

I can't afford to save for my 3 any kind of meaningful amount....unless you think you'll have £20k for a new car or house deposit money £2k in 10-15 years time I sort of think it's a bit pointless - it might get them a holiday. So I use what money I have now to enjoy now and make memories

£300 per month is definitely a lot to save, per month. And theatre trips. Good on you. We are in the, "we will save in the future" boat. Things too tight, no real luxuries except a few UK camping trips which are great.

We don’t save for DD (she has an account where cash gifts from family go). We have no mortgage and building up savings/investments. We can pay for everything out of income whilst still saving so we do spend more on being out and about.

I save £50 into an isa per month for dc. I also pay the maximum per year into a Lisa which the intention of when I can release it (when 60) it can be given to dc for house deposit etc.

I started saving £80ish monthly (in my name) but 18 months in im questioning whether it is really worth it and whether the money would be better spent on experiences or laying down the mortgage to free up more of our income later down the line. I can't see any way that savings will keep pace with inflation so the money will ultimately buy us more if we put it to use now. £10k lump sum in 18 years time isn't going to be like £10k lump sum today. Anyone thinking similar? (I don't have the risk appetite to invest it in shares etc, frankly with rising interest rates would prefer to lower the mortgage than risk a long term return on stocks and shares)

My dad saved for us, but in his own accounts with his and my mums names on, never ours. So they didn't have to hand it over when we turned 18. They paid for whatever we needed, gave us money when they felt it was appropriate and then used those savings to help with house deposits and weddings and things later on down the line.
They never made a commitment to say I've saved £x for each child or similar, they've always said they would help us according to how they perceived our needs to be, so we never had a chance to feel we were 'owed' more.
Dad used to be a financial adviser so is well aware of inheritance tax, care home planning implications of his decisions but it could be different for someone else if they were older than him, had health conditions for example so if you were thinking of this approach and it was a large amount of money it might be worth taking advice.

I'm comfortable with the risk of investing it over a long time period but I agree with you that I would rather spend and enjoy it now than let inflation eat away at it.