How much would you give a niece for her 18th birthday?

[Noddyslittleredcar]

How much money would you give to your niece for her 18th.

If it makes any difference:

• she's the eldest sibling by 9 years, so loads of time to save up for the others.

• Isn't going to university, unsure of plans after college beyond "not uni".

• Has had some emotional and social difficulties in her teen years.

• Quite close relationship.

• doesn't want a specific gift, is looking for contributions towards a car and insurance

• her parents aren't well off enough to buy her a car in full.

I was thinking £500 would be reasonable. I should be able to save that for the others by the time they reach 18. I could give more but probably wouldn't be able to match it for the others.

Is that reasonable?

That's a huge amount. I think I gave my niece £50.

I would give my niece £50

£500 is ridiculous. £20-50 is fine.

Gosh, will you be my auntie!
I would say €50 but might stretch to €100 if you are close

I give £50 for her other teen birthdays (£20 for the younger ones, will £50 from 13).

How well off are you? If you own a house, have a pension and an emergency fund and no debt I think what a lovely thing to do and go for it.

Any debt, inc student loan or lack of pension or emergency fund I think £50 is more than adequate.

House owned with mortgage. Decent pensions and 6 months of household bills in an emergency fund (both of us work, so realistically a year of one of us not working). Got £4k on an interest free credit card, will be paid off by the time the interest free period ends. No student loan. Save about £1000 a month between us.

£500 is far too much for a birthday unless you are a multi millionaire. If you're comfortably off give £100. If not give what you can afford.

Ok, seems like it's excessive. So thinking £100 - it's double what she gets at birthdays/ milestones such as her GCSEs.

Thanks all.

Good god OP - give what you want to! Don’t be swayed by random strangers on the internet - if you feel £500 feels right then do that

you do not need the permission or approval of people here

I think go for it then @Noddyslittleredcar the only other thing I do is say to godchildren and nieces etc they get gifts till they’re 21 and 16.18and 21 are nice but then I stop!

No, but I also don't want to appear excessive to my family. We are financially better off than most of them so don't want to come across as either excessive or stingy!

I'm going to go against the grain and say if you can afford it and are happy to, then why is it a problem? It's not like you're giving this amount out every year. It's for a special occasion and she has a goal for a car. Lessons, the car and insurance all mount up so I am sure she would appreciate the money.

You also said you were very close with her so i would stick with the £500 unless it's a stretch and you want to give less due to finances. But that's me.

No one (or none that I can remember) complained on here about an aunt paying for her nephew's car insurance just last week and that was more than £500.

My nephew just turned 18 and I gave him £50. He wouldn’t even have got £500 off his parents

£50 - £100 seems sensible

DH and I have a lot of nieces and nephews between us. We did €100 for 18th and 21st birthdays, €20 for other birthdays, and nothing after age 21.

If you want to give €500 and can comfortably afford to be that generous, then why not?

Yes, I've already said we stop at 18, with 21 being an exception (and then gifts for new home, wedding or other such milestones).

I've been saving since she was a baby. Only £5 a month, for each nibbling but it covers their Christmas and birthday presents and a bit extra for their 18th. I'll keep going until 21, but only give it on their 21st.

I wouldn’t listen to strangers online. If you want to give £500 and feel this is appropriate then you do that 😊 I think it’s a lovely gesture and present for a big birthday if you can afford it.

If you're quite close then I would suggest a day out. Spa day/afternoon tea sort of thing

We are close, BUT it seems unfair to give her more because of it? I think I should treat them all the same regardless of relationship, because they are family?

We don't need to worry about DHs side as he only has one nephew.

If you can afford £500 then do it. That's lovely. Im sure your niece will be delighted and her parents appreciate you chipping in (driving lessons, car, insurance all famously not cheap).

I spent more on my niece for her 18th. I dont care what the internet thinks!

It's a really special birthday, I think that £500 is absolutely fine if you can afford it. 20 years ago, my aunts/uncles gave between £200-500 for my 18th and after that it was a token gift such as a bottle of wine or some chocolates because I was an adult. I'm surprised by all of the outraged replies on here tbh!

I thought the the same to be honest. I got £50-£100 from mine and that was 25years ago now!

£100 for 18ths here. It was £25 for birthdays before that. We only have a nephew and a niece. We could have given more, but we didn’t want to put their parents in an awkward position when it comes to our children’s 18ths. They wouldn’t be able to reciprocate close to that (not that we care about that at all) nor any other family member on either side would have been that generous so we left it at £100. Felt like a decent about without the awkwardness about being accused of being flash with cash.

I would say give what you feel is right for you. My sister who is a single nurse (so definitely not a millionaire lol) gave my eldest £1000 and intends to give the youngest the same I believe. Also gives eldest £300 a month while at university which I couldn’t afford to do and I’m grateful. She clearly wants to do that and it will make her happy to support her nieces. It really depends individually what you want and can afford to do.