To ask how much you have saved/aim to have saved for your child when they reach 18?

[Pringleeo]

We have 400 quid so far and dc is 2. Friends seem to already have 5-10k!! This is not possible for us. Is this the norm to save so much? I know housing etc will be crazy in future so I would try and save more but just can’t at the moment

I'm sure lots of people will be along shortly to boast about their enormous salaries and savings pots...

You can only do what you can do.

I personally dont like JISAs. So we only put birthday and Christmas money in there and top up our own ISAs first and foremost.
We do encourage family to give money rather than more clothes or plastic crap they dont need

With JISAs your child gets access at 18 thry might be sensible but they might blow it all on designer outfits and a 2 month trip to ibiza

I'm not trying to be snarky by the way! It's just that threads like these usually end up making ordinary people feel quite rubbish! But hey, maybe this time I'll be proven wrong. 😊

Nothing! Having young children is an expensive time. When they are 18, they can go out and get a job. If they still live at home and you charge them a pittance, they can soon build up their own savings!

My eldest two have had their birthday money saved given from my grandparents when they were still alive and aunt and uncle put into premium bonds. They have about £1000 each, the youngest one has nothing yet and not sure if we’ll be able to match it at any point.

About £2600 for ds9 and £1500 for ds6. I've saved £20/£25 a month for them each since they were born. They will get access to the money when they turn 18 so I don't want them to have silly money but at the same time something to go towards uni costs/driving lessons/their first car would be helpful for me if nothing else.

What’s important is putting in what you can afford.

If you can, get them a junior SIPP to start them a pension as well - consistent contribution over a number of years is what will make a difference for them.

I’ve put child benefit straight into a different account (still in my name) and decided to only use it if we’re really stuck & if not save it. Some people think that’s controversial but it is all money to me. So my DD 2 years old has about £2000, but not saying that we’ll always be able to save that

Mine is 2 aswell and has 1200. We don't add to it regularly. It's just money that was given at his birth, his birthdays and at Christmas. Don't have a target, just putting in there what he is given each year!

7 trillion.

Just save what you can afford. Don't compare

Zero and zero. DS can live at home for as long as he needs, I'm a single parent and not a homeowner myself so I certainly won't be in a position to help DS become one. He can save up himself.

We couldn't afford to save much at all when DC were young, lockdown proved a blessing in that respect and we now have a healthy amount.

You're not trying hard enough, @yumyumyumy -- your child will be a pauper.

OP, not a penny. I'm too busy having a good time and living off small change from down the back of the sofa.

Should just about get them through uni.

Nothing. I’ve just invested my time and energy in their education and development so that they are able to stand on their own two feet in the world.

I know what I (a relatively sensible teen) did with my student grant when I was 19, so there is no way I would build up any significant savings in a child’s name.

Unless you’re likely to go over the £20k annual isa limit, why not have it in your name?

We save 20 quid a month for each of them and when younger parents/ grandparents would buy them smaller gifts then put money in their savings. We do what we can but feeding and clothing them now is more important. If we can save more we will but can't currently.

£30 gazillion. That'll just about cover university for child 1. Child 2 & 3 have a lot of catching up they have £17 gazillion each. I will be working some extra weekends in order to boost their savings. I'm hoping by the time they're 18 they'll have around £900 gazillion so it covers driving lessons and basics.

Keep it in your name, or watch it all go on holidays and beer and nights out and designer shoes.

I have 3 children, all now adults between mid 20s and 30s. I didn't save anything for any of them. I never had sufficient surplus to make it worth while, and if it was a toss up between making their childhood as fun and stimulating as possible (which costs) and giving them a couple of thousand each, that would make very little appreciable difference to their prospects at 18, I made my choice.
I've gone on to give to each according to their needs in line with my means at the time, which have now improved. So bought one their first (cheap) car and had another live rent free while they saved a deposit and provide free child care for another.
All three are doing very well independently in good careers, so while it would have been lovely to have the wealth to have saved them a life enhancing chunk each, I don't regret not scrimping in their childhood to give what would have amounted to very little.

I had quite a bit when she was little but life always ended up getting in the way so I stopped making myself feel guilty about it and came to the conclusion that she is an only child and paying off my mortgage quicker will do us all a favour. She gets a lot of birthday/ Christmas money and she is allowed 50% to spend on what she wants and the other 50% I make an extra mortgage payment. Any extra cash we have goes on the mortgage.

My parents saved up £20,000 for me for a house deposit and we've done the same for ds. Sadly it doesn't go anywhere near as far now as it did when I was 18.

You use your child's Christmas money to over pay your mortgage 😮

I save £100 per child per month. It depends on your means. I may switch to saving in a pension instead for them at some point or reduce the sum and split part to savings part to pension but I don't want to impact their lifetime allowance if there is one when they're older so it's a balance. I'm not overly concerned about them squandering it like others have said. I was a very sensible teen and never wasted savings - and my parents couldn't regularly save for me but encouraged me to save birthday money and things like that. I bought my first house with my husband partly from savings that began in childhood and partly from working as soon as I could at 16. Having a couple of thousand saved already by 16 was a nice incentive to continue on. My parents gave me a good financial education I think in terms of savings though they didn't come from much themselves and I think that stopped me from wasting it.