to ask if it's worth paying in Child Trust Fund

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DD is 16 and up until now DH and I have had to prioritise day to day living, mortgage and something (not enough!) towards pensions.

After watching a Martin Lewis presentation on student loans, we've realised DD will only get the minimum loan.

She's in Yr11 now so we want to start putting something away. Is the CTF the best place? ISA? Savings account? I know interest rates are very low so the money won't grow but I want somewhere other than under the mattress

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I've just swapped my kids CTFs into Junior ISAs as their CTFs werent making very much e.g. paid in £300 last year and the value only increased by £30 from the year before so a lot of wasted money.

Your dd should have an existing CTF. Have you been putting extra money in it?

If you put in in the CTF your DD gets automatic access when she turns 18.

You may prefer to just save in your name somewhere so you keep control over access. Doesn't stop you handing it all over at 18, but does mean that if she goes off the rails in 6th form it doesn't all get blown...

At 16 look at what teen accounts interest is - mine got a decent rate. Or just set aside in a savings account in your name, everything will help. It's 9k a year basically which the loan is half if your income is over £50k combined. Some universities are significantly cheaper than others eg dd at Leicester is paying £50 a week less for halls than dd in Bath, both similar en suite room, in fact the Leicester flat is nicer.

What teenplus said. Don’t put anything in an account in her name, including a CTF or junior ISA, as it legally belongs to her at 18 and you won’t be able to prevent her from blowing it all.

I don't believe my dd will blow all her CTF/ISA money as she doesn't spend the money in her current account! (She is 17). Adult interest rates are shit tbh so I swapped to Junior ISAs as they offered a bit more.

@dementedpixie

I don't believe my dd will blow all her CTF/ISA money as she doesn't spend the money in her current account! (She is 17). Adult interest rates are shit tbh so I swapped to Junior ISAs as they offered a bit more.

Great and good for her! But not everyone can say that 100% and I’d rather not risk it myself. Everyone has to decide for themselves and I thought it was worth pointing out.

When my eldest was in y11 she was sensible & hard working.
Then she went to college, found love ….

@TeenPlusTwenties

When my eldest was in y11 she was sensible & hard working. Then she went to college, found love ….

Uh-oh!

Yes probably better to put it on my name. DD is very sensible now but ...

Thanks for replies. The Martin Lewis video was an eye opener as I'd assumed all students got the whole maintenance loan and didn't know they took parental income into account!

Vanguard children’s ISA

Child trust fund where the old-fashioned things labour set up.
You could save into it, it could be cash or stock and shares.
However it may be easier to move it to somewhere else to manage it and invest it yourself eg as pp said vanguard.

You can move the existing CTF elsewhere but it will stay in the child's name and will still belong to them. I went for a Junior cash ISA with Tesco for my 2.