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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask how much your child has in savings and what age they are

294 replies

Hmmmmminteresting · 10/08/2020 00:58

I'm being nosey for comparison reasons I guess.
4yo has £2,300. I feel like in the grand scheme of things it's rubbish. Once we have paid bills, extra off mortgage, paid into our pensions etc he gets what's left which isn't a lot. That figure includes bday and Xmas money too but we don't have a big family.

OP posts:
JuniperFather · 10/08/2020 01:00

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Why ask other people on here - will it change your material ability to save any more than you do at the moment?

I'm not going to state it. It won't make you feel any better, it won't change what you're able to save.

AliTheMinx · 10/08/2020 01:06

We have one DS, and he is 8. He has about £10,500 in his bank account. This is from monthly direct debits from my parents and DH, plus birthday and Christmas money. We never take money out of the account. My parents also have lots of different accounts/bonds/shares/investments in his name, as he's their only grandchild. He's very lucky and I am hugely grateful to them.

lydia7986 · 10/08/2020 01:28

How does asking other people help you?

You are saving everything you can afford to for your child. There’s nothing more you can do.

Your son has £2300 in savings and he’s only 4 years old.

In 2017, 12% of British adults had no cash savings at all, and another 32% had less than £2000.

So your son is already doing better than more than 2/5 of adults in this country.

Seeleyboo · 10/08/2020 01:46

My 3 older children had no savings. They are all financial stable now. All in good jobs and my 21 year old has just bought his first flat. Don't compare with others as it means nothing to your situation.

HermioneMakepeace · 10/08/2020 01:49

DC have no savings. But then neither do me and DH. We don't even own our own house.

GrumpyHoonMain · 10/08/2020 01:50

I am toying with the idea of savings in my DS’ names. I don’t really like the idea of him with £000s to potentially fritter away at 16-18 but the tax / interest rates are so tempting.

Catsup · 10/08/2020 02:17

Well, he's 4 so it's not likely he'll be blowing it on an unsupervised sweet spending spree? My DC had an accumulated savings pot of approx 8k when they turned 17. They/I were very lucky to have this due to an ISA invested (roll over) inheritance lump sum bequeathed to them when they were much younger. It funded driving lessons, 1st car, young drivers insurance. So money very well spent imho (and DC was very fortunate to have!). It's all relative really. Some children/teens/young adults will never have access to any savings because its literally either not avaliable financially, or their care givers choose not too. For some people 200k is peanuts, and for others £500 seems a relative 'fortune' to receive in savings when they're old enough to access it.

londonscalling · 10/08/2020 02:26

My children have no savings. I want them to have a good work ethic and to work for things in life rather than being given money. We have a large house so they will inherit a fair amount when they are older!

ImNotWhoYouThinkIam · 10/08/2020 02:29

DC are 15 and 13. They have no savings. Neither do I and I'm 35.
DS1 did have just over £500 but he spent it on a camera.

Yankathebear · 10/08/2020 02:55

Enough.

HermioneMakepeace · 10/08/2020 03:04

My children have no savings. I want them to have a good work ethic and to work for things in life rather than being given money. We have a large house so they will inherit a fair amount when they are older!

I hate this attitude. This goes someway to explain why DH and I are poor compared to our friends whose parents helped them get on in life.

lydia7986 · 10/08/2020 03:11

My children have no savings. I want them to have a good work ethic and to work for things in life rather than being given money.

What pretentious nonsense. A child’s work ethic isn’t going to be affected by starting off their adult life with £20,000 in savings.

They’re hardly going to be able to live off that forever.

Eledamorena · 10/08/2020 03:11

Mine don't have anything but they are very young. We do need to look at savings for them but I wouldn't put more than a couple of thousand in their names anyway. Who knows what they would choose to do with it when they can access it?

I plan to save for them to help with things like driving lessons, further study, possibly travel etc but I wouldn't want to hand a significant amount of money to a teenager without agreeing its purpose. If I could afford to help them with house deposits when they're adults, great (though this is highly unlikely!!) But I won't be saving much in their names at all.

Among my siblings, two would have just blown any money they could get their hands on. I wouldn't want to be in this position when mine are older!

Alongcameacat · 10/08/2020 03:27

What pretentious nonsense

Totally agree. Such rubbish is also spouted by way of an (unnecessary) excuse for parents not to save.

My kids have about £38 in savings. I know because DC counted it earlier today!

However, I have savings that I put away in their names. It will be used for their education, not for them to do with as they please. It won’t be enough as I can’t afford to put away a decent amount every month.

Catsup · 10/08/2020 03:34

@lomdonscalling That's just great, but if you either live till the point they're in their 50s/60s, or you have to sell your home to fund your care? Neither outcome is going to actually help them out really? Yes, there's a lot to be said for not being bank rolled by your parents and making your own way in life. But there's also much to be stated about comfortably well off parents who'll sit on their pennies to prove a point to their children 😳.

compulsivesnacker · 10/08/2020 03:56
Shock Um. I save for school so I can hopefully get them through a couple of years if uni each without incurring debt. That’s it. They have no savings except what they earn when they get pt jobs - and I expect them to use that to supplement uni too... So - dd1 (just going into 4th year at 20) has about £3k and is hoping to continue earning. The ideal is she graduates without debt. Ds1 (18) has about £10k - he has just finished his gap year but has decided to take another one - as he is basically a year younger than his peers it’s v helpful as he can earn more. With the £12k ish I have for him he should get to third year at least. Dd2 has a year left at school and about £400. She has cerebral palsy and can’t really work pt. I have the same (about £12k) saved for her. They earn their own money and I will do what I can. But my savings go into school funds to start them off.
user1471549213 · 10/08/2020 04:00

My 3 DC have whatever is in their money boxes right now. As childcare costs me approx €2,000 per month and mortgage €1,400 so I haven't a penny to save. When I no longer have childcare costs I will start to save to help them with a deposit for a home. Until then they can count their €5 in their piggy banks. A 4 year old doesn't need €2k and if you dont currently have that amount of savings yourself I feel you are being foolish. But each to their own at the end of the day so knock yourself out.

Rebelwithallthecause · 10/08/2020 04:18

My 3 year old has £200 in savings from birthday money

When I was 16 I gained access to my child savings account which had £300 in it

I bought a bike

Megan2018 · 10/08/2020 04:27

DD is 11 months and has a Child ISA which has about 3k in (mostly from family and my DF pays in £50pm). She has £1k in premium bonds (family gift) and £600 in an ordinary account that we can withdraw from. That account is for spending though on “big” things she needs. Currently saving for a swing and slide and 2 new car seats.

We can’t afford to save anything yet as I’m on mat leave but when back at work I’ll do a small direct debit to the ISA. I’m aiming for £50k for when she is 18.

Findahouse21 · 10/08/2020 04:29

Dd5 has about £10,000
Youngest dd has about £150 in cash

Not completely terrible unfair parents, I promise but we didn't get to the bank before lockdown to open a bank account for baby dd so I've just been putting cash aside for her and we'll sort it out. Oldest dd did get an inheritance which helped, which baby dd won't obviously have

Zoflorabore · 10/08/2020 04:34

Mine ( 17 and 9 ) have no money in savings. Ds (17) has the child trust fund that he got when he was a baby and that’s it.

I have never been in a situation where I could save for them but they have a pretty nice life from day to day and are able to go on school trips etc ( New York for ds ) and have a foreign holiday every year and a nice home, expensive clothes etc.

My attitude to money is terrible I fully admit and tend to live for today. It’s something I’m working on. Neither myself or my 2 younger brothers received any sort of money at 18/21 etc and have all done ok.

Comparing your own situation to anyone else’s on here will not be helpful. There are people like myself with no savings and then at the other end of the spectrum there are those with savings/bonds/investments galore and then everyone else in between.

A 4 yr old with a couple of thousand is doing pretty well as you must realise.

countdowntofriday · 10/08/2020 04:38

For people with older kids; what way do you encourage financial literacy? I've only young kids but was considering agreeing to match whatever they put into their savings and also possibly agreeing to keep paying in for as long as they don't touch the money, but I'd be interested In hearing others ideas.

At the moment we put away £100pcm, but not firmly as a long term savings so we may dip into it.

sunrainwind · 10/08/2020 06:59

Around £1k each at age 4 and 6. We have discussed saving more for them but we still have a mortgage to pay so feel it's better to overpay that and get it paid off sooner.

We would love to help them with a deposit for a house when they're older (and support them through uni if they go) but we will be a in a much better position to save substantial amounts with no mortgage to pay!

BipolarSunset · 10/08/2020 07:02

My 8 year old has no savings but I have just opened a junior ISA and am planning to put the minimum of £20 a week in there and then extra when we can.

Please don't compare to other families. They're circumstances may be completely different.

You're doing a great job in saving no matter now much x

PollyPelargonium52 · 10/08/2020 07:04

15 yr ds has nearly 4k in a stakeholder savings account for when he reaches age 18.

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