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Original poster

what age did you give your child access to their savings?

12 replies

user1483617032 · 09/01/2017 20:54

Hi my son is almost 7, he is brilliant at saving his money and very careful on what he spends it on. He gets it from me because i hate spending money lol. My son wants a ps4 to play at his grandads when he stays over at weekends, he said in his words " i want to buy it myself". He has managed to save £40 for it (took a few months) however i've been thinking that as an early birthday present he could withdraw £200 from his savings to purchase one. Just wondering if anyone allows their child to withdraw money if they have their heart set on something they want and what age did you allow your child to have access to their savings, how much and what did they buy?

OP posts:

MyWineTime · 09/01/2017 21:07

It really depends how much money he has in savings, whether that money is needed for other things and when the money is likely to be replaced.

Original poster

user1483617032 · 09/01/2017 21:28

he has quite alot, and i don't like to have a lot of cash in the house incase someone broke in. I will make him add some of his pocket money back into it and any money he recieves from family.

OP posts:

IslaLettuce · 09/01/2017 21:35

I think if the savings are made up of money gifts from family then it's a fab idea to consolidate it and buy a big gift. Shows responsibility and respect for money. If the savings is really bank of mum putting money aside each week then maybe it should be kept for uni or house deposit or something big.

Original poster

user1483617032 · 09/01/2017 22:30

It's been solved! my dad is going to pay him £200 to clean and hand him the cash and take him straight to smyths. It's going to be an early birthday present so my son thinks he has bought it himself. I'm going to ask him if i can help clean and get paid £200 too :P

OP posts:

HopeNotFear · 10/01/2017 11:26

My 12 year old daughter has been desperate for a new iPhone for a long time, (she's had her iPhone 4S for a couple of years and looked after it well).

We agreed last summer if she could save £350 before we go to Florida in June 2017, she could take the remainder out of her savings account to buy it whilst in the USA. (Never thought for one minute she would manage to save this amount when I agreed). For her birthday in October she was given mainly money and was able to save £375. She has her heart set on the iPhone 7 so will be taking £700 from her savings account to buy it in June.

For the record, I'm not comfortable with a child of her age having such an expensive phone, but she knows all the risks and should anything happen to it, she knows it will not be replaced.

Word of warning to other parents - be careful what you agree to,

Aroundtheworldandback · 10/01/2017 21:04

Please read my tale of woe, although this is extreme. My son at 13 was given almost 25k. We decided to invest parts of it periodically to boost poor interest rates but this meant having instant access. Only problem was, when he got to 15, he discovered he also had access, and by that time the bank wouldn't let us do anything without his consent.

He's now ordering pizzas, cabs, presents for his gf and half's gone. I wish I hadn't cared about the interest and just locked it up till he grew some sense

Original poster

user1483617032 · 10/01/2017 21:48

thats what im dreading when he turns 16 and has full access and theres nothing i can do. Hopefully he will still be good with money, just have to keep teaching him about the importance of saving.

OP posts:

CurlsandCurves · 10/01/2017 22:14

My 2 aged 7 and 11 still have no idea they have money saved for them.

I'm hoping pocket money will be enough for a while longer yet...

Nix32 · 10/01/2017 22:15

This might be a silly question, but how do they get full access? Surely if you keep the details from them (account numbers etc) then they can't actually get to the money? I've got junior ISAs for my children and have been working on that theory . . .

Original poster

user1483617032 · 10/01/2017 22:21

The advisor said at 16 they will send a letter to him about his account and whether he wants to manage it himself and whether he would lke a debit card etc. It's a regular savings account, he also has a child trust fund that the government opened for him and he can't make withdrawals until he is 18.

OP posts:

Crumbs1 · 10/01/2017 22:22

Depends on what savings are for, whether for a specific purpose or just unspent monies. Mine tended to save part of their monies for specific purposes like holidays and could draw upon it when they wanted. They all had savings accounts from about 5 years at bank. The real 'savings' i.e. our money for their future was managed via a trust fund which they cannot access without our consent until they are 25.

19lottie82 · 11/01/2017 23:06

hope don't buy an iPhone in the US...... the warranty is non transferable to the UK, so if a fault develops you won't be covered (unless you're prepared to take it back to the US that is!).

They won't even be much cheaper at the moment, due to the poor £ and then factored in sales tax (9%?)

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