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I have been putting money away for my daughter in a piggy bank for the last couple of years with the intention of opening a savings account for her with it. There seems to be so many different types of accounts, I thought I'd see if someone here could help point me in the right direction.
Ideally, I am after an account that would be her name, that I can deposit money in to as and when, and that I can decide when she has access to it. I would like the money to be for things like her first car, deposit on a flat, etc. And though I don't want to come across controlling, I want something which would allow me to enable access for her when I feel the time is right.
My main concern is my ex, who is terrible with money, and doesn't save a penny. What I am worried about is my daughter getting to 18 (for example) and being able to access the account, her mum then finding out about it and persuading my daughter to 'blow' the money on things like clothes and nights out. I say this because I had savings and my ex persuaded me to do a similar thing which I really regret, and I don't want that for my daughter.
Any information or advice would be hugely appreciated.
Hi there
When I was setting up savings for my kids, I didn't come across any accounts that offer those sort of terms to be honest.
Have you thought about an ISA or regular savings account in your own name rather than your daughter's? That way you can decide when it is an appropriate time for your daughter to have access to the money? You don't have to make your ex aware of the account and perhaps just use it when your daughter needs something? Another thing to consider is using it to give your daughter a weekly or monthly allowance when is she is 18 so that it doesn't get frittered away? If she goes to college or uni, she might appreciate having some money of her own?
You could also look at setting up a trust fund for her and you can set the withdrawal terms of that but I think the set up costs are quite pricey?
Have a look at the Martin Lewis site, it's usually a really good resource for financial info?
I might have to open an ISA in my own name. My daughter's mum is unreal with money, and intensely interrogating about information, so she will without a doubt find out my daughter has money one way or another, and then that will be that.
I looked in trust funds for children, but they don't do them anymore. They have been updated to Junior ISAs which the child has access to when they are 18.
I've always found Money Saving Expert a good place to find general information about most things financial and I've found an article about children's savings accounts and Junior ISAs that you might find useful, here's a link
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free
With a Junior ISA once the money goes in it can't be touched until the child reaches 18, but then the parents would have no control on what it's used for, the up side is that ISAs are tax free, whereas junior savings accounts have a limit to the tax free amount saved.
Depending on how old you are, one option might be to put the money into a pension for you - you'll get tax relief on the money you put in (national insurance as well if you use salary sacrifice) and when you are 55 or over, you can take the whole lot out - 25% is tax free, the rest you pay tax on (but you've had tax relief anyway so you are still better off). It might affect your lifetime allowance, so take advice on this if you go down this route, but that way you control the money until you actually give it to her. It might also reduce the maintenance you need to pay if you are after doing this,
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