Saving for our child's future, how much?

[Lsquiggles]

My daughter has just turned 2 months old and I'd like to start saving for her future. I was thinking we could save £20 per month until she's 18 but I have a nagging thought in my mind that handing over 4k+ to an 18 year old is a bad idea. Am I being unreasonable? My parents saved up some money for me (not a massive amount but money they worked hard for) and I blew it on night outs when I was 18 due to immaturity and I'd hate for our daughter to do the same. What are your opinions?

Me and my partner thought 20 a week 🥴 which would add up to around 17.000 when she is 18, but it wouldn't just to be to hand and say here u go, it'll help buying a car, help for a house, university etc all of that

My parents did a mixture of both, some money in my own name and some they kept control of (much to my annoyance at the time) until I finished uni. I think this is the best way forward- I did blow some of the money that I got at 18 but I don't actually regret it, those were some of the best memories of my life, and I think I had to learn the hard way about the value of money, but at the same time I was effectively forced to be sensible with the rest. I'd give her£1k at 18 and keep a tighter rein on the rest of it personally.

DS has a junior ISA but that will be for uni fees/living costs and that will be drummed into DS's head. I wouldn't ever give a teenager money without being very specific about what it's for.

If you're concerned, you can put it into you own ISAs to then give to DD as and when you see fit.

My daughter is 5 months old already saved 200 quid for her and plan to add to this at around 30 pound per month , this will give her around 6400 quid which I will be using to pay for her an 18th party (if she wants one ) driving lessons and a first car and whatever is left over for university should she choose to go
My mother also saves a smaller amount for all the grandchildren which will give her about another 1000 or so wen she turns 18 also , the works for young people is so much tougher now I feel , it’s dam near impossible to get on the housing ladder and any help I can give my daughter I will . This is my only child though and wouldn’t be able to offer this level of support with multiple children x

My children are 15 and 11 and they have a Halifax savings account which will have around 5k by time they are 18. They also have a child trust fund each with 3.5k for DD (11) and 1.5k for DS (15) - uneven as we sued for them contracting a serious illness and DD was most affected). Plus government trust fund of around £300. Technically they can have it all at 18, both are currently very sensible and I don’t foresee them blowing it. DS will almost certainly go to Uni in 3yrs and he will have just turned 18 a few weeks before he starts.

You don’t have to tell them they have the money and keep it in joint names.

This money will be for Uni / first car. Their dad will eventually have a large inheritance of around 400k which he intends to share between them to get them on the property ladder as we are in the South East. So they are super lucky. I had a colleague who saved 1/3 of his salary every month for his only child to buy him a house when he was older. He must be around 18 now so I wonder if he’s just bought him a house and signed it over. Again very fortunate. I’m 42 and trying to save for a deposit to buy myself a house as sick of renting!

We currently have our children's saving in a joint account in our names, and I'm trying to figure out where best to put them! I've got a grand each for 2 kids, but it doesn't seem the right time to invest in stocks and shares isa, and I don't really understand the implications of buying gold or bonds. Can I buy bonds from foreign governments rather than UK ones? Got a decade til 18th birthday!

Put it in your own pension and then use the tax free cash to gift to them.

Can I buy bonds from foreign governments rather than UK ones?

Certainly. Vanguard offers an index fund of US government bonds in the UK.

U.S. Government Bond Index Fund - Hedged Accumulation

Were doing 20 each a month. So nearly 9k when shes 18.

I've thought, when she turns 18, depending on her maturity and how I feel she us maturing at the time. I'll ask her in passing conversation.. "if you had 9 thousand pounds, what would you spend it on"

Her answer depends on where we go next.

MissConductUS thank you! Investigating is a whole new world to me!

@Love51 You're most welcome.

There was a lot of good information on investing in this thread, which was in chat for some reason.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3672111-Talk-to-me-about-investing-please

"I have a nagging thought in my mind that handing over 4k+ to an 18 year old is a bad idea."

Depends on the 18 year old.