Child Savings

[Puddinggulper]

Hi all,

I wanted to ask people’s advice/experience with child savings. DH and I want to start saving money for our DD for when she reaches adulthood to help with University/Travel/Car/House Deposit etc - though I highly doubt we’ll manage to save enough to cover much of that but we want to do what we can.

I know there are junior ISAs and savings accounts for children. But I don’t like the idea that she’ll have free access and total control over the money at age 18. In my view that’s too young to be financially responsible. I know my DH at that age would have spent it all on drinks for his friends on nights out and I probably would have splurged on clothes for example! Is it simpler to just open a new joint savings account in our own names and earmark that money for her and distribute it as and when needed, for instance some for Uni and hold some back for later?

We've set up similar things for our children, with the hopes they'd use savings for similar things. I've had the odd worry of yours, but you don't know what children will be like.

Me and my siblings were left some money by grandparents and two of us used it towards first cars (cheap ones!) And some of university costs, whereas one did use it more to splurge and ended up with some debts, but they had a live beyond your means sort of issue so you never know really.

Premium bonds? You can open them up on behalf of your children. Then you have the chance to win some extra money too.