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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask about your child's trust fund? If you've never added to the fund?

77 replies

MrsMushroom · 31/01/2013 11:43

I just got a statement for DD2 who is 5 in March and found that her balance is over 700 pounds.

I'm pleasantly surprised as we've never been in a position to add to it so this seems quite a decent amount.

How old is your child and what''s their balance if you've not added to the fund?

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsMushroom · 31/01/2013 16:57

I would phone the child tax credit helpline actually...I bet they'd know who to contact about it.

OP posts:
perceptionreality · 31/01/2013 16:59

Thanks MrsMushroom.

meadow2 · 31/01/2013 17:02

Cointreau - just checked its 2 90 day savers I have and then a ctf and junior isa.Sorry my mum sorts all this for me! Anyway they are all with nationwide.

HappyMummyOfOne · 31/01/2013 18:38

DS is 9, no idea who its with as didnt bank the gimmick voucher so the government did. We do get a statement every year or so but i dont pay much attention to it.

Prefer to have a savings account that he is unaware of that i can use for him when older and he wants to go to uni or start own business.

Arcticwaffle · 31/01/2013 18:40

dd is nearly 9, her original £250 went into an ethical Coop fund and went down to £190, maybe it went up recently to £290 but I'm not holding my breath. It is clearly not a very successful investment. I save money for her elsewhere.

Original poster
MrsMushroom · 31/01/2013 18:55

happy my DDs are unaware of the one from the government....

OP posts:
greenpostit · 31/01/2013 18:57

Both my dcs had £250 to start with. It's now around £290. They are 4 and 6.

WeAllHaveWings · 31/01/2013 19:12

Ds(8) got £250 and now has £369. Halifax. Be lucky to have a night out on that when he's 18.

Original poster
MrsMushroom · 31/01/2013 19:35

Wings I'm with Halifax too though! We have a UK FTSE 100 index tracking fund thing.

OP posts:
Arcticwaffle · 31/01/2013 19:39

It'll cover the first week of tuition fees for dd at university. Only the other 89 weeks tuition fees + living expenses to find now...

Original poster
MrsMushroom · 31/01/2013 20:30

lol Atctic I am just hoping to get enough to get them a car.

OP posts:
marriedinwhite · 31/01/2013 20:39

Something else we missed out on. Along with nursery vouchers for ds, child tax credits (the year I gave up work dh earned over 40k but had I gone back part-time we could have earned 60k jointly), and now child benefit. Will also be paying £27k for each child for uni fees. Oh yes, we timed our children nicely.

hippo123 · 31/01/2013 20:58

Ds is almost 6 and has £270, dd is Coming up to 3 and has £340. Invested with HSBC. Hoping it might be enough to pay for some driving lessons when they are 18 but that's about it.

elizaregina · 31/01/2013 22:05

we put dd into stock market one and added a few hundred quid....its worth less than 250 now. Sad

Tiggles · 31/01/2013 22:14

DS2's was opened by the government and I got sent the paperwork through about it.
DS3's has made a small amount of money.

I was once told by a financial advisor (before trust funds existed) that the best thing you could do for your kids was to set up a pension fund for them. Pay into it until they were 19, it would then amass more interest over the next 40years of working life than they would ever make if they started paying into it at age 20. Unfortunately I have no spare cash...

TheHaikuNinja · 31/01/2013 22:19

I don't care about
My child's trust fund. It seems like
A waste of money

ceeveebee · 31/01/2013 22:24

Re Junior ISAs - what exactly is the point of these? If money is in a normal savings account then you complete a form to receive interest tax free, and then the DC can earn up to £8k per year ( is personal allowance) in interest without paying tax - so don't really see the purpose of them - or an I missing something?

ceeveebee · 31/01/2013 22:29

Ah just googled - if it's a gift from parent then only first £100 of interest per year is tax free, the rest is treated as income of parent. If its a gift from anyone else (so I guess that would include inheritances) then no tax will be due on the first £8k of interest income

Samnella · 31/01/2013 22:46

My two aged 5 and 7 have about £1500 each. We initially paid into an account monthly but stopped as we couldn't think of a good reason to build up a fund they would potentially just fritter away when they turned 18. We never had a fat fund of money at 18 or at any other time so I don't see why they should.

That's not to say I won't try to help them at some point in their adulthood if we can but I am of the opinion they need to make their own way in life. I know some of my friends children have parents and grandparents saving large sums of money for them every year. I just wonder what they hope they will do with it. Certainly I would like to contribute to the deposit on their first property or be able to help them in a time of need but that doesn't mean to say I will. We are lucky enough to have our own house which they should inherit one day. Even that seems excessive though so I wonder if we would leave them enough to make a difference but the rest to charity.

I have several friends who have been significantly supported by their parents and IMO it rarely makes much difference. For example one friend whose parents paid off her extensive credit card bills went and racked them all up again within a year.

DH and I will inherit nothing and have never had any financial help so I just find it odd I guess.

ceeveebee · 31/01/2013 22:51

I got £200 in a post office account when I turned 18.
Don't really understand why CTF were ever introduced in the first place. Just giving free money away for no good reason.

MerryCouthyMows · 31/01/2013 23:02

DS2 is the only one of my 4 DC's to have one. This is obviously totally fucking unfair, so I haven't added to it because I'm trying to save up an equal amount for the other ones, at least I was for the older two.

In 9 years, I've only managed to put away £100 for DS1, and £200 for DD (DD is older, so I need to save hers first).

DS2's currently stands at £690-something.

Still totally fucking unfair, I have no way of saving enough to match that for DD, I've been unable to put anything away since my Ex left over a year and a half ago, with no hope in the foreseeable future to either as I'm unemployed due to disability, yet DS2 will get god knows how much.

It will be really divisive for my DC's, I feel.

MerryCouthyMows · 31/01/2013 23:03

DS2 is 9yo btw. DS1 is 10, but at 18 months older was born before they started, and DD is 14.

MerryCouthyMows · 31/01/2013 23:05

Creameggthief - it wasn't every DC born in 2002 that got them. DS1 didn't, he was born early April.

Tiggles · 31/01/2013 23:10

They started in September 2002, I may be cynical that it started with an academic year, but I guess there will be a massive increase in uni fees the year those children turn 18.

MerryCouthyMows · 31/01/2013 23:11

Perception - the Government originally banked them with Ulster Bank, but for some reason DS2's changed to Natwest this year - maybe they were bought out or something?

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