To split the money??

[Lipperfromchipper]

Posting here for traffic.

So I have been saving the child benefit for my two dc. (We are in Ireland so they each get €140)
It is currently in one account and stands at approx 16k (10 is DD’s and 6ish is DS’s)

Now they already have university funds so I was hoping they could use the money for house deposits or something! Which would be approx 30k...Each! If they stay in education until the age of 18...which is more than likely here.
My question is should I separate the money now or keep it together?? Separate money and put it in their Names or keep it in mine??
Posting here for traffic...
What would you do?

I would separate it but I would make sure that they aren't able to access it until they are 21, so that they don't spend it as students, since they already have money for that. Probably that means keeping it in your name now.

You think? Unless I can find an account that won’t give access until later?? Does that exist??

I would keep it as one pot but invest it into a few different funds or bonds and then spilt when the first one is in a position to buy a property of need the funds for a significant reason.

If the money is in a very low interest account it’s probably losing value. Children’s accounts can grow so well with compound interest.

I once heard a calculation that if you saved all the child benefit and invested into a pension adding no more from the age of 18, by the time they retired it would be worth something like 30k a year. Can’t remember the exact details but really emphasised the worth of compound interest.

I don’t think it matters much. But agree that it needs to be properly invested.

Uh...I’m no good with money when it comes to investing!! Great with budgeting and saving!! But not investing! I’ll have to see a financial advisor!??

One possibility to investigate is a life insurance policy. That way you can set the pay out date and it will either be then, or (should the very worst happen) when you die. My father set up one for me which I got aged 21 and another aged 30, both of which paid out significantly more than he had paid in, and were incredibly helpful to me at those stages of life.

To be clear - the pay out will be at the agreed date or when you die IF THAT IS EARLIER!

No but do some research online with a trusted organisation such as Fidelity. You can enter your level of risk (1-8 I think) and look at various suggestions. Or ask a trusted friend or relative for some advice.

You could maybe ask for advice on the investors board on here.

If you decide to invest in a bank etc they often charge really quite high fees. I didn’t realise how much I was paying my Virgin ISA in fees for a pretty poor return until someone pointed it out to me.

Anyway, worth thinking about.

Oooooh @bridgetreilly I like that idea!! I will look into that for sure!! Thank you!!

@MatildaTheCat yes it’s just currently sat in a savings account. I’ll have to have a look around, I’m imagining options may be different (maybe less) over here in rep of Ireland.🤔