To ask how much you save for your child's future...

[Leggytadpole]

Not strictly an AIBU I know but I've just received my child's junior ISA statement which I save £10 into monthly and his DF matches that amount. It's not much but being a part time working single mum I can't really afford much more.

It's predicted to be around £3500 - £5500 by the time it matures when DS is 18. It will probably barely cover the cost of learning to drive and buying/insuring his first car. I know that's good but would not be enough to help with uni fees or a deposit for a house. I guess my circumstances will be different then so hopefully I'll be in a position to help him financially by then but who knows what the future holds.

So AIBU to ask what other people save for their kids?

We don't save anything for our dcs to have when they are 18 - imo that's too young to handle a large sum of money. We do however save money for us to help our dcs in the future if they need it for a home deposit etc - but it's not their money as such - if someone fell ill or we had a financial crisis and we needed more money it would be there for us to use.

Much the same as more recent posters - absolutely bugger all from me. We've got a very healthy savings account and unless something calamitous happens I will be able to significantly help my daughter financially, but I've got no intention of a) handing over XXXX to an 18 year old with no say on how it's spent or b) putting money in a JISA and being unable to access it in the event of something calamitous. So we save and I expect a proportion of those savings to go to dd, but there's nothing specifically in her name.

My gripe with people saving CB is that, if you are able to save it, it is obviously money you don't need for day to day living. I don't think taxes should be used for someone's savings, especially when there is a risk that those savings will just be spent on a holiday or nights out or similar.
We're another family who just has general savings and dip into it as & when we need a new boiler, to replace the car/an expensive service etc. If DH and I both lost our jobs or one of us became ill and the other needed to give up work to be our carer or similar then, as a family, we would need access to all of our savings & to completely review our lifestyle and I would find it frustrating if there was one pot of cash over which we had no control. If life continues as it is now, we would hope to be able to give the DC some support whilst at Uni but that is a long way off at the moment.

it is obviously money you don't need for day to day living. I don't think taxes should be used for someone's savings

Ok. So if I hadn't mentioned CB, and just said "I put £80 a month into DDs CTF" would you have had an issue with that?

After all, you haven't commented on any of the posters that save £50/£100/£150 a month for their children.

My ds has just turned 18. I have saved £5000 for him (low income so feel this is an achievement) he has started driving !lessons and hope it is enough for a first car and a years insurance.

It's more than a lot of this richer friends have.

For the pp saying taxes shouldn't be used for savings, by that account anyone receiving any form of benefits shouldn't be able to save. Because where did that saved penny come from? I could say someone's wages, you could say someone's benefits.

Suppose I say we save £70 each month for DS. No problems?

But every child receives about £80 CB. You could say we are saving the CB.? So basically you are saying anyone who is able to save anything shouldn't get CB - because that saving may well have come out of the CB. X may wages Y may say CB potaytoes potaatoes.

A hundred or so in each of their names that was given to them on their christening.

Other than that, zero. Like other posters, we're focusing on our own savings/building up business. There's no way I'll be giving an 18 year old money. Possibly at 25 depending on how responsible they are. If they work hard we'll probably help with driving/uni/first house & wedding. After that their on their own. However, if at any point they drop out of education or piss about instead of working they'll get nada.

My parents never gave me any lump sum BUT they funded me through uni and gave me a modest allowance and money for an operation.

They gave me some cash to pay for driving lessons when I was 17 and I spent it without going near a car! Lesson learned.

We have some savings for both DC which are tied up in stocks and shares to try to maximise returns, I think around £5k. We save a bit every month but that's ringfenced for holidays, household purchases (we'll need a new car and boiler in the next year or so) etc as well as our currently pretty meagre pensions. I'm not sure how we'll afford to fund uni, cars, deposits etc unless we inherit anything from our parents or borrow from much wealthier siblings.

We're fortunate that my Dad and Aunt both save for the DCs; they give money instead of Christmas, Easter and Birthday gifts, and put aside £100 a month each for both DCs.

We've got saver accounts for each of them we opened when they were born with £5,000 in, and between my Dad and Aunt they'll have a pretty decent amount by the time they're 18. My Aunt also put a few thousand in each one when her DH passed away; she asked if we'd like it or if it would be better to put away. We know first-hand how expensive Uni is, I can't imagine how much more it will cost the DCs by the time they're old enough, so it'll be lovely to know they've got money set aside.

As for buying cars and houses, goodness knows how the DCs will do it. Our mortgage has 5 years left on it so will be repaid by the time we're both 40, but aside from a holiday house in Cyprus we've no other assets, so will probably have to help them with deposits on homes eventually.

As someone who paid for her own car, house and uni I just don't agree. Why should they have it all on a plate. Get a job! As you can guess I'm saving nowt for mine!

Bullshit about having it on a platter. My parents always saved for me. I've gone to finish a PhD by age 26 and have a full time permanent position at a leading British university. I always knew they had my back and I never needed it. What a massive comfort. My parents taught me savings habits and I save instinctively and am remarkably careful wth expenses.

Secondly global and local economies are in flux. Baby boom generations in the west have money in retirement that their adult kids simply don't and that's not due to less working. Things get complex generation to generation.

If you cannot save that's understandable. But if you can and decide not to - then diss the fact that others save by using the "they will be spoilt brats" argument - that's really thin.

£100 a month from birth, paid into a high interest ISA and then transferred to a long term savings account annually. All cash gifts go to the account. I am trustee of both accounts and we have no intention of telling him about the accounts until he is at least 18. He won't be given full access to the money. It is for university fees/house deposit type things only.

It's not 'handing it on a plate'. It's making sure the next generation of your family and possibly the subsequent generations are able to progress be secure in a very uncertain financial future. First time buyers are struggling now. How hard might it be in 20 years time?

I actually think it'll be less tight in 20 years time when all these baby boomers pop their clogs

My parents paid uni fees until 2nd year, that was it

We save around £100 per month for each of 3 children. Eldest has £2k aged 6 but just inc it to £130.

Aiming for x3 year uni fees by aged 18 (around £20k)

Have also bought each child a b2l in London, once we have some more (to be our pensions) they can have each one (providing can manage mortgage). There'll be 30-40% equity in them I reckon in 15-20yrs

We're both private sector and save £1k between us (married). Should give £25k p.a by age 65. Have £50k in pension pots so far (aged 31).

nothing.

We are too busy paying for their education, summer schools, dance & sports kit.

We hate a slight eye to the future as dd may want to apply to non funded higher education & so have an ISA in our names with some money in.

Of course not every child gets CB. But the threshold for qualifying for CB is different to the threshold for qualifying for other benefits so there is no clear link between need & entitlement.
I don't object at all to people who receive benefits saving, how else would many (on receipt of benefits or otherwise) pay for an unexpected bill? What I do object to is the money being locked away for 16-18 years when it might be needed for something else in the meantime. To my mind, the clue is in the name... "child benefit"...to benefit the child not the young adult who has their own earning potential and, if needed, could qualify for benefits themselves (although I appreciate the amount young adults can claim is very low).

Both my DD’s have bank accounts where we put birthday and Christmas money and GP’s have separate savings accounts. MY problem is, I have one DD with a CTF and one without. I have just transferred the CTF to a JISA and will open one for the other, which I will top up to the same amount.

By the time they are 21 they will have about £5k each.

We will help with driving lessons/first car/uni like others, but I hope neither wants a fairy tale wedding. I don’t think you need to spend £20k on a wedding because that is a house deposit around here. I know someone whose wedding cost £17k, now she is divorced and living in rented

Nothing. We have family savings which I can then choose how to use when they are of the age to need some.

I didn't like the idea of an ISA stuffed without thousands to be given to an 18 year old. For all I know he'd blow it on beer in a month or a wanky gap year in Thailand and be left with nothing. Nope, I control the money, to ensure it goes on vital things like driving, education and housing.

nothing. one of the DC is severely disabled which comes with huges penalties for the entire family and we cannot really afford to save for them. makes me feel awful esp as my parents made sure I had sufficient savings when I was younger.

A lot. I am very aware that setting DC up for adult life is extremely expensive and want them to have plenty of money to cover the cost of university accommodation and buying a first home.

I don't object at all to people who receive benefits saving

So you don't mind people in receipt of Child Benefit saving for their children. Good. Because that is a whole swatch of people. Do you object to people not in receipt of Child Benefit saving for their children?

my dm puts away £5 per month for my 3, we did £10 per month but now vary it, mainly 7 or 8 a month.
not from birth.
it has grown to £2,500 each.
half given to ds for his 18th was blown by him
the other half I dolled out when he needed it for a car now he is 21.
so there is a tiny bit left in his pot.
once bitten twice shy you could say.

Half given to DD for her 18th which she is too scared to touch tbh.

I was a classic spolit brat according to some criteria here: quite honestly if you have the cash I don't see why you wouldn't save for your kids.
It made my life so much better. And I am grateful.
Southern European cultures seem to do this as standard, if they can afford it.

Honestly some people take my breath away - £80 a month to go towards a kids jolly to Ibiza when he/she is 18 vs ££££££££ billions of taxes spent on arming kids to shoot the fuck out of each other over oil wells. Some people really need to get out more. If CB wasn't paid do you honestly think you'd pay less tax ?

It is clear from this thread that most people do save with the intention of helping towards university costs and perhaps house deposits etc. The main difference is that some people put the money in their DC's name (often with the naive assumption that they will still be able to control the money when their child is 18) and others prefer to save in their own name so they can maintain control of the money and only give it if it is to be spent wisely.