How much are you putting away for your children?

[Pinkdreams]

I have a 10 month old, I've recently opened an NS&I account and have started depositing small amounts in here, my plan is to continue to do this every month and then give it to my daughter when she's older. At the minute I can only afford to put £50 a month, which would work out around £10,000 when she is 18 (probably won't give it her until she's older), this got me thinking, besides inheritance, how much if anything are you planning to give your DC's when they're older to purchase a house etc.

I'm investing in stocks and shares ISAs in my name - I was a silly young adult and I easily blew through £3k my parents had saved at university on clothes and make up...yes, I'd had pocket money, I'd worked in several jobs by 18 and I still spent recklessly. I'd rather be sure it goes to pay off loans or deposits etc than risk it.

I'm not saving specifically for my DC either. I think some people can become fixated on saving from birth but actually the pre school years are very expensive, whereas once they're older it is easier to put money aside. I'll give money for things as needed eg money towards driving lessons, a house, a wedding. But I won't be giving a lump sum once they turn a certain age.

Nothing in their name. But we put money aside in our own name that we plan to use to help them.

We’ve witnessed too many scenarios where children are given lump sums at 18 and dwindle it away by living outside their means. Rather than use it for a house, car, or even travel like the parent had intended.

Until our youngest child started at primary school we just weren't in a position to commit to putting anything aside and were actually eating into our own savings month on month. Two things then happened just as our costs went down - a decent pay rise for the breadwinner and a substantial inheritance for the other.

To shield the inheritance from tax we're using both DCs allowances - £9k each in a S&S ISA and £2880 in SIPPs for them both. We'll keep doing this until all the money is out of Rachel's reach.

As a single mum, I've paid to allow ds to take up a scholarship at a private school. One more year to go. I haven't put any other money aside for him.

When I retire, I will downsize and hopefully help him with a house deposit. He'll be mid 20s. And he'll be sole beneficiary when I die.

Given that when I left home, my dm bought me a set of saucepans and a cookbook 😁, I hope ds will be happy .

@InveterateWineDrinker who is Rachel?

Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Ah I see

I assumed you had a conniving relative called Rachel..

I have just started putting £50-100 a month away for my daughter BUT I got no money from my parents at any point. Yet I still managed to go to University and travel and all those things from working hard and saving up and paying for it myself. So I hope no-one reading this feels bad as they're barely managing to pay the bills every month let alone put money aside. That's perfectly okay.

We couldn't afford much when our son was very young due to nursery fees and saving a deposit but now we save around £1k-£1.5k a year and have that spread across a few different things with the hope that one might bring a very good return.

£100 each saved for university expenses. A separate ISA that they will get at 18. The intention is to encourage a LISA, lock some of it away but the rest will be available for university funding. Also encouraging part time job for university savings as well. Eldest is currently doing this.

Nothing in our DS name.

We will when the time comes for him to need a house deposit give him at least 50k possibly up to 100k. We have never ever told him he will be given money and he is saving hard for a deposit. It will also depend on if he buys with a partner, the money will be ring fenced and I will seek advice.

Nothing in their names but our family savings and investments are healthy and will be given as and when required. Not that they know this.

You're right, that little and often stacks up quite nicely over the years.

Just be aware that NS&I hands over to the child at 16 any Premium Bonds that are held for them (i.e. held by you, in their name). As my dd turned 16 I had no control over that account any longer. I have the same issue with my son later this year. It's fine so far, but it does mean that my dd has changed the settings so that any 'winnings' go to her current account now rather than being reinvested as new bonds. Her CTF matures this month, so that's the next thing that will move across to her.

Mine both had the benefit of the CTF £250 at birth, and then I paid into that account any bits of money they were given at Christmas/birthdays whilst they were little (and therefore didn't need it). They later inherited £3k each, so I added that too, and then paid in £15 each per month for many years (DH also eventually contributed £20 per month by direct debit). I moved them to a Junior ISA, and they each have a little lump sum for when they need it. I also pay £15 pcm into a general savings account for them. With winnings from premium bonds, general savings, and the CTF/ISAs, they'll each have around £20-25k at 18yo. We talk about it quite a lot, and the older one certainly sees the benefit in reinvesting it for a while until it's needed for a big event.

DS is just 18 and so has received his CTF. He had about £13k in there. Half from us and the other half was birthday and Christmas money over the years (plus investment growth). I think we put £30 a month away over the 17 years or so.

Then he had £3k in a cash savings account which was all his money from relatives etc for different things.

I also save and still do a house deposit for him but that's in my name and will only be handed over when he's ready to buy a house.

We have saved around £40 a month since birth so there'll be approx 15k by the time 18 comes. There is a £1k inheritance and the CTF £250 in there too. Slightly concerned that it's in the child's name and not mine...

We don’t save loads specifically for the kids at the moment as we are in the nursery fee years, but we do save around £50 a month per child into their own accounts. This will be their own money when they’re 18 to do with what they want. We also save £800 a month into family savings which could be used as contributions to house deposits or other things they need. We will up all savings once nursery fees stop.

Mine are grown up, saved £0 for them. I was a single parent no extra . Just wanted to reassure anyone in the same boat . They have grown up fine , happy and doing well .

Mine is nearly 4. He has around d £10,000 saved.
I save his child benefit every month.
All money given by family for birthdays, Xmas ect.
As he gets older I'm hoping to do spend some save some for money that he gets as so it doesn't get all get wasted on plastic tat🤣
I also sold some of his stuff on Vinted over the last 3 year and made around £1000.

Also just wanted to add that I too was given £0 from my parent but went to uni, paid off my mortgage when I was 34 ect ect. So if you can save all good if not I wouldn't get hung up on it 😊

Another who just wants to reassure anyone who's not got enough spare to put into savings for their dc's future. Despite my parents being well off and my df being gifted large sums by my grandparents regularly, then inheriting, I never received any money, and they never put any into savings for me or my brother, but I've done ok and my db is flying in his career, paid off student debt and has a lovely home.

Would it have been a nice bonus to have some help with some savings set aside? Yes of course, but I don't know any different, and that's with parents who could have easily afforded to put some money by each month. So if you can't, please don't feel bad about it.

Mine are adults now. I managed to stash £1000 for each one when they were toddlers, from a windfall. I intended to save the child benefit but that never happened. Basically every penny I had was spent on them until they graduated, I supported them as much as I could at uni just as I had when they were children. They’ve always worked. When the youngest was 28 my DF died. I varied the will to give them £50k each from his estate, and they’ve now all bought or are in the process of buying their first property with the £50k as their deposit. They probably wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. That’s it now until I die! Though I like to treat them when I feel like it, they’re adults and have the tools to get on with it.

I save £50 per month in an ISA and my dh has about 15k in an account for her (this includes some money given to him by his mum). She's our only dc so we will be able to afford to help her own when she's older.

I have been putting £50/month into a junior ISA for my DD since she was born - I've also put any money she was given for birthdays/Christmas until she was old enough to chose whether to spend it herself (I encourage her to save half, spend half). She's nearly 12 now and has over £9k in her account.
I believe her Dad is doing similar but he is from a far more wealthy background

In their name very little, just a bank account that the grandparents paid £100 a year into and a very small inheritance went into that was theirs. We had savings in our name that we controlled and could decide what to spend it on. It might be that we needed it for something which is why it was in our name and not our children's names.

Both of our children are over 18. Luckily they both opened LISAs and transferred £4k into that from their named bank account and have continued to do that each year.

We have funded/are funding them through uni but the money is transferred when they need it, ie for their accommodation and then weekly for their food/laundrette/materials and books for their course plus any travel. As it stands they get the minimum maintenance loan as our household income is above the £62k threshold so we are expected by the government to top them up by just over £5k per year, so £15k per child, or £30k for both of them. The loan is about £4.5k but a quick look at accommodation costs will show you that a lot of them are more than that and then they need to eat. Durham is £7k for first years, shared bathroom, self catered. Catered is just shy of £10k. Other universities have a range of accommodation costs. It might be worth thinking ahead.

There have been plenty of threads on here over the years of very sensible 18 year olds blowing through massive amounts of money. Ds1 has a friend who has been working for over 3 years, lives at home, no rent, no bills and a mere £2k in savings. We were lucky that we had older friends who knew children who had blown their money, so we put it all in our names.