Not much saved for kids

[helpmelosemybigbelly]

Feel bad I don’t have much saved for my kids so thought I’d ask here and see how others are doing or anyone similar to me

have 2 DC ages 8 and 5. Older one has nearly 3k younger around 1.5k. This is all birthday and Xmas money and money received when they were born etc

my DH works but low income, we on UC also as a top up as i can’t work right now due to caring for my older DC with high support level needs. Also we rent which is expensive so doesn’t help

my children’s pots are terribly low aren’t they

Some people have hundreds of thousands saved. Some have nothing.

You can only do what you can do. Do your best, bring them up to be good people and to work hard.

Absolutely nothing when they where old enough they got jobs. My eldest is 19 and buying her first home with zero financial help from us. I'm so proud of her for doing it herself she's a good little saver.

Of course that’s not low.

And if you are on a low income I’d use their Christmas and birthday money for their more immediate benefit (clothes, a day out, after school activities etc, not just toys) rather than trying to save more.

This is all birthday and Xmas money and money received when they were born etc

They're kids and they're not allowed to spend their own birthday and Christmas money??

If this is true and you're worried about them 'only' having 3k and 1.5k it's a very strange thread.

On your limited income, you're doing (more than) fine.

Be careful their cash doesn't hit the UC savings threshold... If it's in bank accounts even in their own names it counts as YOUR savings.

No it doesn’t. It does need to be declared but if it can be shown that the child is the beneficial owner, it does not count. It is therefore better in a kids ISA rather than a savings account but shouldn’t count as a parents savings either way.

Is this true? Someone close to me left 2 children £15k each and I’m told it’s in their bank account which I know is attached to the mother’s bank account. She is in receipt of UC 🤔

If it makes you feel any better my parents are quite well off & gave me nothing when I grew into an adult. 🤷‍♀️

I tried to save for my kids but it kept getting absorbed into the family pot as we couldn’t afford it. They’ve all done fine. They earn much more than us now!

The savings are held in trust funds which I know is safe from UC guidelines as I researched thoroughly to ensure I could save for them without getting in trouble with UC

Most people I know don't (except a few, quite rich, people). Not unusual round here anyway.

@SpiceGirlsNeedAComeBackno offence but I don’t understand this.. they didn’t have to give u lots but surely a small bit of help is nice

They told me I would get it when they go if it doesn’t get all spent by them so in my very late 60s probably. I have saving bonds for my own kids, I have no idea why they didn’t want to help.

DC older than yours and we have less saved than you. Havent received any birthday and xmas money or money when they were born. Neither DH or I were ever given money from our parents.
I think you’re doing great!

Another who has never had anything once i turned 18. So you are doing amazing on a low income and they are young. Not everyone saves for their kids for varying reasons.

I think the majority of kids don’t have any money saved for them, and they turn out fine!

Agree with the others that's amazing op ! Well out of our reach when DC those ages.
However invest the money properly to do them a favour .
Keep half in wherever it is and put the rest into a broad index fund ie lots lots of companies them .this will grow that money much much faster and better and if you do it now the stock market is lower because of the war. It takes a few years to properly get going.

what got me thinking was seeing something on a thread yesterday and ppl saying they had like 30k or whatever saved for uni and lots of ppl similar so it made me think I don’t even have uni fees only personal savings as above

That's because the majority of mumsnet are rich or pretend to be this is in no way normal this is why student loans and part time jobs for young people exist

One thing you can do is equip them with skills so they can get work and earn their own money

You cannot compare yourself to others as there lies madness.

I was given nothing money my own child is exceptionally lucky and has money coming his way but he doesn’t know it. But it’s a proportion of our income which is very decent. That’s all you can do in life spend and save to your income. My cousin had a house given to her as her wedding present, imagine that,

I worked for year to save up for university and then worked in every holiday (we weren't allowed to work in time but at many universities you can get a term time job too)

Unless your children are very academic I would focus on encouraging them towards apprenticeships anyway (and even if they are very academic, there are some very competitive apprenticeships around in areas like law etc)

I've commented on this before. When my kids were growing up we were so poor that we often ran out of electricity because I couldn't afford to top up the meter. I mean REALLY poor. There was no money to save.

Fast forward twenty odd years. All my kids earn decent money, all are home owners (one who bought as a single person). All but one went to university so have loans to repay but this hasn't held them back either. And, I can't emphasise this enough, they grew up with NOTHING. I could just about bung them a fiver when they were at university - no 'topping up' loans, they had to work.

Yes, it's nice to give your kids a leg up if you can afford it, but nobody should feel that their children are doomed to being second-class citizens if parents can't give them a house deposit or finance them through university.