I probably am bu and very nosey but...

[Ciggarettesuffragettesandboys]

Aibu to ask if you put money into an account regularly for your DC? If so how often and how much?

Me and DH put money in monthly (£40 each) and one of us thinks this is a good amount and the other doesn’t. I’m totally aware that it comes down to circumstances and income but just looking to gain some perspective really.

well to me it's a good amount, I put £25 per month into each of my 3 dd's accounts

just to clarify £40 for each child not £40 each as in £80 total - I didn’t explain that very well

I put £5 into his account and £100 into a share save scheme for him.

Wow we don’t do anything like that. Birthday money goes into their accounts but that’s about it. Can’t imagine having an extra £80 a month to give to the children.

That's an excellent amount of money to save for each child. It soon mounts up, will be handy when they leave school. The amount of course depends on your income and circumstances, some couldn't afford that much, others more, but that's not important. You're doing well.

I save £75 per child each month. Always have done, so it's growing very nicely.

£10 per month per DC. I feel tight now.
What do you all intend your DCs to use these savings for, and when will you hand them over?
I always say that my DC can use theirs at 18 to either buy an old banger or a car or a round the world flight!

£20 a month is enough

Both ds have their own bank accounts that are for savings. Ds18 now obviously works and is in uni so has loans etc so he manages his own. We’ve just started an account with ds14 where he gets his own Visa card and we are going to put roughly £40-£80 per month in, combined off me and his dad. As he asks for money for games, to buy skins etc on games, so we decided that he could have a monthly allowance and when it was gone it was gone. As we found that we were spending a fortune between us. Not just me and his dad, but his older brother will also buy him stuff too (they have a brilliant relationship).

of a car

3 DC - £30 each a month. Birthday money goes in too depending on how much they get, they're only little so the things they want don't tend to cost a lot at the moment. The excess goes in their accounts.

£50 a month per child. My dad puts in £25 per month per child too.

I put £70 in each to a savings account, but it completely depends on the amount you can afford - our amount has changed over the years with different circumstances. Anything you can put in will be great, but also trying to teach them the value of money without dictating what they spend of their pocket money (they have a current account for regular pocket money.) Not sure what we are doing right/ wrong - we have 1 who regularly spends everything, and 1 who rarely spends anything

I’m not sure tentomidnight - they’re still toddlers so hadn’t thought about what they’d do. Probably same as you car, travelling, education that sort of thing. Genuinely didn’t want to make anyone feel tight I’m aware that there will be people giving more and people giving less than me. Our circumstances are just quite lucky at the moment

Don’t pay into a savings account as I think the vast majority of 18 year olds burn through a lump sum within a year or so and have nothing to show for it. Pay into a pension instead. Having a pension they can access at 55 will give them much more security and job flexibility.

Me and DH put £50 in each and my parents put in £100 a month.

He's 4 and loaded 🙈 I often wish he could lend me something 😂

Don’t pay into a savings account as I think the vast majority of 18 year olds burn through a lump sum within a year or so and have nothing to show for it

I didn’t have anything like this when I reached 18 but lots of my friends did and they mainly bought driving lessons and cars with theirs. A couple saved it for a house deposit. Maybe I have very sensible friends

UnderMajor - I had no idea you could pay into a pension for a child!!

Driving lessons would be an excellent use for the money - I paid an absolute fortune on mine (passed recently) and prices will only go up

I don't do this at all. I couldn't now if I wanted to, but even when I was in the position to I didn't. I grew up and went to school with a lot of over-privileged children. I'd rather mine work hard to earn money than be handed cash on a plate.

At those kind of monthly levels you should look into an investment trust instead of putting it into the bank.

We’ve been putting money into one since the kids were born and even with what has been a relatively uncertain period for the markets they have generated an incredible amount of income over and above what we’ve put in.

I have one DD and put in £50 a month and DH puts in about £30 I think. It’s a children’s account but the money isn’t automatically released at age 18 because I don’t want her to piss it up the wall (like I would have done) as soon as she’s of age.

We put her child benefit away every month and saved it for her.

To me that’s a lot!
My kids get their birthday/Christmas/Easter money put into an account for them. When they turn 21 I will let them access it. That way they can have driving lessons or a house deposits.

Well under the current system, unless you are on a low income, parents are expected to contribute quite a significant amount towards living costs at university, and if they're close in age, you could have two there at the same time, so that's a pretty good reason to be saving.

And if the system changes, or they don't go to university, driving lessons, house deposit are also worthwhile. Just saving while you can is all you need to do for now. Worry about what to spend it on later.