Child Trust Fund is such a misguided idea!!!!!!!!!

[TooTickyDoves]

We have just heard that dd2 will get an extra £250, so now she has £500. Plus the other additions - I don't know when these happen - and we cannot afford to do the same for dd1, ds1 and ds2 unless our situation changes dramatically. I dread this leading to resentment later.

"tat from Argos and clothes from Baby Gap"?
What a dreadful assumption.

Yes, tooticky, it is rude, isn't it? I am lucky in that I can afford to save and take my family out, but I can quite understand why someone might want to be able to use the money now just to do normal family things like go to the cinema or out for lunch because they can't afford to do so otherwise. Our children's childhood is so short and our memories so precious.

I banked mine with HSBC and then put ds2's savings in to increase it to the maximum you are allowed, think it was £1100? mine has increased not decreased in value? why have some decreased?

Thanks for understanding nearlythree

I'm not saying you are spending it in Argos - I'm saying that a lot of parents spend all their money on having the latest stuff but don't think about planning for their kids' future

I don't have a lot to spend or to save but I try to do both. But I know that a lot of people buy all kinds of stuff that isn't really necessary and have either a massive overdraft or nothing in the bank for tomorrow

our children's childhood is short, yes. But that doesn't mean we can't try to see past it when we need to.

I wasn't trying to be rude, just saying that I agree with any scheme that tries to make saving part of our national consciousness

Like the idea of encouraging savings but will not do it for my dcs through the Child Trust Fund. As I understand it, the child becomes entitled to the money at 16. The savings arrangements I have for my children are held in trust by me and they will become entitled to them when I decide that they are competent enough to spend the money on something worthwhile. I would like to think that this would be at 16 but am fairly certain that it won't be.

If GB wanted to do something to benefit all children in the future he should invest the money in primary school's budgets.

I predict that a whole load of 18 year olds will blow their fund within a month of getting access to it, unless restrictions are placed on it. Some will spend it on drugs,alcohol and partying and I think anyone who says that no 18 year old will ever do this is living in cloud cuckoo land

Another quota of 18 year olds will have to use it to pay towards tuition fees at university, so it's been given with one hand and taken away with the other, but of course labour milked the publicity of "giving every child a savings fund" to make them look good and buy votes.

Very good points Fatfeet.