How much have you saved for your kids future?

[workworry1]

Just wondering. Ds is 7 and we've managed 15k between savings from dh and I and gps birthday and Xmas money

I was reading that if he wants to go uni I would need 80k for him to leave debt free so that doesn't sound anywhere near enough

Not a good use of that money really. Some to boost loans etc but most people wint ever pay back a full uni loan and would lose out financially to try. Much better to keep most of it for deposits on houses etc.

I save 280 a month (the child benefit) for the two off mine. They are 6 and 4. If we stick to it they should have 30k each

How do you get 280 a month child benefit for 2 children,?

@popcorndiva we are in Ireland

Very little. PIL are well off and have trust funds for them which will be 6 figure sums We will be able to find them through uni but little afterwards.

Don’t waste the money on uni. Agree with above re property.

I never understand these threads.
Some people will have 6 figures trust funds (as above!) or more.
Other people will be able to save absolutely nothing.
I would confidently guess that £15K for a 7yo is more than most.
How much other people save isn’t really useful. You’re better off focusing on useful questions - like, is it a good idea to save money and then spend it on tuition fees? Answer: usually not.

Saving gifted money is one thing, as it belongs to your child. But I don’t think saving your own excess income in their name is always a good idea.

You could be overpaying your mortgage, which might give you more disposable income later to help them out.

In my case, every spare penny is going into my pension whilst the tax relief is so good (I’m a HRT payer). Loading up my pension now means when my child goes to uni, I’ll be able to afford to divert funds her way.

I’m saving a lot - but very little is in her name.

My best friends daughter went off the rails at 18 - she wouldn't have been able to without the money grandparents had saved for University in the daughter's name. She hasn't gone to university.....
So if you do save money for their future - don't save it in their name to access at 18!
Our son took a gap year and saved his money for University. It isn't something we could do

I agree with Ellisandra.

If you can afford to save, then save in whichever investment suits your risk appetite - in the UK, people seem to like property but I find stocks and shares ISAs work very well for us for amounts like £15K. Remember to use all your tax shelters like ISAs, JISAs, and pensions (especially if you are higher rate tax payer).

When your ds is 18, you may very well have higher paying jobs that you can use to fund his university fees and expenses out of income. It is what we plan to do for our dcs.

By then, our mortgage will just about have been paid off (as we have been massively overpaying to meet the deadline) and this frees up our cash to use for their accommodation and expenses. We will fund tuition fees out of income.

In the meantime, we might get an inheritance but we are not counting on that.

I have costed their uni education at about £50K for a bachelor's degree but thy youngest is at most 5 years away. Your dc is much younger so makes sense to shoot for a higher amount, with inflation etc.

If you don't make the target, there is always the back up of student loans. It is a nice thing you are doing for your ds.

@derekthe1adyhamster I’d love to be able to see the inside figures on Child Trust Funds this coming September, with the first cohort turning 18.

I can imagine it being a “thing” to just take out your money and blow it on a big party / holiday. With so many young adults getting similar minimum sums at the same time, I can see it just culturally being the thing in some circles to just blow it.

I agree to keep it in your name for now using all your ISA and pension tax allowances. You can use their JISA - the limit is £4,368 per year so there is a ceiling on how much you can save in their name.

Use tax shelters for your savings, if you can. Tax shelters work well for cash and stocks and shares but less applicable for property.

As for children going off the rails at 18, whilst it does happen, you will have an inkling of how financially responsible they are even before they hit 18. Are they the sort to spend money (e.g. birthday money) as soon as they get it or do they leave some aside. Are they always wanting the latest branded goods or do they shop around for bargains. It is a paradox but I find with my 2 that the more money they know is there (they don't know how much exactly), the more they want to preserve it for big ticket items.

Ellisandra interesting point about the first cohort of CTFs coming to maturity in September. My dd is 16+ and will soon be one of the pioneers.

I believe she got £250 (?) in her CTF. If the parents did not add to that sum and assuming it has doubled over 18 years, that such becomes £500 which the child gets at 18. With such a small sum, it is tempting to blow it all as there is not much you can do with it. If it were a bigger sum (because the parents did add to it over the years), then the child might very well put it aside for a house deposit or to pay university accommodation. I am hoping ...

When my DS was 14 my died died.and left him £30,000. When DS was 18 and his money was earning very little where it was (and he was about to start Uni although still live at home) we talked to him about how best to make his money work for him.

He put all his money into a deposit on a flat which he rents out. My DH had to go on the mortgage although we don’t contribute anything towards the mortgage payments or have any claim to the property. The mortgage company stated we had to have an agreement drawn up by a solicitor stating that we understood the risks of being on the mortgage without being on the deeds.

My DS has now rented the flat out and we have been lucky enough to find a good tenant who has been there for a little over a year. The money DS gets from renting his flat covers the mortgage and covers his travelling costs to Uni and a small profit which is building up. My DS has to liaise with the agents if there are any problems and it has been a good learning curve for him. I think this is a much better way to use his money and has got him on the housing ladder.

I have a house that I rent out tha tg I hope will be paid off before the first goes to uni. We are also going to start saving the child benefit (280) from January. I have no savings so far so hope to get on track and get a pot going for them.

We needed about £10k for DS over the 3 years, this was the recommended top up to the student loans based on our salaries.

It is not a good idea to save for university as others have said. Family trust funds and inheritances mean that our DC have about a quarter of a million each towards a house/establishing a business but I appreciate that we are in an unusual situation.

I haven't saved a penny! Can't afford to.

My 16 month old has around £400 from pocket/birthday/xmas money. As our income increases and we get out of the mat leave years I would hope to increase this or perhaps save separately and gift her money for a deposit

Nothing. My parents have saved some for them. My priority is mortgage. Hope to pay that off before they hopefully go to uni. Then we have disposable income

About £4500 in CTF which myself & Mum have topped up monthly. Then when Dad died they got a share of his premium bonds £2750.
So not a huge amount but perhaps a chunk towards a house.
You never know they might win on the premium bonds....
We have relatively low income compared to our living costs (for example mortgage is £1k) so it's not easy for us to save anything.

Saving a nominal amount each month (£25) in their names, Christmas and birthday money plus a small inheritance each. Eldest (3yo) has about £2.6k and youngest (15mo) has £1.9k. I'm conscious that youngest is better off than eldest at the same age so will equalise their savings next month with some back pay that I'm due. I'm not increasing their monthly amounts but we will save for house deposits for them in our names once nursery bills aren't quite so huge!

Ps Martin Lewis has a good article on fees for uni on moneysavingexpert.com, PPs are right that it's seldom wise to pay upfront

Ps Martin Lewis has a good article on fees for uni on moneysavingexpert.com, PPs are right that it's seldom wise to pay upfront

I think this only applies in the uk though.

We have planning for our DC’s financial security since they were born. Both have a pension, trust fund and various other investments/savings. We are both high earners (top 1%) so I suppose it’s not that surprising.

Nothing other than small building society accounts and a few hundred premium bonds. Gah I can't even afford to give my kids (12,10, 6) pocket money