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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:
isadorapolly · 10/08/2020 07:05

Mine don’t really have a savings account. Their dad does something like that for them I think, and the older three had the child trust fund thing, but I haven’t checked on it ever.

I own a house with no mortgage and when they all move out I’ll downsize and help them get on the property ladder that way, so having a few grand in savings isn’t really a priority for me.

RosaBaby2 · 10/08/2020 07:06

My 12 year old has around 3.5k in his 'child trust fund', he then has another savings account that u pay his pocket money in to which has maybe £450 in.
My 2 year old has an account that we also pay in to about £25 a month.

Flipswhitefudge · 10/08/2020 07:08

My 16 year old has over 2k but that is money she has saved herself from her 2 part time jobs.

AteAllTheAfterEights · 10/08/2020 07:10

3yo has about £2k, 9yo about £6k. I only really want enough in their names to buy a car/help with uni or similar. I prefer to have control over any larger amounts.

Really interested in PPs comments about encouraging financial sense, matching savings etc. I’m going to give that some thought for older DC

NerrSnerr · 10/08/2020 07:11

Both my children get a small amount of birthday and Christmas money every year. I usually round that up to £100 and put it in premium bonds. It's not much but it's a start. Once we are no longer paying nursery fees we'll start consider saving more.

Ragwort · 10/08/2020 07:13

My DS (19) has a few thousand pounds saved, most of his birthday & Christmas presents are money and have been saved over the years, he also had a £1k inheritance which went straight into savings. He does have quite a good attitude towards finance (studying Economics) & earns money at Uni which he saves and managed not to spend all his maintenance loan. We do contribute towards a pension fund for him (have used the CB ever since he was born) but of course he won't see that until he is 55 Grin and have now set up a FTB ISA for him ... but we are older parents in a financially comfortable position and made a conscious decision to only have one child ... couldn't have done that if we were younger parents or had more than one child.

Confusedcorona · 10/08/2020 07:13

I think £2000 in savings age 4 is fantastic.
When I reached 18, my parents had never saved anything for me.

You have another 14 years, so that would mean if you keep saving at the same rate, he will have £9000 when he is 18. That's not bad!

speakout · 10/08/2020 07:14

I don't give children savings.

What happens when they reach 18?

My friends DS had £30K in savings- as soon as he reached 18 he blew the lot in 3 months on beer and cannabis in Thailand and Ibiza.

She had hoped it would help with a house deposit or University.
He had other plans.

I save for my children, but not in their names.

speakout · 10/08/2020 07:15

he will have £9000 when he is 18. That's not bad!

Sounds dangerous!!

Hollyhead · 10/08/2020 07:16

Both mine have about £500 each in their names based on gifts they’ve been given over the years. I don’t regularly save for them, I save for me and DH. However, it’s likely that some of these savings will be used on driving/uni/helping out when they’re older.

mogtheexcellent · 10/08/2020 07:18

DD6 has about £2k in her savings. £1k from when she was born and £500 from her christening so in 6 years we have saved £500. We dont have a lot of spare money.

Cactuslove · 10/08/2020 07:18

I save for my ds (2) but I will withdraw it all before he is 18 if he isn't mature enough to spend it on something significant- then give it to him when he is ready to buy a car/house etc. At the moment it only has £200 in but we want more children and i wanted to ensure we could save a fair amount for each one. When life settles down a bit I will increase the amounts I save.

SquigglePigs · 10/08/2020 07:19

DD is 20 months. She has £6k in an account she'll get when she's 18 - this is in inheritance. Then she has £2k in an account we decide when she gets - gifts when she was born mostly. Then we put some away in a separate investment account that we plan to cover uni if she wants to go etc. She's been very lucky - mostly due to having two great grandparents still around when she was born who have been very generous. The challenge will be balancing it out if we have a second child.

justanotherneighinparadise · 10/08/2020 07:20

My 4 year old has the same, my seven year old has more. DP puts in an amount monthly. Something like £100 each so when they got 18 they’ll have around £20k each.

I got given precisely zero when I got 18 so I think that’s an amazing starting point for any young adult.

Dogsgowoofwoof · 10/08/2020 07:21

Dd2 has about £1000 but that’s birthday/Christmas/gift money.
We don’t put anything extra in at the moment.
I had £600 at 17 which I was allowed to buy my first car with, so in comparison, she’s doing pretty well.

justanotherneighinparadise · 10/08/2020 07:22

@speakout

I don't give children savings.

What happens when they reach 18?

My friends DS had £30K in savings- as soon as he reached 18 he blew the lot in 3 months on beer and cannabis in Thailand and Ibiza.

She had hoped it would help with a house deposit or University.
He had other plans.

I save for my children, but not in their names.

I think most of us are planning to use the money towards uni fees or a house deposit. There’s no way on hell my kids would just get a wad of money in their hands to spend as they choose. That’s crazy!
Blondefancy · 10/08/2020 07:23

DD1 is 3 and she has 3,500 in her bank account. DD2 is only 8 months old so she only has 500-600 I think, we were abit late to set her’s up though

Blondefancy · 10/08/2020 07:25

I had 22.000 by the time i was the 18 and have only just spent the last of it doing up our house Grin (I’m 24!)

speakout · 10/08/2020 07:25

justanotherneighinparadise

Yes, but many of the posters here have savings in the child's name.
As soon as the child turns 18 you have zero control over that cash if it is their name on the account.
I do save/have saved for my children's future, but in my account.

Enderman · 10/08/2020 07:25

Mine have a savings account which birthday and Christmas money goes in to.

Having savings as a child taught me to save my own money, which meant I saved enough for a house deposit.

problembottom · 10/08/2020 07:27

My DD, 19 months, has about £2k. DP and I each have an investment fund (better return than an ISA in DD’s name) and pay in £50 a month. Hoping to up the payment once I get back to work fulltime in a few years, but also hoping to have another baby so it’ll be split between them.

justanotherneighinparadise · 10/08/2020 07:27

@speakout

justanotherneighinparadise

Yes, but many of the posters here have savings in the child's name.
As soon as the child turns 18 you have zero control over that cash if it is their name on the account.
I do save/have saved for my children's future, but in my account.

I need to double check that out with DP as if the kids just pissed that money up the wall is disinherit them.
Camomila · 10/08/2020 07:29

I think most parents are in control of the savings! And then will pay for the driving lessons/university accomodation/chunk of flat deposit directly.

DS1 I can see spending the whole lot on a shiny red car/holiday/mountain of sweets Grin

Anyway, DS1 4 has about £1500 and DS2 (6m) has £60 (they both get £10 a month from us and birthday/christmas money in there.

speakout · 10/08/2020 07:32

I have been though this situation.

My mother saved for my kids, £2K by the time they reached 18.

If their name is on the account they have every right to withdraw it and use it when they reach 18. Even if that means spending it on beer and fags.
Be very wary saving in a child's name.

honeylulu · 10/08/2020 07:33

My 15 year old has about £1500 in a savings account linked to my bank account. He has forgotten about that and just as well or it would all be blown. It's mostly money he was given by family and friends when he was born as he is the first grandchild and great grandchild. I haven't added to it since. He also had child trust fund but I haven't added to that either. Also a few thousand in premium bonds which generate some winnings which get reinvested (this was from one set of grandparents, now deceased).

He has his own current account and saves up his allowance and extras money he gets for babysitting and jobs around the house but it's usually for a specific purpose and then gets blown. No idea what's in there at the moment.

He won't be going to uni as he has some learning difficulties . Will be going the apprenticeship route. We will help him with a deposit for a property or even an outright purchase (he doesn't know this) as I doubt think he will have much earning power, through no fault of his own poor lad.

I save a lot (and earn very well) so I suppose I am saving "for him" but it's not allocated to him yet if you see what I mean.

My 6 year old has barely any savings (the last of the grandchildren and the novelty had well and truly worn off). I think she has £100 from godparents as a christening gift and maybe £30 in a money box. Plus her father bought her some premium bonds one year with some redundancy money though she doesn't have as many as our son and has never won anything!

However as above we can afford to help her in life and she'll probably go to private secondary school and hopefully uni and we can help with a house deposit. None of this should be a problem even though we haven't actually put funds in her own name.

I'm now wondering if I should be saving in the kids own names ... I guess it's probably quite tax effective?