To not save for DC?

[AtSea1979]

We have a reasonable lifestyle at the moment, don't home own but tick over with a little spare.
Spoke to the bank, wanted to set up a saving account for the DC but their policy is it automatically gets signed over to them at 16 which I don't want.
Spoke to my parents about it and they seemed surprised that I wanted to save for them.
They never saved for me, I've always worked and paid my own way through uni/life. It got me wondering should I even save for them? Does everyone these days with rising uni/house costs?

I think it's nice to save for them if you have a little spare here and there down the years. It doesn't have to be a fortune but it'll add up over all that time.
I would most certainly not be paying into an account that automatically goes into their name though. Even at 18 or 21 or older some kids at not responsible enough to be trusted with significant amounts of cash.
If be livid if after years of saving they blew it on a holiday to Ibiza (or wherever the kids go these days), or a souped car etc...
You need to have some form of control over when they get it.

Never had anything spare to save.. DD goes to uni this year..
Martin Lewis encourages student loans to be taken for uni fees and parents to use any savings to help towards house deposit not uni costs! Due to the low repayments on the loans

My dad has done one for each of us and for each the grandchildren. They gave us the choice of what age we wanted it done until but down to my dad when he signs it over to them. Think it's done by halifax

I have a savings account which is jointly held by me and DD. I save whenever I can and put all the money she gets on birthdays/special occasions. I'm not going to touch it until she is 18 and this money will be spent on education, travel etc.

I don't save for them as such. But for their future. I think this depends on whether you will find it easier to find chunks to pay, say, Uni when it comes or you'd rather save a bit every month.
You say your parents didn't save for you but were there university fees when you study? Where there huge mortgages like now? The salaries weren't comparatively lower enough to make that comparison I think.
I also did find a bank that allowed me to control the money. It could move to them when they are 18, yes or I could take it all out when they are 17 and 11 months if I don't think they will make a good use of it.

I don't, but do intend to when we areina more financially stable position. I wouldn't do it where they can automatically access it either. i inherited a fairly large sum of money when i was an immature 18 year old and blew the lot. Which I regret enormously now as it would have been a lovely deposit on a house!!! But what is done is done, I just will keep anything I save secret until such a time dd would really benefit

I think it's a wonderful thing todo for your DC if you can afford it. Will really help them when they want to go off an do something. If you don't like the idea of a automatic saving account that they get access to without restrictions. Have you thought of a trust so you can have control over it? You can state what the money can be used for that way x

I didn't save for mine because I couldn't. But even if I could have I don't think I would have. They worked before uni, and all the way through it. I got nothing from my parents, not even when they died so I'm used to standing on my own two feet. I've brought mine up to be the same.

I think squirrelling a few quid here and there for the children is a lovely idea, but doesn't make sound financial sense.

If you, as parents, have debts (and that includes a mortgage) it is a much better idea to pay those off as quickly as you can. Free up your cash for the future.

For example. If I put every spare penny I have into mortgage overpayments, I will have a lot more money left over every month once it's paid off. If I could have no monthly mortgage payments by the time my DC are teens - and that is a possibility - then I could then start saving in the money of the day. Savings accounts earn so little in interest that their value depreciates over time. Much better to have money to play with in 2030s currency.

I save £40 each month for 2 dc. They each have a confirmation account and boarding school account. Both of those are huge things here that teens consider a rite of passage. They also have a child savings account, but dhs family dont give money, only presents so not much in there.

We save for our dcs but they will only get it if we feel they need it. If we need it due to emergency situation to cover the mortgage or health bills then they will get nothing.

We are saving for the kids but in accounts in our name. I definitely don't just want to hand it over for them to blow it on whatever , the money will be for uni or a house deposit. Grandparents are saving too and they will probably get that at 18 to spend on a car or travelling.

We save £40 a month for DD and DS which I view as half of their child benefit. I pay this into Junior ISAs in their names.
I understand the thinking behind paying the mortgage off early, we are overpaying that as well.
If our circumstances changed and we weren't able to pay off the mortgage early, the money would still be there safe in their ISAs.
I like the fact that once we've paid the money into them we have no access and it is down to them when they are 18. I will not rush to give them access (hopefully) until they need the money for something significant.

I have two seperate accounts for my children. One is money that I save for them. This is to use when they are older for education, car or house purchase.

The other is their birthday and Christmas money. My daughter is 3 in sept and I have never bought her a present for either yet. She gets so much off everyone else I just put money in her account. Then when she is older and she wants a decent bike or learn to play a musical instrument etc she can use the money. If family give her money for her birthday or at Christmas this goes into the account too.
I just think she'll prefer the money when she's older rather than scratching around to buy her more plastic tat and toys for the sake of it.

P.s. I agree with the poster that said, if you can save for them, you should. It's a bit mean not to for the sake of it.

My parents didn't save for my brother or for me, but we both enjoyed free university education, a rent-free home life until we were ready to move out in our early 20s and easy access to affordable mortgages when we wanted them. This just isn't the reality for young adults anymore and the more help you're able to give them, the better. Otherwise, they'll still be living st home at the age of 40, or spending 50%+ of their salary on lining their landlord's pocket/paying back education loans.
We're putting aside whatever we can afford, into a mixture of junior ISAs, stakeholder pensions and 2 unit trusts in my name that we'll gift to them at he age of 18 or 21, whichever seems more appropriate at the time.

Nb if you do decide to start saving for them, I'd recommend a stocks & shares vehicle rather than cash on deposit - stocks and shares will usually do far better over the time span we're talking about, whereas interest rates are through the floor right now.

I would say If you can afford it then it's nice to do so but don't worry if you can't.

I saved £5 a month for each of mine and it paid for driving lessons and their first car at 17.

I think it's important to save for kids if you can. We are saving our first flat in London for our DD, currently rent it out and will hopefully be paid off when DD leaves uni and as we have said to her, that's all she'll be getting. I think if you can save for them and give it to them when they need it rather than when you're dead, they get off to a good start.

It's a nice thing to do, but not a necessity. My parents didn't for me because they lived paycheck to paycheck and just didn't have the money. Our toddler and baby have accounts that we set up in their first year to deposit cheques they get from their grandparents for birthdays and Christmas. Although we aren't currently contributing to "their" account, we do expect to help them with uni (and elsewhere were needed).

Regarding school, my husband and I had very different experiences. Based on our parents' level of income, I worked my way through school working full-time and going to school part time (so it took me longer to finished) and paying my own fees while living on my own, but my husband's parents paid everything for him (school, fees, spending money, etc). He didn't have a job during that time because they considered schooling to be his "job" and wanted him to fully focus on that. So as I said, our experiences were very different. However, we both have turns out just fine.

OP air think the best thing you can do for your family is save anything you can afford towards your own home. This will provide your DC with security and when you have equity in your home you can extend the mortgage (if you can afford it) to provide your DC with help towards uni fees, buying a home, wedding etc etc.
Good idea, however, to open savings accounts for them for little sums they get given, earn as extra pocket money etc so they get the idea of saving.
Great for those that can afford it to save for their children but the priority for those of us less well off needs to be a home which is the best investment a family can have.

We will probably pay a significant amount towards a deposit rather than paying off their university fees - if they go that is, we're encouraging them to be open minded about this, as we feel it has become the default option rather than a considered decision.

I agree with PP who said about improving the family finances before specifically saving for DCs. We are throwing almost all of our disposable income at the mortgage and hope to have it fully repaid in 6-7 years, same with our first little house that we now let out.

It just feels right to us that securing our position as a family so that we won't have to worry in case of job loss, illness etc gives the DCs better real security than tucking a few quid in a child savings account each month.

Then in 6-7 years time when mortgages are paid off, we will invest the equivalent of mortgage payment into stocks and shares for the who,e family's benefit. Will probably gift amounts to the DCs at milestone events in their lives eg weddings, buying first home, car etc rather than just when turn 18, 21 etc. I'm very sensible with money now but was only moderately so until about age 22 and before that would have spent however much I was given on travelling (not the worst thing in the world, but I would have regretted it later when trying to get on property ladder etc).

Having read lots of personal finance books, the first priority was always to stash 6 months of Bill payments away in case of an emergency, that money is considered untouchable.

We don't save as such but I have a flat that is rented out. I don't make any money off it after everytis paid each month but by the time the kids are 18 the mortgage will have been paid off and they can either live there and save some money for house deposits etc or rent money will go towards any uni costs.

You can still save but keep it in your name...wont be much tax at current rates.

If you have a will you can specify that money to go to them.