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 have £1720 in savings for 7yo DS. I'm divorced and I think his dad has some savings for him too. He will also inherit £10k from another family member when they die, which will likely be before he is 18 (family member is nearly 80).

As a single parent I can't afford to present him with a house deposit or anything like that.

OP, I’m not entirely sure your motives were right starting this? We’re in a global pandemic where millions are being made redundant, losing homes, using food banks and you are lamenting because your child only has a few thousand quid saved before they’ve even started school
It’s fine. It’s more than fine. But you probably truly know that already.

We have savings. DCs are 8 and 6 and have none. I don't see the point, they won't necessarily have the sense to spend it wisely when they are 18.

Not much, a few hundred at 3yo that he's been gifted by relatives. We're prioritising paying off our mortgage early so we can help him buy a house/pay for uni, so spare cash goes straight to the mortgage account.

Completely agree with speakout. Mine have child savings accounts but the only money that goes in there is birthday money from grandparents who specifically asked that it's put aside for them. So about £1K each at the moment I think, if that (ages 6 and 9). No way am I going to put money meant for university fees etc in a child's name, that they have access to fritter away as they like when they turn 18. We aren't in a position to save a lot and I'd rather we're able to use anything we do have to benefit all of us as a family over the next few years (house renovations, holidays etc) rather than being tied up in kids accounts. Also as someone said I'm hoping our earnings go up over the next few years and we can start putting more aside for potential uni fees etc then.

Mine can spend any gifted birthday and Christmas money as they wish, I don’t make them save it as it was given to choose their own gift with.

We do save for them though as I want them to get on the property market as early as they can as the security of owning an not having to constantly move is something I want them to have.

They don’t know about the savings so it won’t alter any work ethic.

I think having savings is important so treat them as an essential payment each month. No one knows what the future holds and savings can help immensely when things go wrong.

DS16
£200ish in his short term savings (he's saving for a new fishing rod, funded by odd jobs and his £50pm allowance. I only know that because he was telling me the other day about how much longer he thinks it will be before he can buy it)

£22k in 'long term savings' (he wants to use that for his first car at the moment...money from various places, Christmas/birthday/rental income etc)

£35k tied until 25 (inheritance from great Auntie)

~£3500 in premium bonds (intially a present from my parents for being born!)

A rental property in trust that we used his inheritance on (from his Granny when he was about 2), so the rental income goes into his aforementioned long term savings. That'll be his when he's 18, to either sell, keep renting out, or move into, as mortgage will be paid off next year.

Finding it really interesting reading through this thread as I'm currently pregnant with my first.
When I was 16 I was given access to my own savings account set up at birth by my grandma....I deferred taking all £100 of it until age 21 when I withdrew the whole lot (£123) and bought myself a shiny necklace. Felt the luckiest person and so proud! Still wear my necklace these days.
I received £10 here and there for birthday/Christmas money from aunts and uncles growing up, but it was always for 'buying myself a gift I wanted' which my parents always encouraged. I have loads of memories of counting out my piggybank, working out what gift I could buy, and vividly remember going to Woolies to buy music, film or a boardgame! Definitely feel it taught me the value of money and financial literacy.
I don't think I'll do any different for my own child when they're born tbh!

My two are 12 and 10 and have around £60k each (grandparents inheritance plus a gift from my husband's uncle). Currently in long term investment, we're adding to it as well. They don't know about the money so they will have a nice surprise when they need their house deposits.

@londonscalling

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!

How is the promise of maybe inheriting in .... What 40-50+ years time? A reason not to encourage them to save?

And surely that's just "giving them money?"

My son works for odd jobs (he's 16) AND has savings, he will cut lawns/hedges, walk dogs, do labour, wash your car, sort scrap, ash windows, do light cleaning etc all to earn a bit of cash. Some he spends, some he saves.

DD is 5 months old and has £580 in 'savings', although this is in a S&S ISA in my name. We save £100 pm which is essentially the child benefit plus a tiny top up from us.

Ignoring any growth, she will have 21k in that account and there is no way I will let her have free reign on that at 18. It will be used towards university expenses/house deposit as and when needed.

Investing calculators spit out 31k as the total potential amount at 4% growth, so she will have a nice sum to start adult life.

We live in the South East and realistically without parental assistance she won't get on the housing ladder in her 20s (if she stays in our area).

@londonscalling not having a student loan and being given a house deposit would have helped me immensely, getting an inheritance later on won't really.

Jeez my kids have about £1000 each and we thought they were doing exceptionally well 😅

....and this is the problem with these kinds of nonsense threads.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Notice the OP @Hmmmmminteresting hasn't come back on here at all. Just sitting back watching everyone list their DC's personal finances

Part of me would really love to share the amount we've saved for both our DCs, just to see the OP's response, but like I said earlier, I will never ever do that on here, it's ludicrous.

We are in another country but mine have savings accounts which will have their uni fees in them and they have money in isa type accounts which will fund house deposits. If they dont go into tertiary education then they can have uni savings for deposit too.

Please be careful about saving in your DC name.

Once they reach 18 that is their money to do as they wish with. Great if it’s £5k and they are responsible and buy a car, not so much if it’s £50k and they’re a drug addict and use it to get high.

And no you can’t prevent them having access/hide it/etc. There are plenty of court cases on this where consequences have been devastating.

As a result my DC each have £5k. They will be gifted other amounts depending on their needs and circumstances.

@beautifulmonument

Jeez my kids have about £1000 each and we thought they were doing exceptionally well 😅

You are!

A PP posted that "In 2017, 12% of British adults had no cash savings at all, and another 32% had less than £2000"

So, you're good

Others have mostly just been lucky enough to inherit...

@JuniperFather

....and this is the problem with these kinds of nonsense threads.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Notice the OP @Hmmmmminteresting hasn't come back on here at all. Just sitting back watching everyone list their DC's personal finances

Part of me would really love to share the amount we've saved for both our DCs, just to see the OP's response, but like I said earlier, I will never ever do that on here, it's ludicrous.

... so... just make up a figure?

@00100001

Why would I make up a figure? Did you not get the point of my post?

I don't need to share my DC's personal finances on a public forum, just to satisfy the whims of an OP who wants to benchmark themselves.

I don't need to invent a figure, and to be honest many might think the figure is invented anyway - you can't win on the Internet so to speak!

So, no thanks.

DD has just graduated with no debt, a car, 2 horses, work (which pays her living expenses, car etc and some over) but no actual job/career.
I have no idea how much she has in savings, but she is a saver not a spender, so imagine between £5-10K.

My kids both have about £3k in their ISA things that the Government made us start when they were born (age 8 and 10). I stick in £10 a month each.

Plus my Dad will be leaving them £20k each in his will. He is very poorly and sadly won't last another couple of years so we have been arranging his estate. That will be invested when the time comes until they are 18.

However, my parents didn't have any money when I was small. Me and my siblings had nothing saved for us. We got a few thousand when my gran died in our 20s but that was it. I have been crippled by student debt as I supported myself through Uni, then had low paid jobs for a long time. Only now in my 40s am I starting to see the light of paying it all off.

So I'm glad we will be able to give the kids a kick start. It may not be tons, but enough to start their adult life debt free with a bit squirreled away to put towards a car/deposit etc.

@PegasusReturns I assume most people get accounts where the parent/trustee has access to the money right up until their 18. So they can make the decision down the line if they want to transfer the money back to themselves just before they're 18 and then use it for university expenses or keep hold of it until they need help with a house deposit etc. That's what we are doing.

I'm a big believer in not giving children vast sums of money.
You have no idea when they are 10 how sensible they will be at 16/18. You can bring them up as well as you like but they only have to 'find love' or fall in with the 'wrong crowd' or have a mental health crisis and it's gone.

I'd rather hang on to the money and then make it available for 'sensible' things later, or hand it over at 18/21/25 if they are responsible at that time.

A lot more than I have in savings currently 😂

He’s almost 2 and has about £4000. We put £50 per month in his ISA and he got a lump sum from ILs when he was born. DD will get the same lump sum when she’s born but we’ll probably have to start putting slightly less in monthly to account for two of them.