What do I do with Child Trust voucher?

[SuperBunny]

I just got 250 pounds for DS - it's the government child trust fund thing - but I have no idea what I am meant to do with it. They said they'd sent a pack last week telling me about it but I haven't received it. Do I just open a bank account or does it have to be a special one? Which is best?

Since I only just moved back to the UK, I don't know anything about all this sort of stuff. Please help!

You need to choose who you want to save with, then you can go and discuss your options. If I were you I would go to the bank you use, say your deciding what to do and ask if they would give you some advice. When I recieved my voucher it had a booklet with details of what you can do with it.

You pay it into a special ctf account, then watch it depreciate in value as they send you yearly statements

I never got round to opening one when I had dd, so the Gov opened one for me and sent out all the details. I am a lazy sod so this worked much better for me, although I'm not sure what that money saving expert martin would say about the product or whatever!!

Superbunny, can I ask how you got it? ie did you have to apply for it separately to child benefit? I've been expecting to receive a cheque for DS now 6 months but still not received anything and not sure who to 'chase' about it. Child benefit took forever to sort out his claim as lost the original application and its only just been sorted. Did yours turn up after your child benefit was sorted?

When we got ours a few years ago for DD, DH sorted out a child trust fund for her and pays in a set amount each month, the theory is when she is 18 the money will help fund her through uni.

I don't know why I got it... I have applied for Child Benefit so maybe that was how. Will investigate banks then, thanks!

Oh goodness, it is complicated... I don't know how to invest it! Or where. I hate having to make decisions like this

There is a website I found here that seems to have a lot of straightforward information that might be helpful to you.

I found that once we had decided on an ethical stakeholder ctf there wasn't a huge range to choose from anyway so perhaps look at the criteria you need to choose between and narrow down what things are important to you.

You might as well use it as loo roll, it will lose value whatever you do with it and will be worth diddly squat when he's 18!

DD3s has lost £19 in just under 3 years...

If you do want to invest it then most providers now offer CTF investment or savings accounts. You fill the forms in, send the forms back with the voucher and they open the account and send you statements yearly telling you how poorly the investment/savings are performing.

Have a look here for some more information

Hi Superbunny and Mumoverseas - yes, you get the CTF voucher after your claim for child benefit is processed. So Mum, it sounds like that might be why yours hasn't appeared yet.

Superbunny - like you, I got the letter saying we've sent you a pack and though I haven't had that. It arrived a week or so later.

Hope that helps!

Those sites look good, thanks. Will have a little look later and sort something out. I'm sure my pack will arrive after I have set up an account!

thanks for that isitme Not sure I'll hold my breath though, still waiting for a tax refund I claimed in January. I think all these people hope you 'forget' you are enitled to stuff and hope you die of old age before they send it