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 think the banks love it, actually. It means someone comes through their door at a very young age, and later they can try and sell more financial products to them.

Because atm CD, they are all darling babies who will do no wrong. It's just not in them. They will always be mummies little soldier or daddies girl. They won't be taking drugs, drinking or buying condoms with it. They will be financing their own way through university with it, choosing one near by so they can carry on living at home, and working very hard and not going out to p*ss it up against the wall. I'm surprised you didn't realise.

oh god I hope they don't carry on living at home. how depressing. they should be at university hundreds of miles away having a lot of very good sex in the mid-afternoon like I did!!

financial companies haven't been FORCED to make a product around it. it is up to themn if they choose to sell them or not.

my brother works for family investments and they are doing nicely out of it thank you very much!

It would have gone straight into dd's existing children's savings account if they had let us do this. But because we have the faff of setting up another, we haven't got round to it.

all you have to do is send it to them marina.... that's it... they do it all for you!

I sent it to CIS (part of the Co-op) so at least the investments are vaguely ethical. I won't put any money into it as I don't have any and even if I did I would like to decide for myself how to save money not the government. When my wee man's 18 he can buy himself a really nice bike or something. Silly not to take it. 250 quid is indeed a lot of money to a lot of people. I just think it's 250 quid you have to wait a very long time indeed to get!

My went straight off to Children's Mutual into a Stocks and Shares fund with an extra amount each month. The more help we get, the more gratefully I will accept

I've lost mine

Hmm - is that irresponsible? Agree with PPH though.

My charge is 1% per annum of the fund which means that there will always be a fund there that grows. The banks take their charges before interest is charged so there is a hidden cost there. Stocks and shares should give a higher return over the long-time. Cash will barely beat inflation over an 18 year time period.

why are people complaingin abhout charges

its free money isn't it

if you don't invest it, the govt will on your behalf

we put ours in the Boots Mutual Trust thingy

One point on the charges. Have you actually worked out what 1.5% is of £250. Very little indeed. It would hardly cover the cost of the post and documentation yet along investment management. It really is very low and if you are getting decent returns it is not alot to give up.

Mine is in Asda's one and tbh I only did it to get the George vouchers.

Ds got £277 but I got a letter yesterday saying that when he was born our income level was a certain amount and so he is entitled to another £260 which will be paid straight into his account set up with Asda.

I am so chuffed about this as I am planning to split the final amount in there between the 3 kids.

Oh i am putting £5 a month into it too which isn't a lot I know, but it's better than nowt i spose.

I've lost mine too.

I didn't mean to. Does anyone know if I can do anything to get another one? Dp thinks it is just mislaid, but I'm pretty sure it's gone...

you've lost it I never lose money, probably because we don't have much, and certainly not ds's.

sorry that sounds really pompous but just don't get how people say 'oh I've just found £20 in my pocket in these trousers I haven't worn for 2 years'!!!

We've put dd's into the children's mutual (CIS) because it's "ethical". We're not going to add to it. Our savings for our children are in our name at the moment. We want to have some control over how it's spent. Like to think we're bringing them up to be sensible, mature adults, but who can tell!

I know. I'm not proud of it. We are not loaded or anything, I am just completely crap. When it arrived I said to dp "Oh god, I'm probably going to lose this." And I have.

Mind you it is not as bad as when I lost a cheque for £2000. I was on Income Support at the time so I can assure you it was not because £2000 was just too paltry an amount to be bothered with.

Thank God I managed to get the cheque cancelled and reissued, that time.

Well if you lose yours and don't invest it then the govt will choose at random a provider after a year and invest it for you. THat will be in one of the more riskier stocks and shares accounts.

Nutcracker it is the childs money and you have no say in it, therefore cannot split between three kids.

Govt is trying to encourage people to save as opposed to the debt mountain that we are accumulating at the moment.

Put mine into building society in a cash savings fund, and have started to top up every month.