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?

[Pisssssedofff]

It's actually against the law to open anyone else's post isn't it. People have been prosecuted

[Vaara]

You think your own kid would call the police?

[Oly5]

We're paying off the mortgage with a view to them helping them
When they start uni.
Far better than saving small amounts now imo

[Pisssssedofff]

Depends if they think their mum nicked their money doesn't it lol
I wish my dd could call the police on my ex who basically did !

[Strokethefurrywall]

I have accounts for my boys - they won't be getting their hands on $30k each come 21 as long as those accounts are in my name.
They can each have a grand at 18 to piss against a wall or whatever, but nothing more but the rest is kept for when they want a deposit or a big ass wedding (if what they want).

[Marynary]

Vaara You seem very sure of how your daughter will be when she is 18. Is she nearly that age now?

[spornersunited]

I'm surprised at how many on this thread are saving for their kids uni fees.

You do realise that its not the most financially savvy thing to do don't you ?

For various reason the majority of students wont ever repay their student loan in full .
Its probably a much better investment if you use savings towards a house deposit.

[Pisssssedofff]

Good point

[Ifiwasabadger]

Around 350 quid each into a savings bond scheme for our DD.

[RJnomore1]

Agreed sporn.

[Marynary]

I'm surprised at how many on this thread are saving for their kids uni fees.

I don't save for the fees but I do save for other costs as the loan is not enough to live on.

[Balletgirlmum]

I'm saving for college fees because dd will likely apply for courses where she can't apply for the full loan or are outside the student loans system/dada funded.

[scopello]

£100pm each into their original CTFs now transferred into JISAs. DC (12 & 9) have approx. £24K & £20K (invested in stocks & shares). I'm OK to gamble on my parenting skills to brainwash them not to completely splurge it all on 'entertainment' at 18.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I'm saving for college because we live somewhere they don't leave without massive debt. It's also tax free to save for that.

[Pisssssedofff]

Is opening a home owner isa for 16 year old DD a good move ? I'll fill it up for her to get the bonus.

[Strokethefurrywall]

We have to pay for college because they'll either go to the US where it's ridiculously expensive, or they'll be international students back in the UK and we'll have to pay for accommodation and international fees.

[RJnomore1]

Yes I am not saving for it as we will be able to pay as we go but I fully expect to contribute to housing and living costs while they are at uni.

[Leggytadpole]

Thanks for all the replies.... It's certainly made me think. When I can increase my hours at work I think I'll concentrate on building up my own savings so I can help DS out if needed but the money will be mine. I'll continue with his JISA and he can have that when he's 18.... I've just got to hope he's sensible enough not to blow it all on something frivolous like I did at that age with my first credit card maybe if he knows it's for a specific purpose (car, travelling etc) and he knows how hard I saved for him he might use it wisely.... I can but hope!

Thanks katemiddletonsnudeheels that was a really lovely post

[pearlylum]

We save as a family.

Saving for a child might seem a good idea, but when they are 18 you have no control over their spending.
You may think you are saving towards their education/deposit on a house, but they may just blow the lot on a motorbike or a boozy holiday to Hamburg.
Money I save stays in my bank account, I am happy to help them out when they need it, but on my terms.

[Babettescat]

And again - as has been saved many times - you dont need to save in a child's name in a child's account.

My DS gets his CB saved in an account I hold in my name. He will be getting a substantial cash gift each birthday from when he turns one from my dad which gets saved in the same account. DH and I additionally put aside a fixed standing order each month for him in our joint savings account also for him.

None of this is controlled by him. But this is for him. Our family savings are seperate, our gift money etc, we created an account for him in our name when he was born and are building up savings earnarked for him there but not in his name or control. So the blowing up situation doesn't apply.

[Whatthefoxgoingon]

We save nothing. My children are hugely privileged to have large trust funds set up by grandparents. They will be getting central London properties, shares, land and money. They're sensible kids now, so I'm hoping they will continue to manage their finances wisely. But who knows. It's actually out of my control.

[Babettescat]

Ah yes our kids will also get the money out of property and land via my parents but there's me to contend with as its all for me not my kids directly except the money my parents are investing for him again in my name.

[RandyMagnum]

We likely wont save anything for kids. We will just save as much as we can each month, into our own savings, then we have full control of it, if we want to gift some to them at X age we can, if we want to "blow" it on a round the world trip when they go off to university, we can instead.

I also will certainly not be starting a pension for them, that's a step too far IMO.

I know someone at work who pays for his adult childrens weekly food shopping still, one of them is older than me; I'm 28.

[TakeItFromMe]

We don't have any regular savings for our two young daughters. I opened a current account each for them and I send any cash gifts to them, so they are a little uneven as my youngest is difficult to buy for and gets more cash than the older one. I think they have about £500 each in there now. I have no plans for the money other than giving them access to it when they're old enough (and obviously topping up my elder daughter's), because they were gifts in lieu of toys! I often worry I should be regularly saving for them in a high-interest ISA or similar. DD2 gets DLA and we get CB for them both obviously, it hadn't even occurred to me to save that for their future....

My parents saved in a high interest account from us being little, which DB and I got when were 18. It was about 3k which I reinvested for 5 years, DB bought a car. We've had cash gifts in adulthood for things like house deposits. To be honest I'd like to think we'll do the same with our girls. At the moment I'd rather overpay the mortgage and have more family time / experiences but when we're a bit more flush I definitely need to look at opening some kind of formal ISA for them.

[NattyNattyBooBoo]

We had the old style kids saving account DS is 10 in two weeks. I think the government gave every child £250 paid a few quid into that but the growth was poor. Changed it over to a kids ISA last year. We're lucky we can save every month for him. We pay into a unit trust as do his grandparents but no point worrying about if if you can't.