Just curious, has anyone done anything with their child trust fund voucher?

[Busyalexsmummy]

Just wondering as i read in a baby mag a few weeks back that although 90% of people entitled to it have received it, 70% have not invested it.

Not suprised when you read up on how much theyre all charging for their "services" poopoo, there wont be anything left in there by the time their 18, and im certainly not putting my hard cash into something that may increase, but may decrease in value

i have! i am not being charged anything for "services" as far as i know

its in a reasonably low-risk shares account and has more chance of going up than down.

if you don't put it in anywhere yourself the govt will do it for you

it is sitting in my handbag.
such a joke. they all charge management fees of 1% for taking the govts money and sitting on it. And I don't NEED £250 and I think it is stupid that they are giving it to me. And anyone who really does need £250 won't add anything much to it and it will be worth the price of a big mac by the time the kids are 21.
rant over

I have invested it. In a bank account, not share's type one. My parents are contributing £10 each to it, and me and DP are intenting too (finances not too hot right now). It could increase in value a fair bit in that time, the government where also thinking of adding to it at ages 7 and 11 IIRC.

but why didn't they just invent a child's tax free bank account, which you could put x per annum into, and into which £250 would be added by the govt if you were on benefits or something? Why send the money to everyone in the country? It is just a stupidly expensive scheme, which clearly doesn't interest/isn't understood by 70% of the people who supposedly "benefit".

same here. we have already added to ds's

fair enough for you PPH, if you don't need the money. but some people do and will add to it

who cares if they take a fee? it's £250 free money for you so it hardly matters!

Think you're probably right PPH. Smacks of high profile tokenism. But I have invested it, and have even added a chq from grandparents.

Mines been put in a high street bank which charges 1.5%, I beleive theyre only giving the money out because they feel bad about the fact there arent going to be any pensions in a few years time, then when they(our kids) complain, the goverment will probably come out with something like"well you all had the trust fund vouchers"
I dont think it really helps the people who most need it anyway as in my financial position theres no way I would add to it, Im putting his money where I know its only going to go up not down......

because the point is that this COULD potentially get bigger without you having to add to it.

it is also in the child's name but they can;'t access it until they are 18... not so with any form of savings acocunt

ayt the end of the day it's free bloody money... stop whingeing about it and be grateful!

i put mine in a nationwide child trust fund account.

well tell that to the other 70% of people who haven't done anything with it.
and no I WON'T be grateful. I'm saying that I don't need it and I think it should go to someone who DOES. Not sure why you have some moral problem with that, Starlover.

yeah but not everyone has as much money as you PPH.

fair enough if you don't want/need it... but a lot of people do!

it isn't my fault that half the population are too stupid to stick a bit of paper in an envelope and send it off

yeah along with their child benefit!

the booklet they send you with it makes everything very clear cut, there is no reason why people shouldn't understand it

there is a savings version if you are worried about shares devaluing it

why don't people make use of it? even if they just leave the original amount in there? it isn't costing them anything

PPH, you're coming across a bit off here! ATM £250 is a lot of money to me and most people IMO. It's not to be sniffed at.

It's a question of govt priorities. There's something v. romantic about Gordon's notion of giving young people a financial kickstart, but surely the money would have been better spent increasing child benefit for the poorest families, or reducing uni tuition fees for the same families, etc.

but the thing is to increase CB for poorer families you have to start means testing.

that in itself would cost a LOT more than just giving everyone £250!

I know it is for some people. I'm well aware of that. And for some people it is negligible. So why not give it (or more than it) to those who need it? And you don't need MORE means testing, there is quite enough info on who receives benefits, and working tax credits, etc not to require any more testing, surely.

well there can't be that many of you. you can't argue with the fact that 70% of people haven't done anything with it. well you can, but it won't change my opinion about it!

anyone wanna slightly crumpled child tax voucher

I do find that figure hard to beleive although I've heard it elsewhere too. Everyone I know has invested it as well.

I think it is a silly political gimmick and an admiinistrative nightmare for the financial companies who have been forced to create a product around it. Vote catching tokenism. They will probably do something equally silly when all the 2002+ kids are reaching 18, like only exchanging the fund value for "education vouchers" or some such nonsense. If you are going to give away free money, do so without restriction. The whole thing annoys me greatly.

I think it is bonkers to add a penny to it myself. It is the child's money, when they are 18 they can take it and use it how they see fit. What if they blow it all on drugs or something? If you want to save for your child put it somewhere where they can't get their grubby hands on it until you deem fit.