AIBU about child savings?

[pinkunicorns54]

Happy to be told I am being unreasonable just need some perspective!

We currently have a junior ISA set up for our toddler. Saving roughly £80pm - I suddenly have a sudden thought of if we are able to do this until they are 18, there will be a fair whack in there - I'm nervous about them having access to this when they are 18 and maybe not have the maturity to know how to manage this!

My DH thinks that we will be ok just instilling financial education into them when they are growing up and if they do decide to blow it on things I wouldn't want them to - then we just need to suck it up as it will be there's...

I'm of the view that we save in our names, so we have more control over it...

YABU - leave it in their name

YANBU - save it in yours!

Happy for anecdotes from people who have done similar / have grown up children!

Really interesting thread. I don’t think either is right or wrong, there are pros and cons either way. My parents have set up junior ISAs for my children (who are toddlers) and they’re paying a certain amount into them each month. It’s my parents’ money, not mine, so it’s entirely up to my parents what they do with it, but I am concerned about my children coming into fairly large sums of money aged 18.

Teen and simple I do agree.

I can't blame anyone for wanting to blow some cash with a windfall but there is a difference between blowing it because they dont have money training and blowing it with money training.

DH and I are now trained like monkeys and any money 💰 get split 100 way.

A 10k windfall would go into various pots and savings!

We have one ISA in DD's name with a few thousand in (an inheritance and the ISA was a condition). The money we're saving for her is in an account in my name. Although I hope she will be sensible at 18 I'm not willing to risk it so we will keep it in our names and then she will have choices on how to use it. If she blows the money in the ISA in her name then it would be disappointing but not the end of the world. If she did it with the amount we're saving I would be quite upset and she would likely regret it when she is older.

I have a child older than 18 and he doesn’t have his money. It’s in his name but in an account linked to mine and my email address. I’ve not offered him access to it but I do give him some if he asks for it. Have no intention in handing it over to him at least until he finishes uni. Whilst I appreciate he can have it I don’t feel even slightly guilty holding on to it for him. My parents did the same for me

Account in my name and is now being syphoned into a Lisa as they are 18.

Absolutely financial education. I came into around £40k when I was 19. I had a great time at uni living off real food rather than beans on toast and travelling (cheaply) in the summers, and then bought a house when I was 24. By no means will all young people just waste it all. Actually the reason I didn’t was because I knew it was my only chance to get on the housing ladder and I suspect things won’t have improved much there but the time your DC has grown up.

My children are quite frugal. The 20 year old is a bit woebegone that the growth fund he invested in has taken a hit with the sharemarket slump. The eldest is in medical school with a part-time casual job. It all depends on how sensible your children are likely to be.

You can get a child savings account which reverts to you at 18 so you control the funds. When I was 18 my boyfriend fleeced me for most of my student loan. Borrowing, asking for expensive gifts, blackmailing, and eventually hitting me and taking money out of my purse. I was too naive. You can teach your kids financial sense but you can’t stop others being greedy and manipulative, and it’s too easy nowadays to transfer money out of an account.

Unless you're maxing out your own ISAs I wouldn't be saving into JISAs. Just save in your own ISA, gives you more flexibility and control.

Isn't this why people put money into a trust? So it belongs to the child but they cannot access it until certain circumstances eg marriage, 25th birthday, house buying etc etc.

I have been saving for my child since birth. He has two accounts. One with the main savings pot in my name and a second account in his name (where all xmas and birthday money is deposited). This is a child ISA. He also has a SIPP which he will be able to access at retirement.

I feel having the bulk of savings in his name is too risky. My intention is to use this for university fees, first car etc...

My dd is 19 and of the Child Trust Fund era. Every one of the 18 year olds that I know whose parents put extra money into theirs have blown it on holidays and other things that were unnecessary. It might not have helped that most of them spent their eighteenth birthdays in lockdown and were desperate for some fun.