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Original poster

Child Trust Fund money.......what are you doing with it ??

38 replies

nutcracker · 21/01/2005 10:56

What do i do with the 250 voucher that i will get for Ds ?? Have just recieved my info pack and apparently the voucher will arrive in the next few days.

So do i put it in a savings account ?? if so which sort ??

Haven't a clue about these things as we don't have any savings at all.

Also feel guilty that Ds will have this lumps um of whatever when he is 18 and the girls will have nothing.

OP posts:

cupcakes · 23/01/2005 09:15

Just to get it straight - you can't pay it into a normal savings account, it has to be one without any access to the money?
We never set anything up (like a child bond) for ds only a regular savings account but now that dd will have one I guess we'll have to start one for him too. Which will be a good thing in the long run...!

singsong · 23/01/2005 09:15

Titania there is something about it here

cupcakes · 23/01/2005 09:18

I suppose I can see how the government would want to restrict how it's spent at age 18. They're obviously hoping for a society who will have some funds to put down a deposit on a house or pay for horrendous university fees. And I guess they've just realised that maybe it will end up on a holiday in Ibiza!

coppertop · 23/01/2005 09:24

I think it would be tough to enforce and potentially a legal minefield. Parents and relatives will be putting their own money in there too thinking that their child will be able to do what they want with it at 18. If the policy changes at some point then I guess people could claim that they were being misled when they gave their own money and challenge the decision.

cupcakes · 23/01/2005 09:28

I can see us setting up an account for ds (who is too old for their thing) who will have the choice to do whatever he wants with it whilst his younger sister will be tied by their restrictions.

Lonelymum · 23/01/2005 09:35

We too have the problem that only ds3 is getting the voucher and our three other children are not. We will have to set something up for them one day as we are scrupulous about being fair to them all. Dh is convinced the voucher is a sop to parents facing further education fees as, let's face it, the govt wants as many teenagers as possible to do some sort of FE.

Casmie · 23/01/2005 10:02

We're going to put it in something as high risk as we can get away with and not add any additional money. As others, ds1 doesn't qualify while ds2 does, and it irritates me that what they can use it for will be restricted so I really can't get that excited about it, to be honest.

If the high risk deal performs well, then nearer the time when he can access it then we will switch to lower risk to lock in the gains.

I'm not too worried about ds1 getting the "same". Life sucks - it's an early lesson to learn They already have differing savings plans (that their grandparents set up) due to different financial climates at the time the money was put in, so I'm not going to worry about making sure they both have the exact same amount of pence at the end.

When/if either go to university/need a house/whatever then we will help them out as far as we can according to need and attempt not to worry too much if one gets more than the other as a result.

Lonelymum · 23/01/2005 10:22

You're probably right Casmie, but I come from a family where my parents have been scrupulously fair with their children and I suppose I am just doing the same. I like the idea of yours of putting the money into something high risk though. It makes sense as the money was never "there" in the first place, you may as well gamble with it a bit.

galaxy · 23/01/2005 10:28

I was explaining this to ds last night who's 12. He wasn't upset by it.

Casmie · 23/01/2005 11:24

I think I should probably point out I don't intend to be deliberately mean or favouritist but I really don't want to end up tying myself up into knots about it either. I just can't afford to put £250 into a comparable fund for ds1 at the moment, so I'm not going to worry about it. I don't believe it'll be undue hardship for him.

I also don't intend to (say) get new shoes for them both if only one needs them just so they have the same spent on them. Life's too short! I'm sure there'll be differences when they're 18 too. Ds1 may have to pay a lot less tuition fees than ds2 will if both decide to go to university - that's something I don't have control over either. Do I then aim to make sure both have the same quality of living at university or exactly the same amount of cash?

I tell you, it's a potential minefield all this "treating them the same" malarky

misdee · 23/01/2005 12:14

ATm the money will be the childs to do with what they like. there isnt any restrictions on the CTF accounts.

Casmie · 23/01/2005 12:22

Yes, but how long will that last, misdee? I don't hold out much hope for that to remain when they're 18, tbh.

CountessDracula · 25/01/2005 12:10

I am certainly not going to add any extra money to this account for dd. Imagine if she was a real wild child and suddenly got her hands on loads of cash at 18! No way! I shall invest for her future in my name!

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