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

[Hmmmmminteresting]

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.

I put aside £50pcm per child and a bit extra from inheritance. At 4yo they have about 4k each. I don’t plan on giving it to them when they turn 18, but when they want to get married/buy a house - which ever comes first. I don’t plan on telling them until then either

Lots of children with significantly more savings than me!

My 6 year old has £200 and something pounds
It annoys me when people say things like this (in real life too)
Why do you think that your amount is rubbish? It's a couple of thousand pounds for a young child! All it does it make other people feel bad as they have less and makes you think you're showing off really

To be fair my children have more savings than me

2 and she has £800. We’ve been too hammered by nursery fees and reduction in salary for working part time to put much aside. When we get the 30 free hours we can increase the monthly standing order.

I have foregone the (very small) tax savings you get by putting money into a child's name in favour of leaving all savings in my own name. I saw having money go badly wrong for a friend of mine when we were 18 .

As it turns out DS has been pretty sensible with money and it would probably have been ok with way, but DD (17) is not and I'm glad to be retaining that bit of control over what I chose to help her with financially. I also dislike the way that kids with money saved for them take them for granted and refer to them as "savings" as if they'd saved them. I'd rather they have no expectations and can be appreciative and realise they are lucky if I help them out financially.

We have a few thousand between our two DDs (4 and 8). I am American and see what is happening with the NHS, so I have yold my husband it is for inevitable medical expenses for mental health drugs and therapy, not university, both of which will be unaffordable in a decade anyway.

DD 17 months has £14000k in savings but that’s because my Great Aunt gave her £10000 when she was born and £1000 on her first birthday. DH and i have saved £100 a month since she was born and the rest is from monetary gifts that she was given for special occasions.

Oops, don’t mean to put the k on the end.

Child support (£60ish a month) has been going into savings since he was born and that will continue until it stops (assuming no household financial crisis like redundancy). That money (£10kish?) will be put towards a deposit on a mortgage and he won't be allowed to use it for any other reason (savings acct in our name).

DD has a significant amount. Don't want to say how much as obviously would be life changing for some people and just a middling bonus if you're a banker. She doesn't know it's there and also it isn't in her name. I never discount the possibility that something dreadful could happen and we could need this money before she buys a house/goes to uni. I left home with about £50 in my purse so she'll cope either way.

I do think if you have more than 1 child it’s not particularly fair that one (usually the eldest) will have more savings than the other. So I’d rather save and split equally for them

We have various trusts and savings accounts for the DC, as well as pensions. We are high earners though so it makes sense. Every little makes a difference though.

DS has two accounts one we save £100 a month into (topped up CB) and the other has some Christmas and birthday money in as both are within a few weeks of each other, family tend to give a gift for one and money/voucher for the other so that way come summertime he can get some nice outdoor things. The first isn't touched the second is dipped into but only for fun things for him. He definitely has less in savings than we do. I think it's slightly mad to save for a child if you can't save for yourself, if something goes wrong (boiler etc) you'll either have to take on debt to repair it or use your child's savings which won't feel very nice. Better to save for yourself as a priority, you're caring for them and for DC if you can afford to.

Oh DS does have a pension pot too

None and neither will. We don’t save anything for them. We barely have enough to save for ourselves! In my groups (middle / working class, Norfolk) I don’t actually know anyone who is saving for their kids!

Ds almost 5yo, zero. Although I fully intend to start ASAP.

Fwiw, me and dh have less savings then your dc!

www.finder.com/uk/saving-statistics

I do think if you have more than 1 child it’s not particularly fair that one (usually the eldest) will have more savings than the other. So I’d rather save and split equally for them

Plan here is to stop for each at 10k and then pay the money that was being saved for that child into the accounts of those who haven't reached 10k yet

This is the most expensive time of your life.
Money in your pension now, with the tax benefits and compound interest, will serve you better than neglecting your own future to put money in a savings account for a child. Due to inflation and terrible interest rates the savings for your Ds will actually lose value over the next few years.

In 10 years you will hopefully have increased your income through more work hours / promotion and have lower childcare costs. You can increase savings for your child when you can.

Comparison is futile.

This thread is SO far removed from my reality I am struggling to reply, but for anyone else reading who also doesn't have a ton of money saved for their kids: its fine not to save for your kids.

My aim is to raise children who become adults who are capable of making their way in life. Along the way I've kept a roof over their heads and food in the fridge. Been lucky enough to afford for them to go on school trips etc. And I think they realise how lucky and rich they are compared to most people in the world. But they definitely won't be presented with a nest egg at 18 or whatever!

Both of mine had about £4000 by the time they were 18. DH had set up a savings plan when they were born. I think he paid £25 a month in. They're now 23 and 19. The older one has about £20,000 in savings since starting work, and the younger one still has most of the £4k going into second year of uni.

Mine were allowed to spend their christmas and birthday money. We never made them save it.

I save the child benefits so my 7 yr old has about 11k and my 4ur old has around 8k.

I save £25 per month for my dd. Then add her birthday and Christmas money in. She's just turned 3 and has £1900. I'm actually really proud I've been able to do this... Fwiw if I need to use it when she's an older child say for an expensive activity she is doing and so on I would.