Savings account for 4 year old

[Chelen13]

Any advice?
I need to open a savings account for my 4 year old. It seems that it has to go in a parents name though. It’s her money, not mine. Are there any banks out there that will put it in her details and she can access when she’s 16/18?
if I put it in my bank or under my name, it’ll affect my UC - I’m her full time carer.

Can you open a junior ISA? Mine were older but account was in their name and they had control of it at 18.

Open a junior ISA, we use hargreaves lansdown but there are many choices available. Money in a savings account will just devalue over time because of inflation.

I have found a couple for her age but they all seems to be investment ones, which take X amount of money for an investment charge.

wpuld you be happy to invest? If so I believe coop and fidelity do accounts with no charges for under 18s.

I have got my dc Junior SIPPs with fidelity and they occasionally get charged if we buy a specific fund so I don’t buy those funds any more and it’s free. I’d imagine an ISA would be similar.

I agree with the JISA option. We did this for DS, and added a lot to it over the years. He could access it at 18 (by which time more than a third of the money in it was interest) and is currently using it to pay for his uni.

Investment is really what you want though if you want it to give it a decent return. Especially as you have the best part of 15 years for it to grow.

Top children's savings accounts: 5.5% interest

Have a read of this

https://www.thetimes.com/article/dde786c7-7e47-4e32-8ec7-832d25b6d5aa?shareToken=e0b1dac119065938ffc5a41decf256ca

You can get cash JISA e.g. from National Savings. Main downside is no access to the money until your child is 18.

Children's savings account would need to be opened with you as a trustee and your child as a beneficiary. Local building societies are often good for these.

Some places will allow a grandparent to be the trustee of that would help e.g if it is money a grandparent has given for birthday or Christmas. Minimum age to open an account as a child is 7 or 11.

There are premium bonds for kids. I had a kids regular saver with the Halifax pretty sure as this was a kids account disregarded for UC. I know what you mean regarding adult access but most kids accounts will need a adult to manage them. Double check regarding UC as I’m sure you don’t need to have just a junior isa.

I guess it depends what you're hoping to get from it. I use the credit union for my daughter's savings, a junior savings account in her name.

Given the length of time til 18 investments rather than cash would make much more sense (even if there’s a small fee)

A normal savings account would be in your child's name but you act as the trustee/the person who runs the account and any correspondence would be sent to you. It would still be your child's money.

You need to open a childs savings account. It would be in their name with you as the trustee to manage it. It is their money not yours. Most accounts switch over at 18, although some do at 16.

DD 17 is currently with Yorkshire Building Society and Premium Bonds, however in the past we have had child accounts with various other banks or building societies.

I'm sure I've read on here before it's only a JISA that you can use if you want to not have it taken into account for UC. Other children's savings accounts mean you (or another named adult) are the trustee and still have access and control of the money so you could withdraw it to pay for things during their childhood, in line with any conditions om withdrawal imposed by the account. A JISA completely locks any deposits away and nothing can be withdrawn until the child is 18 so UC shouldn't take that into account. Vanguard do a cash JISA and a stocks and shares JISA and I'm sure there are no fees for children accounts but worth double checking.

Stocks and shares JISA will be more likely to give your child a better return over 12 years than cash, but you may prefer the security of savings.