Radio Alert - Child trust funds NOW!

[pineneedle]

Radio 4 prog about how to select a trust fund just started.

I heard that, it was really good. The Inside Money Programme on today. I'm sure it will be on the Listen Again Feature.

Did it recommend any accounts? I still haven't got round to investing mine and DS is 1 next month!

Me either - what were the recommendations?

you are not alone - it was something like only 1/3 have been invested so far. Sorry - don't know the conclusions - I only heard the first 5 minutes.

I think it was more like 90% who haven't invested.

Am just paraphrasing from memory what I think the programme said:

the Inside Money programme takes a "money issue" and gives an ordinary listener the chance to find out more about it. This week it was Child Trust Funds.

The mother was saying that she hasn't invested because she doesn't know how to choose, and she wouldn't want to take a risk with the money. It felt like too big a responsibility.

They framed the choices with respect to the main 3 types of fund: cash, stakeholder funds or actively managed (non-stakeholder). They went to the most popular provider of each type of fund, to talk thru the pluses and minuses of each type.

By the end of the programme the mother was leaning towards the actively managed fund (if she could trust herself to keep an eye on its performance) because its charges worked out less than the stakeholder type fund (they explain why this is in the programme). Else she thought she'd go for a Stakeholder fund. The mother said that she realised that even with a cash fund you take a "risk" -- the risk that it won't grow anywhere as well as an investment type fund is likely to.
hth, def. worth listening to the programme in full, I think it will be online for the next 6 days or so.

havent done mine yet!
Think nationwide came up best on here!
I looked at Abby too
want a straight forward savings